I am genuinely honoured to be mentioned in the latest dispatch by the magnificent and influential Tom Gross. If you haven’t read any of his dispatches I recommend you visit the archive here. They are clear-eyed, succinct and invaluable to anyone who wishes to support Israel, or even just gain a greater understanding of the world.
They are also free of charge which is great. I hope therefore you’ll join me in showing some love and support to Tom for the tireless way he shines a light in this world. Kol Hakavod, Mr Gross!
Shmuel
Mazel tov
21 November 2009 at 6:14 PM
Guy
Well done Chas. You deserve it. I have been reading Tom Gross for some time and he does great work and always has interesting analysis.
21 November 2009 at 11:45 PM
Liraz
Tom Gross always tells it like it is. More power to both Tom and you, Chas!
Incidentally …
Further to the Dispatches programme, I wonder whether you have seen this revealing piece regarding one of its talking heads, Oxford professor Avi Shlaim. It’s an oldie but a goody.
http://jewishrefugees.blogspot.com/2005/08/inside-mind-of-avi-shlaim
Far be it from me to suggest the muzzling of academic freedom (I’ll leave that to the despicable advocates of an academic boycott of the struggling little Jewish State), but the presence in the higher echelons of academia in the UK of such serial defamers of Israel as Avi Shlaim and Ilan Pappe must be cause for concern.
It is perhaps not generally known that among the endorsers of the “One State Declaration”, of which Pappe is one of the signatories, is the Reader in Jewish History at the University of Leicester. The incumbent came to Leicester from Monash University in Australia, where she had taught in the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilization. She has been active in a number of groups highly critical of Israel – as, of course, is her right in a personal capacity (although it is rather surprising that she still gives Melbourne as her address when signing the electronic statements that emanate from Australia, seeing as she has been resident in Leicester for a number of years!).
It seems to me that the footholds in university teaching posts that extreme critics of Israel are getting in Britain (and no doubt elsewhere) is a real cause for concern. I don’t mean critics of “The Occupation”, although I’m not fond of the way some of them express that criticism. I mean people, including yordim, like the supporters of the “One State Declaration” – the above-mentioned senior Leicester academic among them – people who advocate an end to Israel’s very existence.
I’m not suggesting a witch-hunt, but surely a sharp eye and a vigilant ear should somehow be trained on what these individuals are teaching students in the courses they give – courses that in some cases such as at Leicester – include the history of Zionism, complete with a prospectus reference to “the Nakbar” (a term which might reasonably be interpreted as propagandistic).
It is to be hoped that lectures and tutorials are given in objective fashion, and that students who support Israel’s right to exist, and a two-state solution, aren’t penalised for their views.
I really feel that this aspect of Israel’s demonisation in the West is often overlooked. But we friends of Israel overlook it at our peril.
22 November 2009 at 2:58 PM
La Cumparsita
Well done indeed Chas! I have been a TG subscriber for some years & admire his work a great deal. What a shame that the leader writer of The Times doesn’t get it. Have you seen the extraordinarily ill-informed article today? They have fallen hook line & sinker for the Arab propaganda that Tom has exposed. Gilo is not a “settlement”. See http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/article6927567.ece
23 November 2009 at 10:30 AM