A mezuzah.
With the general election and the Jewish festival of Passover both approaching it is ironic to see some politicians making the same decision the Almighty made when smiting the first born son of each Egyptian family to persuade Pharoah to release the Jews.
Thousands of years ago Jewish families marked the front of their own homes so the Almighty would “pass over” and leave their own first born sons unharmed. It worked and Moses was allowed by the evil Pharoah to finally lead the Jews from slavery to freedom.
This time it is the Lib Dems who are deciding which houses to “pass over” but with a view to entering not so much the Promised Land as the House of Commons.
But there’s a problem. Camden council contains the two parliamentary constituencies of Hampstead and Kilburn, where the MP is Glenda Jackson, and Holborn and St. Pancras, where the MP is Frank Dobson.
In Hampstead and Kilburn the election will be close. In 2005 Jackson got 14,615 votes and the Conservatives and Lib Dems received 10,886 and 10,293 votes respectively.
Jackson was elected as Labour MP in 1992 and with her majority on the slide ever since it is highly probable that she will be out of a job after 6th May.
In Holborn and St. Pancras in 2005 Dobson secured victory for Labour with 14,857 votes. The Lib Dems came second with 10,070 votes.
And so the Lib Dems are in with a chance of not only being in control of Camden council but they could turn Camden completely yellow if they take these two parliamentary seats as well.
But the Lib Dems are already not fighting fair before the general election has even been officially called.
Chris Philp, the Conservative Candidate, has written about the different leaflets put out by the Lib Dems depending on whether a family is Jewish or Muslim.
Chris Philp (right) at a Conservative Friends of Israel event
We know how horrendous the Lib Dems are about Israel.
Without needing to mention Baroness Jenny Tonge, Chris Davies MEP and Sarah Teather MP the most hostile of all to Israel, because he is the one who ultimately makes the decisions, is Nick Clegg MP, the Lib Dem leader.
Clegg advocates Israel being left without any defence against Hamas rocket barrages by calling for Israel to be disarmed.
So if Nick Clegg becomes Foreign Secretary, a distinct possibility with recent opinion polls implying a hung parliament, Israeli citizens could be fearing for their lives.
Clegg’s hostile attitude is now reproduced in Lib Dem leaflets in Holborn and St Pancras, with its large Bangladeshi community, where Israel is continuously vilified by Jo Shaw, the Lib Dem candidate.
“Stop Arming Israel” screams her leaflets.
Jo Shaw's leaflet in the Holborn and St Pancras constituency
But if you are living in the adjoining constituency of Hampstead and Highgate, with its disproportionately high Jewish population, the story is completely different.
There, Ed Fordham, the Lib Dem candidate has inserted into his leaflets photos of himself in Israel and has even included Hebrew. These leaflets are aimed at placating the Jewish households.
Chris Philp thinks that the Lib Dems might “have compiled a list of Jewish people in the area”.
It is much easier than that. All these crafty Lib Dems need do is see if there is a Mezuzah on the front door. If there is then through the letterbox goes the Israel-friendly leaflet. If there isn’t then that letterbox gets “passed over”.
Ed Fordham (left) in Israel
Sadly, attempting to manipulate the feelings of religious minorities has paid off before. In the 2005 General Election Lorna Fitzsimons, the then Labour MP, lost in Rochdale.
The 2006 Report of the All Parliamentary Committee into anti-Semitism found that the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, in order to help unseat Fitzsimons, distributed leaflets stating “she had done nothing to help the Palestinians because she was a Jewish member of the Labour Friends of Israel”.
One problem, Lorna Fitzsimons is not Jewish.
A similar deligitimising campaign is already underway against Luciana Berger who is standing as the Labour Party candidate in the Liverpool Wavertree constituency. She has already been labelled that “well-known Zionist”.
I am sure that the average voter is savvy enough not to be fooled by Lib Dem mind games but at least when Jewish families are sat around their passover tables and they hear that political leaflet drop on to the mat they will finally be able to answer that all important Passover question:
Why is this political leaflet different from all other political leaflets?
Luciana Berger: Liverpool Wavertree's Labour Candidate
RichardMillett's Blog 
Hi Richard,
Do you think that Jews in London will support Lib Dem candidates?
Yes! I think many do but not necessarily by directly voting for them but just by not turning out to vote against them. The Lib Dems have a hardcore, loyal vote.
It is a shame we can’t vote based on what is best for Britain but, sadly, the Lib Dems have made Israel one of their core issues to attain votes.
Shrewd assessment, as ever politicians tell people what they want to hear
Saying one thing to one audience and another to someone else.
Baroness Tonge should have been dropped over four years ago but the Lib Dems still in denial about her.
Lovely piece Richard
If The Lib Dems take the two seats, it might be an idea to think about emigrating. Even Zimbabwe might be a better option. Things, according to Jacob Zuma, are picking up there.
Has anyone got Luciana Berger’s email address?
I might emigrate to Liverpool if she allows me to share her constituency.
http://www.lucianaberger.com/contact-luciana/
Of course, the problem is Lucky’s local football team. I am not sure whether I would survive the pubs.
The pubs up there are great, just don’t walk in with a copy of the Sun.
Richard,
Do you know how lovely Lucky is going down with her Muslim constituents?
Of course, I would vote for her. Oh yes, I would.
Richard,
I reckon that Nigella’s days are numbered if Lucky can boil an egg.
http://www.thejc.com/blogpost/the-reason-why-i-would-labour-only-liverpool
Great article
But don;t let’s delude ourselves that any party really cares about Israel when it comes to the crunch. As loyal British citizens we don;t have the right to expect special treatment for Israel. British politicians have to put the interests of this country first, but what we do have the right to expect is that Israel does not have double standards applied to her, and that she is vilified and demonised.
clearly the Lib Dems have a head start in anti Israel history as Richard, you rightly point out but let’s not forget the Phyllis starkeys, Gerald Kaufmans, Richard Burden and and Jeremy Corben’s of this parliament to name but a few and the Lord Dykes and Lord Wrights and many other Israel detractors who never miss an opportunity to have a go in the Upper House
I agree, Joy, but it is the Lib Dems who have made Israel a central strategy in their attempt to wooe voters. They are right up there with the Respect Party in that regard.
Joy,
You write:
“British politicians have to put the interests of this country first”
I doubt if any of them have an inkling about what is in the interests of Britain. That is why the situation is so serious.
There is only one Party that Israel supporters should vote for – the Conservatives.
(personal view, not ZF’s view)
Richard,
Once again you highlight the duplicity of the Lib Dems, in this time in relation to Israel.
Unfortunately most of the voters don’t look deeply enough into the famed ‘Pavement Politics’ strategy which has for so long served the Third Party so well.
Usually, on a national level this electoral ploy of adjusting your message to your audience for votes does not get properly tested as the Lib Dems have not tasted power since the days of Lloyd-George.
However, a hung parliament could give form to their fantasies.
Of course, a Tory victory would not mean guaranteed sunshine over Israel- William Hague, shadow Foreign Secretary has been somewhat ambivalent towards the Jewish State for sometime now.
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