Shirin Shafaie, Chris Nineham, Tony Benn, Lindsey German, Abbas Edalat prepare to spout nonsense.
George Galloway gave warning that should Iran be attacked by Israel then “the Persian Gulf will be on fire, the Straights of Hormuz will be on fire and the allies of America in the Gulf will be on fire” and Iran will also answer “inside Iraq”.
And he said that Iran is ready to fight to the last drop of blood.
He called on Muslims not to “fall for this gigantic fraud in which the imperialist countries who were bombing and murdering one kind of Muslim in Iraq now want to mobilise that kind of Muslim against another kind of Muslim on a sectarian basis dividing the Muslim world” and he warned that “once they’ve dealt with the Shi’ites, they’ll deal with you”:
Galloway was the final act in Monday night’s Don’t Attack Iran meeting in London organised by The Stop The War Coalition, a coalition that is against any war (unless it’s against Israel, of course), even the war in Libya which would have left possibly thousands to be massacred in Benghazi by Gaddafi’s forces had NATO not intervened.
And only a dunce from the Green Party could invoke the Nazis like Darren Johnson AM did when he warned that attacking Iran would unite the whole of Iran just like attacks by the Nazis even united the Conservatives and the Communists in this country:
Well, that wasn’t the case in Libya was it! NATO’s attacks on Gaddafi’s troops strengthened the opposition leading to Gaddafi’s downfall. And, likewise, I am sure that the good people of Iran would welcome an attack on their own cruel regime that still stones women to death and hangs gays for being gay. Johnson should stick to dealing with matters to do with London as he obviously hasn’t a clue about foreign affairs.
And then there was Tony Benn, the President of The Stop The War Coalition, claiming that the only reason America wants to attack Iran is because of its oil. Oh come on, Tony, you can do better than reel off that tired old line:
Benn disappeared early after the usual announcement that he had to be up early to give yet another talk, although it was more likely the lure of a hot cup of cocoa and a pair of warm slippers that sent him on his way.
Other speakers told us how cuddly and peaceful today’s Iran, basically, is. It had never attacked anyone, don’t you know!
Abbas Edalat, a professor in Computer Science at Imperial College, thought the war against Iran had started in 1979 after the Revolution, while Shirin Shafaie, a researcher at SOAS, claimed it started as far back as 1953 with the overthrow of Mossadeq.
Edalat claimed there was even a self-imposed fatwa against Iran possessing nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction and that the aim of the West was to recolonise Iran like it did in 1953.
These people honestly believe the rubbish that pours out of their mouths. It is a remarkable sociological study to hear such delusion and to see how an audience, albeit a small one, laps up this rhetoric.
Oh, and just in case there wasn’t enough instability in the Middle East I was passed a leaflet detailing how Palestinians living inside Israel and those from the West Bank and Gaza are due to be joined by Palestinians and others from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan for a Global March to Jerusalem arriving in Jerusalem on “Land Day” (30th March 2012 to you and me).
For an organisation that claims to want to stop war The Stop The War Coalition tries its damned hardest to encourage as much bloodshed in the Middle East as it possibly can.
RichardMillett's Blog 
So what leads otherwise probably quite normative individuals to schlep along to another half empty unknown hall in order to once again voice their opinions on an issue about which they know so little?
That’s so funny in this context. Wish I had that as the headline photo.
Silke deserves most of the credit.
Thanks Daniel – here is a link to it online. I am barred from it but maybe you in other countries aren’t.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/167631/the-new-yorker-animated-cartoons-impact
and here’s a new address Google offers that works even for me (after the ad)
http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/impact/13kyztxzg
Fantastic cartoon! Wouldn’t it be nice if these buffoons were so benign! Because they are stupid and hate filled doesn’t make them pups!
What the hell is a ‘normative’ individual?
Daniel Marks: giving illiterates a bad name.
You are quite right and. I had no intention of confusing, or giving you or any other illiterates bad names. English is not an easy language, especially when it’s not your mother tongue.
If it’s easier to grasp, you might replace “a normative individual” with “an ordinary bloke” an “average guy” or “a normal fellow”. For “normative” the dictionary offers, “of or pertaining to a norm, especially an assumed norm regarded as the standard of correctness in behavior, speech, writing, etc.”
As I said, it’s not an easy language, but in the words of Miriam Ferguson, “If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it ought to be good enough for the children of Texas.”
”And, likewise, I am sure that the good people of Iran would welcome an attack on their own cruel regime that still stones women to death and hangs gays for being gay.”
If you believe that you’re an even bigger fool than I thought you were and don’t understand the first thing about Iran.
There is indeed much wrong with the Iranian regime, yet show me that part of the opposition to the regime that would welcome an attack on their country??? (Hint: MEK really doesn’t count).
For all the fault lines in Iranian society, a deep, ingrained hatred for ‘Imperialist’ intervention runs through all of its veins. The memory of 1953 and the Sha’s regime of terror is being kept alive there, very much so.
Do you realise what kind of a Pandora’s Box an Israeli on US attack on Iran would actually open? How bad all this would be for Israel? Even the former head of Mossad knows better! And all this for nukes that don’t actually exist?
Richard, what you’re writing here is political idiocy of the highest order. One of the most ridiculous things I’ve read here in quite a while. Still, it’ll be music to the ears of Leah and Sharon Klaff.
Would you have said the same about Libya before NATO got involved though?
WHHAAAT???
Where are the Iranian rebels, waging war on Dear Leader and asking assistance from NATO, Sir??? And in what way does Israel constitute or even resemble NATO??
How does destroying nuclear facilities constitute regime change?
But yeah Dr Strangelove, when the bombs start raining down on multi billion-dollar nuclear facilities the oppressed of Iran will look up to the sky, believe it’s manna from heaven and start waving Magen Davids at the Israeli gangster flyboys. It’ll be Rumsfeld’s Iraq all over again: with devoted Iranians showering their Zionist Entity liberators with garlands of flowers and endless invitations for kaffeeklatsches.
If you can’t see that in reality this is quite a banal (but also very dangerous) power struggle between one nuclear super power and another emerging, possibly soon also nuclear super power, with the former frantically trying to prevent the latter for gaining influence, then you can’t possibly have passed a bar exam.
The biggest danger here is a miscalculation on either side. Israel would come off worst, possibly to never recover from it. For one because the multitudes that have double citizenship would escape in great numbers.
You’re an irresponsible hack for promoting is dangerously stupid idea for which we could ALL pay a hefty price. Invoking ‘Iranian women and gay rights’ (about neither of which an ethno supremacist like you gives a rat’s *rse) is cowardly hypocritical. And please do yourself a favour: try not to invoke Chamberlain here?
Daniel:
Your perennial inability to stick to simple points and drag the totally irrelevant into things continues to underscore your deep pettiness. Keep collecting mugs: that’s about your level; ‘a mug for a mug’ as they say…
Hi Gert,
A fellow blogger wrote to me, “will be interesting to see what he replies.”
I was not surprised at all:
“Your perennial inability to stick to simple points and drag the totally irrelevant into things continues to underscore your deep pettiness.”
I have no idea which comment of mine you are addressing and I suspect that neither have you. Your posting was equivalent of writing, “I’ve lost the argument, so I’ll stick my tongue out at you and say ‘na na na!'”
Regarding my mug collection…Well all I can say is that you know how to hurt me. Fancy mocking my mugs. How low will our enemies sink?
Hey Gert – are you so dumb! An Israeli “attack” does not necessarily mean conventional warfare. Ever wonder what Stuxnet did? Or what about these mysterious “explosions” in cities where the nukes are sited? Israel is a very clever nation – remember the people who dreamed up the Entebbe rescue, that wiped out Iraq’s facility before breakfast and Syria’s too before lunch?
Don’t underestimate what Israel can achieve when all else fails to stave off the existential threat Iran poses to all Jews!
Good point, Sharon. I wanted to make that point in the post. Iran is already under attack from someone or something, probably Israel but via cyber viruses, mysterious explosions and the bumping off of crucial scienists. I don’t see the Iranian people complaining about any of this.
And by the way Gert – Iran poses a threat to you as well so watch your own back and ditch the Jew hatred! You don’t have time for superfluous emotions!
“watch your own back and ditch the Jew hatred!”
Without pathological Jew-hatred, Gert would have no reason to get up in the morning.
Gert, you crioticize Richard for writing something ridiculous, but I just don’t think you get it. A targeted attack (or series of attacks) designed to take out Iran’s oppressive regime would be received well in many quarters. Even if Iranian citizens didn’t join in, they would be deliriously happy to see the Khamane’i/Ahmadinezhad regime toppled and to have the chance to create a genuine democracy, perhaps along the lines of the 1907 revolution. More Iranians hate the regime than I think you guess, and their overthrow is long overdue.
Whar do you expect from such unhinged idiots as Galloway and Benn. Gert, whether or not the Iranian people would welcome an attack on their country is beside the point. The point is that Iran is threatening to wipe Israel off the map. A clear threat.
“Whar do you expect from such unhinged idiots as Galloway and Benn.”
And quite a few others, sadly: the whole of the Red-Brown-Black-Green party, most of the so-called ‘LibDems’, the higher echelons of Labour, and plenty of others besides in PSC, the Quakers, the Methodists, ….
What DO they put in the water these days? Britain is overrun by halfwits.
“Gert, whether or not the Iranian people would welcome an attack on their country is beside the point. The point is that Iran is threatening to wipe Israel off the map.”
Gert’s wet dream.
Nice to see that the StWC has its own newspaper.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/07/iran-war-already-begun
Why would Al Stuermer’s Seaeaeauumus pass up a chance to vilify Israel, in a spittle-flecked scribble full of factual errors? It’s what he gets up for in the morning.
Hi Gert,
I’m most impressed by your new-found expertise in the psyche of 75 million Persians “…in Iranian society, a deep, ingrained hatred for ‘Imperialist’ intervention runs through all of its veins.” Were I to ask you what the 33,000 residents of Bridlington on Sea love or hate you would doubtlessly elaborate on their diversity and explain, correctly, that generalizations are always problematic. However, when it comes to 75,000,000 Iranians of many ethnic groups and religions, none of whom you have ever met or spoken to – no problem at all. I think it was Twain who said, “To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.” So what’s gone wrong in your life Gert? Lack of the confidence?
I have no idea what the Iranian people love or hate, but I’ll make a few comments regarding people living under dictatorships or authoritarian regimes or dictatorships in general. Firstly, it is foolish and naïve to imagine that all of them believe government propaganda or love and hate what their rulers tell them to. This is not only because it is so hard today to control all medias of communication, but mainly because time and time again over recent decades we’ve seen “popular rulers” fall from power only to discover that many of their peoples, who had been brainwashed for years to love and revere them, apparently hate their guts and claim that they always have.
In many recent Arab-Arab conflicts such as Libya and Syria elements of the opposition were literally begging the West to bomb their countries. In light of that a in light of rumors that Iranian opposition groups may have had some part in the recent unfortunate “accidents” that have taken part in The Islamic Republic of Iran, it seems fair to assume that not every Iranian would mourn an attack against military targets, perhaps in the vain hope that its result might lead to more freedoms, democracy, etc. I have no idea whether such people form a tiny minority or huge majority. Their tragedy may be that we shall likely never know the answer to that question.
Finally, you’ll forgive me if I feel some slight distrust when one who has devoted an, otherwise worthless, life to anti-Zionism and whose unread (except by Manny and yours truly) blog is wholly dedicated to attacking the Jewish People in their land, warns us as to “..how bad all this would be for Israel…”. It may not be a reason in itself to take out Iran, but it is certainly not the opposite.
Were I to ask you what the 33,000 residents of Bridlington on Sea love or hate you would doubtlessly elaborate on their diversity and explain, correctly, that generalizations are always problematic.
Gert can’t lecture us on Bridlingtonians because up to now probably nobody has had the good luck to get a well remunerated book contract to come up with a summary of what are their mutualities, while musings on what are the mutualities of Iranians to this day seem to have no problem finding enthusiastic publishers. (Actually I remember having read that Iran is a very diverse country encompassing Assyrians, Kurds and lots of other from afar rather large looking clusters of different ethnicities which are supposed to be not at all overjoyed by having to submit to the rule of an Iranian overlord.)
All in all Gert’s summary seems a bit copy and paste, maybe even from one source only, but maybe if he mixes those snippets with what he knows about, let’s say, how to shop in Bridlington he might land himself a contract also.
—–
Daniel, I apologize for taking liberties with your first language. I hope it will not hurt you too much.
Hi Sharon,
You write, “Wouldn’t it be nice if these buffoons were so benign! Because they are stupid and hate filled doesn’t make them pups!”
Actually, it’s one of those paradoxes. On the one hand such those dogs howling have a negligible effect on the moon itself, but on the other hand they must surely infuriate their neighbors.
Likewise, if we take old Tony Benn, by far the most celebrated of the aforementioned speakers – bless his cotton socks, I can think of no harm whatsoever that he’s ever caused the State of Israel. He and the other unknown critics of Israel – mini-skirted or not- who seem to have trouble filling a church hall or community center are forever at great pains to make it clear that they’re anti-Israel not anti-Semitic. However, the only people who “suffer” from their exploits are those Jews living outside of Israel. It’s a kind of bizarre mutation of the philosophy “Loving What Is”- in this case “Hating What Is”. That is why I have consistently urged all real enemies of Israel to come out to the Middle East and “Walk the Walk” too.
Before September, when we were still being warned of the impending diplomatic earthquake that would surely result from the Palestinian declaration of independence, I was gracious enough to extend warm invitations of accommodation and nourishment to two of our bitterest foes, on the naïve assumption that they’d want to stand at the vanguard of the popular struggle. I was shocked, though hardly surprised when Gert replied:
“..Sorry Daniel, but no trips to the ME are planned at my end.”
While Tony Greenstein answered with a mysterious:
“….I doubt if I will ever be able to visit countries far away outside Europe anymore.”
I recently suggested to newcomer Dubitante that he may wish to put his proverbial money where his mouth is, but he too just noted the suggestion and carried on waffling away as usual.
So all in all it seems that my Palestinian cousins and their glorious struggle have a pretty lame bunch of supporters, composed mainly of backseat drivers and armchair anti-Zionists who know how to make excuses for not getting their hands dirty, preferring forever to howl at the moon. Little wonder their efforts to destroy Israel are looking more like a dog’s dinner.
A vile bunch of pussbags – particularly Tony Benn. AS for Galloway – he is a 21st century version of Lord haw-haw.
“AS for Galloway – he is a 21st century version of Lord haw-haw.”
Why, and Benn isn’t?
Galloway is a bitter and mediocre man. The kind that gravitates towards violent totalitarianism. Benn is a spluttering fuddy duddy who has addled his brain with too much low grade tea. He is the embodiment of provincial pettiness. Like Galloway, he should have stuck to Speaker’s Corner on his soapbox , entertaining the rabble.
Galloway does stand on a soap box, it’s called Talksport Radio which has a weekly audience of around 2.5 million. Now put that in your pipe and smoke it.
So we can all laugh at him. You see when it comes to him trying to get elected no one goes near him….except mostly.
I think you’re jealous Richard with your sum total of 183 subscribers.
Well I’m sure if I also kissed the feet of the President of Iran I’d have more. As it happens I’m very proud of 183 subscribers. I don’t have any pretensions to grandeur.
Hi Mostly,
I’ve never heard Galloway speak in person, but though I don’t agree with his opinions about the Middle East, I can concede from the clips I’ve seen that he talks well, so what? Surely the success of an enemy of Israel should be gauged by the extent to which he has managed to cause us concrete harm, discomfort, etc.
Now, I have no doubt that he ticks off a lot of British Jews with his aforementioned broadcasts, but surely he ought to be aspiring to more than that. Wikipedia teaches us that he began his support for the Palestinian cause back in 1974, has expressed support for pretty much every crackpot dictator from Fidel Castro to Saddam Hussein, has lost various elections (won a few) and was expelled from the Labor Party, all acts commendable in themselves, but where is the damage he has caused Israel? Has he ever influenced UK policy towards Israel? Has he affected Israeli foreign or domestic policy towards the Arab-Israeli Conflict?
What exactly are the man’s achievements after almost four decades of speeches, books and broadcasts?
He must surely have had a measurable influence on fashion:
2.5 m? Wow I’m impressed. There are more fools around than I thought.
Nice one Roger – its good to see that mostly has some interesting information!
”I think you’re jealous Richard with your sum total of 183 subscribers”
Quality is what counts here mate, not quantity. I see you prefer a multitude of idiots and clones to a handful of informed, discerning individuals.
Hi Daniel, I don’t agree with everything GG has said or done in the past. He is however a rebel with a cause and that has a certain following and attraction. You make a good point re his achievements, which can be answered partly through the obsession of people like Richard and his fellow apologists for Israel who follow his every word & movement.
Mostly it is the victim’s fault if somebody looks mostly at the agressor. Hadn’t the victim cried foul nobody would have looked at the perpetrator.
Mostly isn’t short on irony alone – he has never heard of Scylla and Charybdis and/or Catch 22 let alone the concept of damned if you do damned if you don’t.
OTOH that is not amazing already in school I was told that acknowledging ambiguities takes a certain standard for the matter most of us have between our ears.
Richard
I don’t know how “subscribers” are measured but certainly there are communities in which yours has become a household name.
If the Galloway-admirers hate you as much as those I admire love you, then you have a huge reason to be proud of yourself.
And if the Galloway-admirer are so few that the total comes up to 183 then it sounds like really good news to me.
“DEEP Pettiness”
Now who would have thunk that such a thing exists.
Here is something that Daniel and others may find helpful in case Dubitante that firm believer in the world-wide importance of the ICJ should show up once more and start his promotion of that noble court again:
I was teased into the piece by
“on Monday the International Court of Justice ruled against Greece in a case brought by the Republic that would like to be known as Macedonia.”
Ah I said to myself the ICJ has ruled, something significant will change (if I remember correctly they work on 22 cases altogether.) and so I read on, only to learn at the end that
“A moral victory for Macedonia, but in the short term it changes nothing: the name dispute trundles on”
http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2011/12/07/liz-mermin/being-macedonia/
The piece was an interesting read but it also made me wonder if that is a case if it should ever be finally decided should supply for ground rules that make international relations any smoother or be on more solid ground.
Not sure the Libyan people/Iranian people comparison is sound but an interesting article as ever. Benn had the right idea in getting the hell out!
I volunteer George Galloway as human shield. Let’s take up a collection for petrol for the Winnebago.
@mostly – the smallest diamonds are much treasured. Big winds bring havoc and George certainly is a huge wind – one day he’ll blow himself over!
@Richard
‘You see when it comes to him trying to get elected no one goes near him….except mostly’
Not factually accurate although that doesn’t seem to worry you. GG in fact got around 8,500 votes and I didn’t vote for him.
You’re not hot on irony, are you Mostly?
Mostly:
Hi Daniel, I don’t agree with everything GG has said or done in the past.
the equivalent saying in German would be automatically translated into “… but he has built the Autobahns.”