Holidays!

You will probably say that I deserve it but...

Arrived in Israel last night for the festival of Tabernacles and more importantly to visit our daughter.

This morning got a welcome from Hizbollah. A siren sounded as we were walking across the road from our apartment. We ran back and stood between the lifts waiting, when there were about six loud booms which I now understand to be the Iron Dome wiping out rockets from Lebanon. I am 60 miles from the border.

I have been here many times when there has been something going on, including the 2006 Lebanon War which felt quite remote, but this time I was quite apprehensive; this feels a lot bigger, and I have been back several times since 7th October. Being honest I would not have come out this visit if our daughter was not living here now and being only 20 and having some minor medical issues, having her parents around is a big thing for her even if it only for a couple of weeks.

Anyway it makes for exciting news back home and arranging flights is also interesting as no Non-Israeli airlines are flying so there are a lot of people finding all sorts of different routes to get somewhere where an Israeli airline flies. Fortunately, shortly one starts flying to Manchester soon, bringing hordes of football fans to the north west for the weekend (genuinely the purpose of the flights; Friday and Monday). Sounds like a good reason to go to Israel to avoid them in spite of the rockets.... Don't think the Ayatollah supports ManCity.

Thank you. Second set of sirens tonight this time with personal sight of a rocket being destroyed in the air. The locals I was with barely gave it a glance.

Iranian drones and missiles are a different thing though. Hope I don't experience that this trip.

Thanks.

I think he was having a go at the Ayatollahs and equivalents from other religions. If so I would not disagree.

An unpleasant aspect of my visit to Belfast was the divide between the Loyalist and Republican communities. The obvious hate towards Jews and Israel in the Catholic areas was matched by the support from the Protestant areas. But frankly I doubt many from these communities go to church and whilst all support is welcome, if it exists simply as a response to the hate from their enemies, I'm not sure I want it.

Why would Catholics (ie people who identify as Irish) be more prone to antisemitism than Protestants (ie those who identify as British)? 

I'm not saying you're wrong just trying to follow the logic...  

My recollection is that the IRA’s main sources of support were in the US.

I don’t think the Hitler comparison is valid. WW2 was not a war of vengeance and retribution, not in Western Europe anyway. But the sooner Israel stops this one, the better.

A quick Google of sources who have written extensively about the Provisional IRA and arms say that Libya was a big supplier. Aside from having sympathy with the Nationalist cause Ghadaffi saw funding the IRA as part of his mission to undermine the west. Other stuff was bought wherever it was available with US money.

The PLO in the Arrafat era was also sympathetic to Irish Nationalism and offered arms and training to the Provos. However the risk of moving arms under the noses of Israeli intelligence meant little if any Palestinian hardware found its way to NI.

One of the big mistakes, in reality deliberate lies and misinformation, of the Israeli government is to equate support for the Palestinian cause for their own state with anti-Semitism.

That's offensive.

I, like many many others, am pro Palestinian and opposed to their ill treatment in both Gaza and the West Bank.

My beef is with government of Israel and I and have no desire whatever to see Jews, Israeli or not dead.