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Stephen Pollard

ByStephen Pollard, Stephen Pollard

Opinion

Worthy of Der Sturmer

May 14, 2008 24:00
1 min read

Jonathan Steele's piece in the Guardian today wouldn't merit any special attention were it not for the image which accompanies it. The piece is the usual drivel about US foreign policy being in hock to you know who: Although he repeatedly outlines a general principle that the US should talk to every important player without preconditions, he does not apply this in the Middle East. In 2006, Obama blamed Hizbullah for the war with Israel and did not join the appeals for Israel to accept a ceasefire. Last month he criticised Jimmy Carter for talking to Hamas. "We must not negotiate with a terrorist group intent on Israel's destruction," he said.Yes, shocking isn't it that Obama should attach blame to those paragons of virtue, Hizbullah?

As I say, I'd not concern myself with Steele normally; his warped view of the Middle East is regularly trotted out. But this image appears below his piece:

The inference - not so much as inference as a statement screamed at high volume - is that Israel runs the US. The image is about as classic an anti-semitic trope as exists. Indeed, it's almost exactly the sort of thing highlighted by last year's All Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism report (you can read the government's progress report here).