'Sack Blair'… Say The Usual, Anti-Israel, Pro-Hamas Suspects

The Guardian is this morning reporting that a number of former British Ambassadors, along with some other political figures, are calling for former Prime Minister Tony Blair to be “sacked” as the Middle East Peace Envoy.

The newspaper is basically, willingly, doing public relations work for George Galloway MP’s forthcoming ‘Killing of Tony Blair’ film, which is widely expected to distort the narrative surrounding the Iraq invasion.

But while some may not particularly like Tony Blair, we have to examine who exactly signed this letter that has received fawning coverage in the Guardian, Huffington Post, and Independent newspapers: 

1. Sir Richard Dalton – former Ambassador to Iran, noted for his comments on how the “Israel lobby” is trying to “censor British politicians”. Sir Richard has appeared on panels organised by the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) website, co-sponsored by the Federation of Student Islamic Societies. MEMO has been linked to Muslim Brotherhood operatives, and been labelled a “Hamas-friendly” publisher.  While the Federation of Student Islamic Societies has repeatedly been implicated in facilitating extremist speakers on UK university campuses.

2. Oliver Miles – former Ambassador to Libya, during the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher no less. Orchestrated a letter slamming Tony Blair’s approach to Iraq and support for Israel in 2004. Now works for his son’s Middle East and North Africa ‘consultancy’ called “Al Shafie Miles”. Wrote a letter in the Independent in 2009 drawing attention to the (irrelevant) fact that two members of the Iraq Inquiry “are Jewish” and have a “record of active support for Zionism”. 

3. Baroness Jenny Tonge – Known to some as ‘jihad Jenny’, Tonge has uttered a number of controversial, anti-Israel comments. She was censured by her political party, the Liberal Democrats, over her comments. She eventually resigned the party whip after it became apparent that her hateful comments would no longer be tolerated. Jihad Jenny is pictured here with Hamas leaders.

4. Ken Livingstone – former London mayor, supported by Islamist-linked Tower Hamlets mayor; spoke at a Muslim Association of Britain mosque where he said he would turn London into a ‘beacon’ of Islam; attacked by his own running mate for his relationship with Islamist hate-preacher Yusuf al-Qaradawi; recently insulted British Jews by claiming they all vote Conservative because they’re rich; called a Jewish journalist a “Nazi concentration camp guard”; has persistently fawned over the Jew-hating, dead Venezuelan tyrant Hugo Chavez.

5. Caroline Lucas MP – from the Green Party (sirens should already be going off in your head); blamed Israel for the Mumbai terror attacks; has repeatedly called for boycotts of Israel; spoke at a ‘Rage Against Israel’ rally.

6. Peter Oborne – Telegraph columnist who should know better, but has claimed that Saudi Arabia is a greater threat than a nuclear-empowered Iran (the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, by the way) who has repeatedly gone after the so-called “Israel lobby” in the UK. His paper’s defence editor wrote of his book: “Given the authors’ alarming ignorance about the rudimentary principles that underpin the current Iranian regime, it is a wonder that their warped interpretation of the facts ever made it into print. Certainly, the book’s title more aptly applies to the specious arguments advanced by the authors themselves than the way the West has attempted to handle the Iranian crisis during the past decade.”

7. George Galloway MP – The man behind it all, and where to start? He worked for the Iranian state media outlet Press TV, on which he has peddled (and then attempted to cover up) numerous conspiracy theories about Israel including that they fund Al Qaeda. He refuses to debate Jewish people; has worked for a Hezbollah-linked TV station, continues to back Bashar al Assad; screams expletives at his constituents; oh and is absolutely, stark-raving bonkers.

So yes, while it has become somewhat of a national sport to moan about Tony Blair – think about who you’re getting in bed with before you back these people in their (obviously fruitless) bid to have the man ousted as Middle East Peace Envoy.