A plea for fair reporting of contentious issues

I make no apologies for returning to the question of what people in public life did or did not say about the Jews. This piece (by a representative of the closest that the Jewish people come to an aristocracy!) confirms the conclusion I had reached about the wilder statements from some Labourites ("Three pieces of advice to help British leftwingers kick racism out of their anti-Israel rhetoric").

The Palestinian Return Centre, sponsors of the Balfour Apology Campaign whose event Baroness Tonge chaired last week, seeks to put right the misreporting surrounding it.

Prominent Liberal Democrat activist Linda Jack writes on Facebook:

I worry about the way the media seem intent on accusing anyone of anti-semitism who questions the actions of the Israeli State. I worry about the inaction of those states, ours included, who choose to ignore the responsibility of all those involved for the injustices and inequalities that are currently being occluded by the manufactured smoke screen that screams anti-semitism at the slightest criticism of said state. No one who holds a meeting can be held responsible for the comments of everyone at that meeting, such meetings will always attract a range of people with sometimes obnoxious views, on both sides. I am very sorry to lose Jenny, those of us who know her know that her concern about the current plight of the Palestinians springs from her deep compassion and humanity. We should remember that she, like many of us, began her campaign after visiting Israel/Palestine and witnessing the reality of what is going on there. I spent most of my adult life as a Christian Zionist, a fervent defender of the Israeli State. I visited several times as a guest of the state, but it was only when I visited as a trustee of Elijah Trust that I actually met Palestinians and had my attitude well and truly challenged. We must not let justified criticism be shut down like this, it is an affront to our common humanity. My love for Israel and all its people, Jewish, Muslim, Druze, Christian, all faiths and none, is not diminished by my despair at the actions of the Israeli government - its a bit like suggesting I am anti British or anti Christian because I am against the damage the Tory government is doing to my fellow citizens.

Changing the subject to that of immigration, one should not believe that the London Daily Mail and the London Daily Express represent the views of a majority: