As a Londoner, I have the feeling that recent events have finally brought Britain and Israel's thinking closer together than they have ever been.

Last weekend, the UK's new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, was laying a wreath in
Even France looks like a safer bet for those who value their freedom and security.
memory of the victims of the London bombings in July 2005. As he was doing so, police were still rounding up suspects in the latest terrorist plot of July 2007. He then issued an order forbidding his ministers to mention any linkage of Islam with the bombings and instructed them to expunge the phrase "war on terror" from all government communications.

And so, with that policy firmly established, after a terrifying week in England and Scotland, Brown felt able to reduce the national threat condition from ‘critical' back down to merely ‘severe'. Not much later his new Jewish Foreign Secretary, David Milliband, was gushing with praise for Hamas and their assistance in freeing the BBC's Gaza correspondent with his head still attached to his body. This son of Holocaust survivors feels that now is the time to "engage" with Hamas, and Milliband is likely to be at the forefront of moves to restore EU funding to the Hamas murderers, regardless of their failure to renounce terror or recognise the existence of Israel.

With a UK general election not far off, you would have thought the opposition Conservative party might have a refreshingly different approach. Some hopes. Its own new and ultra-green leader David Cameron seems more worried about ozone than Semtex. Since his appointment as party leader, he hasn't stopped pontificating about global warming and Britain's carbon footprint. Where Londonistan is concerned, his latest idea was to appoint the first-ever Muslim member of cabinet. Parachuted into no less than the House of Lords, the new Baroness Sayeeda Warsi will be responsible for "community cohesion."

What all this amounts to is the most blatant denial of the true message of 7/7 and of this month's repeat performance, which failed only by the merest fluke; or as I would prefer, by the grace of God. The speed of the British government's capitulation in the face of a clear and present threat from the fifth column embedded in its hospitals and other public services makes even France look like a safer bet for those who value their freedom and security.

So, where is the parallel with Israel? Well, whilst all this was going on in the UK, Israel was again writing out hundred-million-dollar checks payable to those sworn to its destruction. At the same time, Ehud Olmert draws up another list of terrorists to be freed in exchange for... nothing and no-one. It is unlikely that a single cabinet member doubts that the money will find its way to Hamas. Nor will anyone doubt that many of the freed terrorists will be back soon to murder more Jews with the guns we sent earlier to 'nice Mr. Abbas.' But still, the government of Israel sends the guns, the money and the prisoners, and never ceases to talk of giving up more land.

"Oslo" is a delusion of peace, a fantasy that by throwing more meat to the lions, they will become vegetarians. Usually, the most effective cure for mental illness is shock treatment. Therefore, there is at least some hope that last year's rocketing from Lebanon and the
"Oslo" is a delusion of peace.
second round of war which seems likely to follow very soon - and on a much wider front - will ultimately silence the inner voices of Oslo that threaten to turn Israel into a total basket case.

Where Britain is concerned, it's plain to see that the government's reaction is rooted in fear. Like that BBC correspondent who now speaks so highly of Hamas, Britannia had her blindfold taken off on 7/7 and found herself held hostage by a community of two million Muslims and the threat of civil disobedience if any of their sensibilities were offended. The rabid "cartoon demonstrations" in European cities, and the torching of cars and property in over three weeks of rioting in France, were messages that a fearsome British government took to heart. It had two choices: Churchill or Chamberlain. It chose Chamberlain.

What's interesting is that hostages often suffer from a condition known as Stockholm Syndrome. It is named after a failed bank robbery in the Swedish capital some 30 years ago, in which the staff bonded with their captors to such an extent that they did everything possible to obstruct police rescuers and protect the villains. This friendship extended long after the robbers were jailed, when former hostages visited them and one was even rumored to have become engaged to her former captor.

Britain was once that happy and quiet Swedish bank that, one sunny morning in July 2005, saw evil burst through its doors. Within hours of the 7/7 carnage in London, government leaders were wringing their hands not over what the Jihadists had done, but what Britain had done. Instead of demanding that Muslim leaders dissociate from and condemn the terrorists, British parliamentarians went mosque-hopping to reassure the old chaps that everything was okay. Taken together with Gordon Brown's reaction to this month's episode, there can be no doubt that this is a classic case of Stockholm Syndrome, bonding with the enemy out of utter fear and helplessness.

Whilst Israel's prognosis now looks better, Britain's condition appears to be terminal. There seems to be no limit to what may be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness. Last month, a judge walked out of his courtroom when a fully veiled defendant appeared before him. She stood accused of vandalizing public housing from which she had been
Israel's prognosis now looks better, Britain's condition appears to be terminal.
evicted. Following muffled protests of human rights abuse from behind the thick black veil, it is the judge who now faces suspension.

Of course, not all Muslims are terrorists. But these days, all terrorists turn out to be Muslims. The overwhelming majority of Muslims are simply too silent, either out of fear or plain complicity. Only very few community leaders have publicly condemned terrorist killings as contrary to the teachings of the Koran and a blasphemy of their prophet. But if that is the case, why is this blasphemy not being protested in Europe's capitals with at least as much force as the offending cartoons?

That is the question Gordon Brown should be posing to Muslim community leaders. He has to insist that they become willing and active partners in the fight against Jihadist terror. By issuing a government order to deny the existence of Islamic terrorism, Prime Minister Brown encourages more of the same and insults the memory of victims of 7/7. It would have been more appropriate to see Muslim clerics laying wreaths in their memory and begging forgiveness for their misguided brothers.