David Hersch is Chairman of SAIPAC, the South African Israel Public Affairs Committee. Former chairman of the South African Zionist Federation (Cape Council) as well as a former national vice-chairman of the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF). He is also a former member of the South Jewish Board of Deputies (Cape Council). Retired businessman and broadcaster.
Chutzpah, a Yiddish word of Hebrew origin, generally refers to audacity, nerve, or effrontery, often with a sense of boldness that borders on rudeness or even arrogance. Chutzpah implies extraordinary gall. It describes someone who has overstepped the boundaries of accepted behaviour.
Which now brings us to Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Anthony Albanese, amongst others. Who do you think you are threatening and, quite honestly, have your threats any weight and what exactly are you “recognising” in a fictitious Palestinian Arab state? You are all great examples of Orwellianism where good is bad, up is down, lies are truth, logic is illogic and common sense is no longer that common. Morality? Don’t even mention it.
You intend to “recognise” a Palestinian Arab state that does not exist and will not exist even after your recognition. There is no defined territory, no governing capability, no defined borders, no state institutions or anything else that is required to define a state, and you know it.. These are basic conditions under international law. You are recognising the Emperor’s new clothes because the “Palestinian state” is in the altogether, and it will never be born.
Furthermore, in your dreams, do you really think you can create a state in the midst of a sovereign independent democratic state? Do you really think you can create a Palestinian Arab state without Israel? Do you think America under Donald Trump will accept your nonsense? Do you really think Hamas should be rescued and allowed to continue its deplorable inhuman and subhuman dictatorship and rule Gaza, rebuild and repeat October 7 again?
You should be ashamed of yourselves. You are a disgrace! Hiding behind “humanitarianism” is nonsense and you know it. Worthless virtue signalling.
To add to how ridiculous you all are, the Arabs that morphed into Palestinians in 1964 as a KGB invention have rejected a state since 1947 and many times since. Of course we know, it really has become a cliché, that what these Arabs want is a state instead of Israel, which you, in your infantile madness, are pandering to.
This can and should be extended to understand that these Arabs/Islamists won’t stop with Israel. You are next and they have already many times stated quite clearly that they wish to take over your countries and the whole of Europe. You are kicking the can down the road and as a result, your names will be mud, and deservedly so.
Abbas in recent years, in spite of an agreement, which is obviously worthless, as always, has tried to circumvent Israel by appealing for recognition directly to the United Nations. That is not only impractical, it will not happen as long as the United States has a veto and even if it did, how will that body implement it and where exactly?
In biblical terms, I suggest you seriously consider Genesis 12.3: “I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you.” Since the days when you, Britain, turned on Israel during your Mandate in favour of the Arabs, Britain has certainly become far less that Great. You have lost your empire and so much more. You have tragically almost become a third world nation.
Now who exactly are you going to recognise as the leader and government of your "Palestine"? Hamas? Obviously not, but you, in your dull-wittedness, have now encouraged and reinforced them. The Palestinian Authority under the aging former Arafat aide and terrorist, Mahmoud Abbas, an illegitimate and unelected President? Anybody else in mind? And how do you propose to implement your recognition? Sanctions? I doubt it as you and Europe, are hugely dependent on Israel and will need Israel more and more as you yourselves have been and are being seriously invaded.
What an irony that the two countries responsible for the mess the Middle East is in thanks to Sykes and Picot after WWI, those who bestowed multiple countries on the Arabs by drawing ridiculous straight lines through various peoples' areas with complete ignorance and arrogance, now want to create another Arab/Islamic state.
(A perfect example of the straight lines drawn by Sykes and Picot are the Kurds who should have had a state called Kurdistan, but landed up in three different countries.)
Let us not forget Britain’s bias towards the Arabs during its Mandate, driven by obvious self-interests driven in turn by the world’s increasing dependence on oil. The British Mandate ended 77 years ago and they no longer get to dictate terms to the Jews!
What is behind Starmer and Macron’s decisions to recognise a Palestinian Arab state? Simple and obvious self-serving politics rather than the welfare and safety of their own countries. They are appealing to the Islamic voters overwhelming their countries for votes and the Islamists are using them and their parties to take over Britain and France. Macron’s popularity is down to 13%. Keir Starmer’s favourability ratings among Britons have again fallen back to just 23%. Two-thirds of the public (67%) have an unfavourable view of the Labour leader. This leaves both Starmer and Macron scratching for votes.
I repeat:
They are appealing to the Islamic voters overwhelming their countries for votes and the Islamists are using them and their parties to take over Britain and France.
What is happening to both Britain and France is tragic. I have never held much regard for the French. "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" has become highly selective as the French see and apply it. Winston Churchill is spinning in his grave as there has really been no decent British leader since, and with the exception of, Margaret Thatcher.
Starmer and his foreign minister, David Lammy, are a reincarnation of Clement Attlee and Ernest Bevin who were elected after WWII and proceeded to destroy what was left of Britain’s economy after the war. They were thrown out after their term and Churchill re-elected as Prime Minister, but by then it was too late. Whilst Margaret Thatcher finally turned things around, it didn’t last and Britain still suffers from the Labour Party of Attlee and Bevin. It now suffers from the weakness of its current foolish leaders. I suspect Britain’s two main political parties, Conservative and Labour, have finally reached their Sell-by Date and should be sent into the dustbin of history.
We now see Malta, Canada and the “genius” in Australia joining this farce. The Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, said that Canada will recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
Leftist idiots of the world unite. Meaningless, as it is also “predicated on the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to much-needed reforms”, including elections in 2026, anti-corruption measures, and a demilitarised Palestinian Arab state. I trust “demilitarised” includes disarming all of their terrorists. Add to this the USA’s veto. Good luck you bunch of left wing wimps and fools!
After 77+ years, actually more than 100 years, the ever useless and incompetent Palestinian Arabs have not been able to sit down and negotiate or accept a state and rejected it at every opportunity. Then the vicious and rabid terrorist group, Hamas, perpetrates a real horrific barbaric massacre and real genocide, in this case not a misused world. Due to their holding hostages, suddenly these left wing leaders actually want to impose a state on the Palestinian Arabs, which we all know will turn into another Hamas-led Gaza and attack Israel, and as I have already said, will extend their barbarism to Europe, USA and the rest of the world.
Of course all these “wise” men actually know their conditions can and never will be met by the Palestinian Arabs and their stance is hypocritical nonsense as are their great virtue and "humanitarian care" for the Gazans. Note how none of this humanitarian care is extended anywhere else - the Sudan or the endless murders of Christians in Nigeria. They know that the United States will once more rescue them from their foolishness by using its veto.
To date, the majority of the world’s countries, 145, have recognised a fictional Palestinian Arab state, with 136 doing so before October 7 and 9 afterwards.
The first wave came in 1988, following the outbreak of the First Intifada, when Yasser Arafat declared “independence”—years before the Oslo Accords, while he was still based in Tunis. Nothing like propaganda and claiming the non-existent to a stupid gullible world. A fertile world for anti-Semitism.
Among the countries that previously recognised a Palestinian Arab state are some of Israel’s greatest allies, including Hungary, Argentina, and Paraguay, now fortunately reversed because of sane governments having taken over.
Israel continues to fight in Gaza and Israeli hostages remain there. These countries also know well that the Palestinian Authority continues to fund terrorism and incite against Israel, including in its education system.
This is not a new paradigm that has suddenly emerged.
For the State of Israel, this is a security and existential issue of the highest order. A Palestinian Arab state would be a Hamas state, a forward jihadist stronghold, mere kilometres from Israel’s population centres, continuing the campaign against Israel. In a single word, UNACCEPTABLE! Now and always.
As for the pending UN decision in the General Assembly, it is merely a political recommendation and obvious posturing and propaganda, nothing more. Great for the media and Hamas and PLO, but meaningless. It is a political decision, non-binding, and can simply be ignored.
The UN cannot create a Palestinian State: resolution 80 of its Charter prohibits it.
These countries have been claiming it for so many years. What is stopping the European Union, USA and UN from creating their dream Palestinian state? Simply international law, which forbids them from doing so. If they had this power, they would have used it a long time ago.
President Trump has stated the obvious: “The decision of Britain, Canada, and France strengthens Hamas while IT IS the main obstacle to peace and a ceasefire”.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy: “We will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September if Israel does not bring an end to the current situation in Gaza and accept a long-term peace. We hope that our decision to recognise a Palestinian state will, in practice, lead to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The Netanyahu government's opposition to the two-state solution is a strategic and moral mistake. We have resumed funding UNRWA in order to ensure aid reaches the Strip”.
My dear clot, you are asking Israel to accept a long-term peace? Where have you been? Have you lost cognisance or any knowledge as to who attacked whom? Don’t you read newspapers or listen to radio/TV news, biased or not, or get intelligence reports? Does your personal bias overwhelm your ability to think? When Hamas vows to destroy Israel, what part of that do you not understand?
The British government is giving Hamas a prize and is actually forcing it to refuse a ceasefire agreement. All Hamas needs to do is to reject the ceasefire until September, then Britain will recognise a Palestinian state. Could the British government be more stupid than this??
What is abundantly clear is that all these countries, Britain, France, Australia et al, are committing civilisational suicide.
You are empowering Hamas to grow bolder internationally even as they continue to use their own people for their wider cause of Jew annihilation. They are on the ropes militarily, but can carry on their vicious rule because of the support from the West. And the western world laps up their lies in order to appease their population demographics.
In every generation come really stupid destructive leaders and you are all yet another in a long line. How they get elected is anyone’s guess and it is a clear example of democracy’s weakness, but as Churchill said, when you consider the alternatives…..
The meanest intelligence knows that what Israel has been subject to from the Arabs and Islamists for the past 100 years, is now about to happen in these countries and has already started.
I have suggested for a long time a two state solution for Britain. Give them London. It has a harbour, airport etc and keep the rest of Britain for yourselves.
Enoch Powell was 100% correct in his predictions in his Rivers of Blood speech to the British Parliament. He was sadly and stupidly ignored by both the Conservatives and Labour.
So when Israel will not talk about a 2-state solution it is because they see a reality the West refuses to see. One where there is no place for true peace and co-existence. How many times do we have to say that a Palestinian Arab state does exist since 1922 when Britain illegally hived off 78% of its mandate to form what is today called Jordan? So it’s not called Palestine, but it is the Palestinian Arab state. It is madness to try and dissect once more the tiny 22% that was left over.
Macron, Guterras, Starmer, Carney and many others know this, they are not that dim-witted, they know what they are doing, but do it anyway.
What would these leaders do?
-I note that France is hardly inclined to give a state to the Basque people.
-Australians are not inclined to give independence to the Aboriginal people. More likely to hand their country over to Islam or China.
-The UK desperately hangs on to the Falkland Islands and Northern Ireland.
But, in the middle of a war, all these countries are willing to recognise a non-existent, borderless, leaderless Palestinian state.
New Zealand's leader said recently Netanyahu has ‘lost the plot’ over Gaza
Oh really! And what exactly, is the correct plot? Do you actually know what you are talking about in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in a basically homogenous country? Do you really think it is possible to sit down with the barbaric Islamic savages that are Hamas and negotiate anything? Haven't you actually noticed how many attempts have been unsuccessfully made to rescue Israel's hostages and what Hamas' ridiculous and unacceptable demands are, which means Israel surrenders to these savages and when they rebuild, they will repeat October 7 again and again?
You, Christopher Luxon, live in splendid isolation and your stance is pure self-righteousness climbing, as with all the weak European and British leaders, onto the virtuous bandwagon. You can all stand on your heads and make faces with your feet as Israel is the only entity that can approve or reject a Palestinian Arab state, which will never come to pass.
Once this war in Gaza is over and the evil Iranian regime has been removed, all you worthless wimps will either be replaced by your own people or once more fade into obscurity. Countries like Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, Spain will all soon experience what Israel has had to cope with for over 100 years. The incredible stupidity of allowing so many Islamists into your countries and the cowardice you have all shown in avoiding standing up to them and saving your own countries is now destroying your countries and cultures.
And talking of Spain, such great virtue signalling and generosity shown just a few days ago where they parachuted food into Gaza. The only problem was that the food consisted of pork and its Use-By date had expired...
As I was born after WWII in 1948 and my father fought in WWII, I grew up with an ever present knowledge of that war and, as a South African, felt a kinship with Australians and New Zealanders. Culturally we were very close. I cannot believe what has happened to those countries and who they elected. Fools and weaklings. Not a decent, wise and strong leader amongst them.
When He said "I will bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you", it couldn't be clearer. As ye sow, so shall ye reap. "Vengeance is mine" says the Lord. Good luck you fools!
Israel will still be there long after you have all faded into obscurity.
Allow me to end on a biblical analogy. Abraham begged the Lord to save Sodom and Gomorra. G-d said He would save these cities if there were ten righteous men within them. There were not.
There are no righteous men or women in Gaza. Not a single soul. With the tempting reward of $5 million for information about where the hostages are, no one has come forward. For all the publicity about the civilians in Gaza, not a single person has come forward. Because they are all Hamas. They voted for Hamas, support Hamas and supply its manpower. And so Gaza has to go the way of Sodom and Gomorra. Modernity and humanity, rather than fire and brimstone, suggests that the Gazans be moved to other countries, preferably to Islamic countries. But no one wants them, because wherever they may go, they will be a danger to that country and a source of trouble. If Europe, USA or Canada, or any other western country takes them in, good luck!