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USA 

Outside the bubble

Melanie

Fascinating to hear Dr Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to President Trump, on the BBC Today programme on Friday morning (0750) With the presenter’s voice and the phrasing of his questions reflecting the premise from which all BBC coverage of the Trump presidency starts – that it is a total disaster and has achieved nothing apart from really awful things like the military transgender ban and is about to junk the US constitution for rule by junta and that the White House is engulfed by unbridled chaos – Gorka did not…

A cruel and ignorant campaign

Melanie

The agonising case of Charlie Gard, the 11-month old baby dying from a rare form of mitochondrial disease, is edging towards a no less agonising conclusion. Today, his parents agreed that he should be transferred from Great Ormond Street hospital in London (GOSH) to a hospice to spend there his final period of life. The hospice was a compromise. The parents have been fighting the plan for their baby’s end of life care just as they had fought the decision that he should no longer be kept alive. They wanted…

Israel 

The urgent need for the detection of mettle

Melanie

The Israeli government has removed the metal detectors, or magnometers, that it installed at the entrance to Temple Mount to prevent further Arab terrorist attacks. This is a bad move. Even worse is how the government explained it – in terms of total capitulation. This morning Yoav Galant, Israel’s Minister of Housing and Construction, said at a meeting I attended that the metal detectors were a “mistake”. He told IDF Radio: “It is clear that from the absorption point of view that it is impossible to transfer tens of thousands…

The calumny against Great Ormond Street hospital

Melanie

I wrote here two days ago that in the tragic case of Charlie Gard, the 11-month old British baby suffering from a rare form of mitochondrial disease, reason and objectivity were being howled down by emotion. Since then, it’s got a lot worse. Charlie’s parents want to take him to America for experimental treatment. Great Ormond Street children’s hospital, which has been caring for him, oppose this on the grounds that the damage to his brain and other vital functions is irreversible, the treatment being proposed is futile and might…

Global conflict 

Our Saudi Arabian frenemy

Melanie

Saudi Arabia is our new best friend, right? Unfortunately, no. But my goodness, it’s complicated. The Arab and Muslim world is in flux and chaos. The need to halt Iran’s drive for regional hegemony, and the resulting Shia dominance over the Sunni Islamic world, has driven the Saudis into a tacit alliance not only with America but also, even more remarkably, with Israel. With the UAE, the Saudis are now also leading an economic and diplomatic boycott of Qatar, the Sunni Gulf state which is nevertheless allied to Shia Iran…

Global conflict Videos 

Honour among thieves?

Melanie

An extraordinary clash recently occurred at the UN between representatives of Saudi Arabia and Iran. The two states that between them are responsible for the fanatical Islamic thinking and jihadi violence that currently menaces the world faced off across a table and each denounced the other as terrorists. You can watch this astonishing spectacle here. Of course, both protagonists are correct about each other. The Iranian was right to link Saudi Arabia to al Qaeda and Isis. The fact that Saudi Arabia is now a bitter enemy of al Qaeda…

Livingstone Britain Instant Articles Israel 

Britain united against terrorism and hate? It’s a lie

Melanie

As reported here, a study by the University of Oslo has found that most anti-Jewish violence in France, Sweden, Germany and the UK is committed by Muslim extremists. This is all the more striking considering that Muslims currently make up only relatively small proportions of the populations of these countries. Scarcely less notable (though no surprise to some of us) is that left-wing violence was the next largest category of anti-Jewish attacks, with right-wing violence trailing into insignificance. Only in Germany were right-wing attacks more numerous than left-wing ones, and…

conversation Britain Instant Articles USA 

The fight to the death in Britain and America

Melanie

Both Britain and America are afflicted by a mortal sickness. Britain recently suffered three Islamist attacks in as many months, killing scores of people. Earlier this week, a white man drove a van into Muslims outside a mosque in Finsbury Park, north London, injuring nine. One man who collapsed before the attack died at the scene. Islamist attacks are habitually said to be either random acts of terrorism or the fault of the West. Muslims disclaim communal responsibility and talk instead about promoting harmony. Yet after Finsbury Park the media,…