Mick Hartley

From the JC:

A Conservative MP and former treasurer of the prestigious Oxford Union debating society has condemned the union for positing a motion that presents Israel as a greater threat than Iran to stability in the Middle East.

Greg Stafford, the MP for Farnham and Bordon, which covers parts of Surrey and Hampshire, also hit out at one of the guests speaking in favour of the motion, former Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, for “cheerleading for Iran at a time when the region desperately needs moderate Palestinian voices”.

Speakers at the debate, which is due to take place tomorrow evening, will consider the motion “This house believes that Israel is a greater threat to regional stability than Iran.”

Shtayyeh, who stepped down as prime minister last year after five years in office, will be joined by Norman Finkelstein, a Jewish American political scientist who has labelled Israel a “Jewish supremacist state”; former Iranian government official Ata’ollah Mohajerani; and Rania Khalek, a journalist who has written for Russia Today and has been accused of repeating the Assad regime’s propaganda.

The Oxford Union has history here. Just a year ago:

Prominent pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian speakers gathered at the Oxford Union yesterday evening to debate whether or not “Israel is an apartheid state responsible for the genocide” of Palestinians, as hundreds of protesters were said to have congregated outside.

The debate at England’s Oxford University was held under tight security and ended with the union voting 278:59 in favor of the proposition that Israel is an apartheid state that is committing genocide.

The debate devolved into a shouting match between the speakers and the audience at one point, and Haddad was removed from the stage after a verbal altercation with attendees.

In a post on X following the debate, Yousef accuses the Oxford Union of being “controlled by terrorist supporters.”

“Last night I asked the participants and pro ‘Palestine’ opponents during a debate at Oxford Union if they would have reported Hamas plans to authorities to prevent October 7 massacre,” he writes. “75% of the participants voted they would have chosen not to report Hamas plans to the authorities.”

Jonathan Sacerdoti wrote about the event in the Spectator. “Deeply and worryingly dishonest, aggressive and one-sided”.

And Norman Finkelstein again – the man who wrote about The Holocaust Industry, and believes that Holocaust denial should be taught in university “and preferably by a Holocaust denier.”

From a 2012 interview with the great man: “I had been a Maoist, and then when the Gang of Four was overthrown I was completely distraught. I was bedridden for three weeks, it was a very painful experience for me. Not only because I had been wrong, but because I felt really embarrassed that I had been lecturing and pontificating with such self-confidence.” So he’s learnt absolutely nothing. From one set of hard-left crank beliefs straight to another.