ORT House

Report by Joseph Michaels

As an answer to the Big Tent for Israel, an event noted more for its exclusions than for anything else, the UK Zionist Federation were inspired to hold an Israel Advocacy Training Conference at ORT House in Camden on Sunday, December 11^th.

But like many events the Zionist Federation organises, not all went according to plan. Some have claimed that the whole thing was a send-up at the behest of disparate elements and others claim that it was at least some kind of propaganda effort. Although it was advertised as a major event by the Zionist Federation, neither the Zionist Jewish Chronicle nor the Jewish News covered it.

As it was unlikely that those opposed to the continued infliction of torture and denial of the human rights of the indigenous Palestinians would be permitted entry, there were nonetheless several observers present outside to see how many turned up. From the start, they noted the arrival of the punters (at £25 a throw) and numbers – as predicted – were very low indeed.

Around noon, it was observed that about 50 persons were identified as being present – including the 26 speakers who had been invited – which hardly constitutes a full-house.

As is often the case, ‘security’ for this Zionist gee-up was provided by the Community Security Trust (CST) who like to think of themselves as an organisation that protects Britain’s Jewish Community and prevents anti-Semitism. In reality, the CST is a well-funded Zionist “charity” who act as bouncers at Zionist events and whose modus operandi when dealing with anti-Zionists is on a par with the Zionist Federation’s ally, the English Defence League. 

The CST’s claim that they prevent anti-Semitism is highly questionable, as they’ve been involved in too many controversial incidents. For instance in January 2009, a Jewish man who heckled the UK’s Chief Rabbi by singing an Israeli children’s song was physically attacked by a CST thug and in February 2010, two Jewish anti-Zionist campaigners were violently ejected by CST goons for simply and politely asking uncomfortable questions at a Zionist ‘environmental’ meeting held at the University of London’s Institute of Education.

An angry and aggressive CST ruffian approached a pair of observers who were opposite ORT House and threatened to call the police. But once challenged (like all bullies), he quickly backed off. As one observer later reported:

“A truculent man from the CST tried to intimidate us by saying we had to move away. I replied that we were interested in…the local architecture. This infuriated the CST creature who threatened to call the police, to which I said “OK”, but he didn’t.”

A LAW UNTO THEMSELVES: The CST said that taking photographs (on a public street) was not permitted.

On looking at the programme, even the most die-hard supporter of Zionist terrorism will have to admit that a cock-up took place with the selection of speakers that included significant dimwits, halfwits, nitwits, drones, nonentities and political illiterates. The list would be long, but two can be selected to demonstrate the point.

"Richard" (his best side)

A certain hack Zionist propagandist (who we’ll call “Richard”) spoke on the topic “Blogging for Israel”. For those ignorant souls that turned up, they learned…

“…how to create your own news agenda instead of having it created for you by the traditional media. With blogging you can write your own stories (yes, “Richard,” we know) about Israel, anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.”

Those who were involved in the Ahava demonstrations on Monmouth Street will remember “Richard” and all that he did to assist the subjugated Palestinians by helping to get the Ahava shop closed.

No mention of a Zionist event would be complete without the inclusion of the thoughts (and threats) of the Co Vice-Chair of the Zionist Federation, Jonathan Hoffman.

The Zionist Federation's Jonathan Hoffman

Hoffman (along with one Keith Fraser) spoke on… “How to make the most of limited knowledge” (I didn’t make this up!). The blurb for the session read:

“Without being an expert, see how you can rebut the most common accusations. Armed with just a few powerful facts, you can defend Israel and even persuade an opponent prepared to listen. The consistent repetition of positive, affirmative (sic) messages are our most powerful weapons”.

How very odd that Hoffman chose not to employ such skills when parking his posterior outside Ahava screaming “Nazi” at everyone who disagreed with him. Even Ahava UK’s Managing Director, Odelia Haroush who served in the Israeli Occupation Force’s Intelligence Corps could not get rid of him.

It has been noted by inside sources that there was, as a result of this conference, a shortfall in receipts and that the ZF is now tearing itself apart with its officers blaming each other for this fiasco.

For the last several editions, the Zionist Jewish Chronicle and Jewish News have ignored the obvious nonsense of the above and the reason is perfectly clear; a complete mess from start to finish and so the diktat has gone out to maintain silence on this farcical conference just as the terrorists of Israel maintain a similar silence about what they did to cleanse the Palestinian inhabitants in 1947/1948.