A meeting.

On Thursday I popped along to a book launch by Ben White on his jolly new historical screed about "Israeli Apparhteid." The talk was rather unimpressive and could be reduced to as following.

1 Israel isn't Apparhteid.
2 Apparhteid is horrid.
3 Israel is horrid anyway.

This aparently took 14 months of research. Though I suspect Mr White actually started with what sounded like a wizard title for his book and worked backwards from there. A similar tactic I may take up with such Sardonicus classic titles as; "Was Hitler a Welsh transvestite (No he wasn't) and "Thatcher my part in her downfall (it was very small).

This was followed by an even less impressive call to begin boycotting Israel. A call so inarticulate it could have been mistaken for a call to boycott walls in general and could have lead to the firebombing of a branch of B&Q.

For my fellow lovers of Zion Sardonicus was there in the role of a latter day Trumpledore. Where I asked if Israel was so awful and monsterous how Mr White had been able to travel so often there? And unlike other reporters in the Peoples Islamic Paradise of Iran spent most of his trip in the Holiday Inn? Mr White didn't really answer the question. Lost I fear in dreams of his new book "Barrack Obama Nazi or Slaver?" or maybe taking Robert Fisk's crown?

The thing that stuck with me was there were 2 groups in the room Zionists and anti Zionists. The Zionists booed asked questions interrupted and generally acted like rather middle class hooligans; the sort who'd hit you with a well spelled placard at a rally and would worry about how to recycle the glass in their molotov cocktails. . The Anti Zionists acted similarly (though in fairness it was there meeting). Then afterwards the Zionists spoke to each other and the Anti Zionists spoke to each other. And both sides strode off home convinced of the rightness of their arguments and how it's shame the other side can't see how wrong they've been. Thing is neither side spoke to each other except to shout at each other during the meeting.

Is this some how analgous of how we live now? I rather wished I hadn't asked my question I might have had a chance to chat with the otherside. On some level this conflict is being fought with real bullets, blood and wrecked lives over there. It seems a shame that over here we can't seem to bare to just chat to our opposite numbers.

n.b. post script got home to find a cheery facebook post about a cheery documentary proving most Palestinians are Jews who lost their way 1000s of years ago (and the second raters at that). The absurdity and racism of this message bothers me. If we're descending to the point of using the same arguments of those who persecuted us, then we are building up to being judged the same way. Mind you I take small comfort in this argument of a lunatic fringe, I just hope it isn't growing....