Why is Priti Patel still in her job?
JVL Introduction
Martin Kettle asks why Pritti Patel is in her job and answers: “Because the boss needs here there”
But Patel is not just anyone. She was fired from her job as international development secretary by Teresa May in 2017, for moonlighting – having secret meetings in Israel with senior officials soon after the ejection of embassy official (=spy) Shai Masot from Britain for being caught planning to take down British politicians whom the Israeli government regarded as unfriendly.
You will recall Emily Thornberry taking this very seriously, describing Masot’s remarks as a national security issue, “improper interference in our democratic politics” and calling on the government to launch an immediate inquiry. Of course it never happened…
We can but speculate, along with Guardian reporter Peter Beaumont (see below), that her visit and meetings, especially with Gilad Erdan, head of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, was connected to Israel’s attempts to undermine critics of Israel, especially those advocating BDS.
Eliding criticism of Israel with antisemitism is an integral part of Israel’s propaganda war.
This article was originally published by the Guardian on Thu 5 Mar 2020. Read the original here.
Why is Patel still in her job? Because the boss needs her there
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The field hospital in Occupied Golan was allegedly used to support al-Nusra fighters.
We know which side in the Syrian civil was supported by Israel and the UK. Al- Nusra beheaded a twelve year-old Palestinian boy whom they claimed was a spy. This was widely reported , even in the UK press.
Patel’s visit was more sinister than has been revealed, in my view.
I don’t recall Thornberry or anybody else in the PLP complaining about “improper interference in our democratic politics” in reference to the on-going anti-Semitism smears and all-round character assassination of Jeremy Corbyn!
Elsewhere on this site it is reported that complaining about Patel’s trip to the Israeli-occupied Golan heights is regarded by the Labour Party thought police as an antisemitic offence, warranting administrative suspension. One might suspect that there is little need for Israel to interfere in British politics, since there are so many zealous collaborators for Israeli hasbara already in place – but too cowardly to allow any members’ scrutiny of their operations.