Israel's record speaks for itself

By A.N. Wilson, Evening Standard Last updated at 00:00am on 10.02.03

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While the Germans protest and the French dig in their heels, it is worth remembering that ours is not the only country whose people oppose the war in Iraq. A great many Americans do so, too. As President Bush and Tony Blair prepare for war, here is a truncated version of a questionnaire compiled by Brigadier General James J David (retired), Company Commander of the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam from 1969-70 and a veteran of three years active duty in the Middle East (1967-70).

Which country alone in the Middle East has nuclear weapons? Answer: Israel. Which country refuses to sign a non-proliferation treaty and bars international inspectors? Answer: Israel. Which country has seized the sovereign territory of other nations by military force, which it continues to hold in defiance of UN resolutions? Answer: Israel. Which country is in defiance of 69 UN resolutions and has been protected in 20 of these cases by a US veto on the Security Council? Answer: Israel. Which country has assassinated a high-ranking UN official? Answer: Israel. Which country has just re-elected as Prime Minister the man who ordered that assassination? Answer: Israel.

Which country has dispossessed 4,000 Palestinians by demolishing their homes, has created 762,000 refugees, refusing them permission to return to their farms and businesses? Answer: Israel. Which country regularly breaks the Geneva Convention by imposing collective "punishments" on whole towns and villages? Answer: Israel. Which country has used a weapon of mass destruction - ie a "smart bomb" - on a densely populated civilian area, killing 15 civilians, including nine children? Answer: Israel. Which country receives weaponry from the United States for nothing, which it sells to China in defiance of protests from the US? Answer: Israel. Which country, reckoned to be the 16th richest in the world, receives a third of all US overseas aid? Answer: Israel.

Those interested in these matters might like to read The Israeli Holocaust Against The Palestinians by M Hoffman and Professor Moshe Lieberman by writing to 253 W72nd Street, Apartment 1711, New York, NY1002.

Shame on Shirley

Everyone seems to have been censorious about Michael Jackson's performance with Martin Bashir. Shirley Williams, on Question Time on Thursday night, spoke as if there was nothing more damaging than holding the hand of a 12-year-old child.

It might be said that it was more damaging to withhold from that child the chance of a decent education. This is what, as Labour Education Secretary, Shirley Williams did, by abolishing direct grant and grammar schools. Labour should have spent more money improving the quality of other state schools, raising pay and conditions for teachers, and they should have purged teacher training colleges of egalitarian fanatics.

But Labour, to its everlasting shame, abolished schools that gave opportunities to clever children regardless of class or financial position. This stupid, ideologically driven bit of social engineering has held back two generations of children and is the reason why so many people under 40 cannot spell, know no maths and know no language other than their own. For this, Williams should be pelted with rotten tomatoes every time she appears in public. We do not want her views on what does, or does not, damage children.

Caddish words of a fading sex idol

I can't remember whether I had an affair with Salman Rushdie when we were at school together. These things fade from memory, but in any event, we have both maintained a dignified silence about it ever since.

It is always poignant when lovers split up. Padma Lakshmi, 30, as well as being a former model and a rising film director, has always been widely regarded as a person of biting intellect and challenging conversational powers. We had always assumed that it was these qualities that were so alluring to Salman Rushdie, 54, who has been "smitten" with Padma since they met at a New York party in August 1999.

Likewise, we had always inferred that what attracted Padma to Salman were his legs and his chest, though no doubt she was also attracted by his pretty face and his fluffy, flirtatious manner. Now, "friends" of the couple have been shattering all our illusions. Padma is said to have "got bored" with Rushdie.

It is sad when an original person such as Padma should start parroting opinions held by everyone else on the planet. To get his own back, fading sex idol Salman says he does not find Padma "intellectually challenging". None of us is going to buy that.

It is always a bit undignified for either party to give reasons when a relationship comes to an end, but for the man to do so is positively caddish. I can't help suspecting that there will be more men now queuing up to be intellectually stimulated by Padma than there will be sane women wanting to date Salman as their "token novelist".

A pay day too far

So, at long last, the Lord Chancellor has climbed down and referred his large pay rise to the Senior Salaries Review Body. It would have been much more seemly not to have accepted the money in the first place. Lord Irvine and his wife have a large collection of paintingsand must, by most people's standards, be extremely rich. It is clear that he loves being Lord Chancellor. That, and the colossal public expense account that paid for decorating his official apartments, should be enough for him. He should not be drawing a salary at all.

The coleslaw effect

I went away for a few days at the weekend and lazily ate my meals in pubs. Almost all the pubs in the West Country are stuck in the age of coleslaw. It is fascinating - even if you just order a ham sandwich, it comes with a dollop of this vinaigrous and unappetising substance, looking as if someone has inadvertently been sick on the edge of your
plate. Or perhaps not inadvertently.

Since I never eat the coleslaw - and nor does anyone else, I notice, perhaps it really is vomit - is it a little token of what provincials think of us swanky Londoners with our fancy women and smart cars as we pull up at the local hostelry to sample real ale and an authentic flavour of English rural life?

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