"The Worst Deal in History": Theresa May's Surrender

by David Brown • December 4, 2018 at 5:00 am

This Brexit "deal" is anything but good for the nation.
This "deal" will cost the British taxpayer £60 billion; require that the British still comply with EU rules without having any say in what those will be, and worst of all, it permits the British to leave the EU only if the EU agrees. It commits the British effectively to subjugation by the EU in perpetuity, with no recourse should the British change their mind. It is a prison. It is also the first step of the EU toward its dream of global governance: unaccountable, untransparent, unelected by the public, and with no way out.
There is still a way out of this mess; an easy alternative. The solution is No Deal. Without any further action, the UK's membership of the EU will lapse on March 29, 2019, and unless that majority can unite around a viable alternative, we will leave. Even better, according to a House of Lords report, there would be no legal obligation for the UK to make any payment as part of a financial settlement.

(Image source: iStock)

But, we have nearly left the EU haven't we? After all, we keep hearing about this deal. We must be nearly there by now, surely?

Just because some of us are immersed in this stuff, many of us are not. Back in the real world where people are trying to find their bus passes, generally keep warm, or asking who will do the school pick-up, Brexit is not everyone's first and overwhelming thought.

In the margins, there are the headlines on the six o'clock news telling you Theresa May has a "deal" agreed to by Brussels -- and she is off to sell it to the nation.

A "deal" implies you got more than what you bargained hard or hoped for, or that someone threw in an extra bottle of Fairy Liquid for free.

Theresa May is misusing the term "deal". What she is calling a "deal" is a literal deceit to the nation. This "deal" is anything but good for Great Britain.

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Anti-Semitism: The Fast Track in Turkey to a Government Career?

by Uzay Bulut • December 4, 2018 at 4:00 am

"King Mohammed VI of Morocco made a breakthrough in the Muslim world and told the world press that 'education has the power to fight ugly phenomena such as discrimination, racism and anti-Semitism.'" — Mois Gabay, Şalom.
"What about the fact that... an awakening about Israel and Jews is on the rise in many other majority-Muslim countries." — Mois Gabay, Şalom.
"The government should immediately recognize anti-Semitism as a hate crime and impose penal sanctions on the perpetrators." — Işıl Demirel, an anthropologist from Turkey; Avlaremoz.
Demirel's suggestion would make perfect sense in a free and genuinely democratic society. But in a country where the president, his advisers and MPs regularly and proudly spit out hatred not only against Jews, but also against other minorities, how is anti-Semitism to be dealt with when demonizing Jews or Israel seems to serve as a fast track to a career in government?

There are currently fewer than 15,000 Jews in Turkey and their number reportedly keeps declining. Istanbul's Neve Şalom Synagogue (pictured) was attacked three times by terrorists: in 1986 (by the Abu Nidal Organization); in 1992 (by Turkish Hizballah); and in 2003 (by Al-Qaeda). Image source: Chadica/Wikimedia Commons

As the Islamist government of Turkey grows increasingly authoritarian, religious minorities in the country seem to be the most targeted and affected group.

The concerns of Turkey's Jewish community were addressed recently by Mois Gabay, a columnist for the country's Jewish weekly, Şalom, in an article entitled, "What Kind of Turkey Are We Living In?"

In it, Gabay discussed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's establishing nine councils, the members of which he appointed, and who are responsible for "offering policy proposals, ideas and strategies to the president" on the economy, foreign policy, education and law.

Among those appointed to official positions within these councils, Gabay wrote, are well-known public figures who have made blatant anti-Semitic statements.

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