MELANIE PHILLIPS; RICHARD(COL.KEMP) THE LION HEARTED
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/5790891/richard-the-lionhearted.thtml
Richard the lion-hearted
Monday, 22nd February 2010
I was privileged last night to hear Colonel Richard Kemp, formerly commander of British forces in Afghanistan and co-ordinator of intelligence in the Cabinet Office, speak forcefully and even passionately at a Zionist Federation dinner about the glowing record of the Israeli Defence Force, the vital strategic importance of Israel to Britain and the way in which Israel was being traduced by the British media, including the BBC. It is a measure of the significance of such remarks made by an individual with such a background that, to its credit, the BBC website today carries a story about his speech:
A former senior British army officer has said international media including the BBC are being exploited by ‘dark forces’ who want to harm Israel. Col Richard Kemp, who was a commander in Afghanistan, said some international criticism of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) was motivated by anti-Semitism.
There were some ‘bad ‘soldiers in the IDF, Col Kemp acknowledged. But he added that despite similarities between the IDF and British forces, UK soldiers did not have to deal with the same amount of criticism from the international community.
‘When we go into battle we do not get the same knee-jerk, almost Pavlovian response from many, many elements of the international media and international groups, humanitarian groups and other international groups such as the United Nations which should know better… of utter automatic condemnation. We don’t have to put up with that.’
Perhaps the most arresting observation Col Kemp made, however, was that when he was faced with the phenomenon, hitherto unknown to him, of suicide bombing as a tactic used against his men in Afghanistan, he received invaluable advice from the Israeli military on how to combat this threat, advice which formed the basis of official British army guidelines used by soldiers on the ground there. In other words, not only is Britain’s alliance with Israel of critical strategic importance but it has been used to help save the lives of British soldiers.
This is not the first time that the Roman Catholic Col Kemp has spoken out in support of Israel. During Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, when the IDF was being libelled for wantonly killing Palestinian babies and when violent demonstrations on the streets of London marching behind Hamas banners were baying for Israel’s blood, Kemp calmly told a stunned BBC interviewer that the IDF were going out of their way to save Palestinian lives which Hamas were deliberately using as ‘human shields’, and that the IDF was a world-leader in humane warfare that sought to protect civilian lives as far as was possible. He said much the same inside the very belly of the beast, the UN Human Rights Council, during its show trial of Israel over the Goldstone report.
It takes courage to speak these truths against the current tide of anti-Israel derangement. It is rare indeed to come across a distinguished figure from the very heart of Britain’s defence establishment who is prepared to defend so robustly in public both the Jewish people and the great cause of justice, truth and human rights that Israel represents. Col Kemp is an example of a type that once made Britain great but which is becoming all too rare: the morally decent, emotionally balanced, lion-hearted Englishman who will defend freedom, truth and justice to the death and will never sacrifice the vulnerable to their enemies.
There were accordingly at last night’s dinner many from Britain’s beleaguered and bewildered Jewish community for whom Col Kemp’s remarks brought a lump to their throats. While such men still exist and are able to speak out, all is not lost; it’s game on.
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