Caught in the Middle

The EDL and other groups have been busy, as we know. And I must agree with what John Denham said on Saturday:

If you look at the types of demonstrations they have organised, the language used and the targets chosen, it looks pretty clear that it's a tactic designed to provoke, to get a response and create violence.

One of these tactics has been the use of Israeli flags. Not that the Israeli flag is inherently provocative but these groups know very well that waving the flag will annoy Islamists and Muslims alike (albeit for different reasons). The inevitable side-effect is that Islamists pathetically try to link these groups with Israel supporters.

MPACUK has posted two articles pushing this line. One entitled "Exposed! The EDL and Its Zionist Connection" had this to offer as proof of the headline's claim:

Their ruse is that they were marching against 'extremism' but their motives were soon revealed by their racist chanting and by the unfurling of an Israeli flag by the EDL skinheads.

The other ran under the line "Far-Right and Zionist Thugs Unite Against Palestinians" and again contained no evidence beyond the use of the Israeli flag.

Other Islamist groups are more subtle. The IHRC has two articles about the EDL events (here and here). Is it a coincidence that the pictures chosen for them just happen to be ones with an Israeli flag prominently placed?

All this leaves supporters of Israel in the middle. We know very well the games being played but are powerless to stop it. I suppose all we can do is declare clearly and loudly that supporters of Israel do not support the far-right and hope that people are intelligent enough not to be taken in by these tricks.