Peter Oborne, the Channel 4 journalist responsible for tonight's documentary, Inside Britain's Israel Lobby, explains his work in today's print edition of The Guardian:
During an investigation lasting several months, we have been able to reach several important conclusions. We maintain there is indeed a pro-Israel lobby in Britain. It is extremely well-connected and well-funded, and works through all the main political parties.
Some thoughts off the top of my head:
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First of all, I blogged yesterday that HonestReporting was also contacted by Dispatches just days ago. For an investigation "several months" in the making, it's very fishy that Channel 4 waited till the very last minute to contact HonestReporting and other Jewish organizations.
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I don't know anything about openDemocracy, which Oborne links to in the above snippet, but they're already offering "The Pro-Israel Lobby In Britain pamphlet." It's safe to assume that openDemocracy was intimately involved with C4's investigation — its logo on the cover sits right beside the Channel 4 logo. You can even order a copy before tonight's broadcast, or save the money and read the pamphlet (pdf format) in full at Channel 4's web site for free.
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My antennae are also twitching at openDemocracy's introduction, which was written by one Antony Lerman. If you look at Lerman's archives at The Guardian, you'll understand why.
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The headaches created by Professors Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer have come full circle. Walt and Mearsheimer wrote about a Jewish lobby in the US, but it was a British publication, the London Review of Books, that was first to give a soapbox to their views. Will UK Jewry respond to Oborne the way American critics addressed Walt and Mearsheimer?
This is going to get more interesting . . .
UPDATE November 16: See reax from Melanie Phillips, Robin Shepherd and Tom Gross. Gross wishes there was a so-called Israel lobby worthy of Oborne's attention:
The complete lack of any effective pro-Israel lobby in Britain (as opposed to well organized anti-Israel groups) goes a long way to explaining why some of the coverage of Israel in the British media is among the worst in the world, and sometimes rivals the Iranian and Egyptian media for its sheer nastiness.
It also explains why Britain failed to back Israel last week at the U.N. General Assembly vote on the Goldstone report into Israeli war crimes . . .
