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Many thanks for your terrific support in the 2008 weblog awards. We pulled 1,014 votes- just short of last year's total, which was a great achievement, seeing that this year's poll took place during Orthodox Christmas week and many of our Serbian and Russian readers were away from their computers. In addition, I've received a complaint that in Russia the voting circle on the screen did not appear: that's something the organisers are looking into.

Last year our total of 1,116 votes was enough to win the Best UK Blog award by a distance, this year though, hitting the 1,000 mark got us fourth place. But seeing that we were up against the blog representing Britain's second biggest city- Birmingham-and which was touted in the Birmingham media and on the websites of the city's MPs -and one hosted by The Spectator, we did really well to get as many votes as we did.

Congratulations to 'Created in Birmingham', who subject to official confirmation, are the winners of the 2008 award.

Update: The Exile has more on the awards here.

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Many thanks for all those who have voted to date for this blog in the 2008 Weblog awards, Best UK Blog category. We've polled almost 600 votes to date, but are now over 800 votes behind the warmongering, fanatical Zionist Melanie Phillips, who is picking up a lot of 'overnight' votes from the U.S.

It's not all over yet however and if you keep the votes coming in then you never know what might happen- there are still a full four days to go before polling ends (at 10pm GMT on Tuesday, not Monday as previously mentioned). Remember, you are allowed to vote every 24 hours from the same computer. You can vote here, and also by clicking the Awards logo on the right.

Also, please try and spare ten seconds or so to vote for fellow socialist anti-war blogger Madam Miaow in the Culture Blog vote, she needs your support too.

Many thanks, and wherever you are in the world, do try and get to an anti-war march tomorrow, it's so important that we all come together to register our total disgust at what Israel is doing to the hapless civilians of Gaza. Details of the London march can be found here.

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So there you have it. Israel responds to a UN Security Council Resolution calling for an immediate end to its assault on Gaza by stepping up its assault on Gaza, with 50 new air strikes.

But it isn't quite accurate to say that Israel stands alone. The far-right British National Party is standing fully behind Israel.

What's that saying about birds of a feather?

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The Times reports:

The United Nations has cited witnesses accusing Israeli troops of evacuating scores of Palestinians – including children – into a house in Gaza on Sunday and then shelling the property 24 hours later, killing approximately 30 people.

Just hours after calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the UN cited witnesses of the alleged attack in the house in Zeitun, an eastern Gaza city neighbourhood.

The UN said that "according to several testimonies, on January 4, Israeli foot soldiers evacuated approximately 110 Palestinians into a single-residence house in Zeitun (half of whom were children) warning them to stay indoors. 24 hours later, Israeli forces shelled the home repeatedly, killing approximately 30".

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) described it as "one of the gravest incidents since the beginning of operations" by Israeli forces in Gaza on December 27.

It's not only the UN which has lost patience with Israel's actions. The International Red Cross too has condemned Israel for obstructing its operations and for blatant breaches of humanitarian law.

On this blog we've had a lively debate this week as to whether Israel's brutal actions in Gaza can be equated to those of the Nazis. The case of those who maintain that they cannot gets weaker by the hour.

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Here's my article from The First Post on how European reticence to criticise Israel- a reticence based on feelings of guilt over the Holocaust is fading- and why there is nothing anti-semitic about the strong anti-Israel feelings sweeping the continent.

UPDATE: Since my article was written, the Vatican's Justice Minister, representing an institution which, in the past, has felt inhibited about criticising Israel too strongly, has said that Israel's bombardment of Gaza has turned the area into a "big concentration camp".


“As a Jew, it's very moving to see so many people who are so outraged at Israel's actions," said the comedian Alexei Sayle after Saturday's 10,000-strong anti-war protest in London. He would certainly be moved by the reaction of the people of Europe to Israel's military aggression.

Last weekend thousands of Europeans took part in anti-Israel demonstrations. In Paris, around 25,0000 demonstrators, many wearing Palestinian headscarves, marched through the city chanting slogans such as "Israel killers" and "We are all Palestinians". In the Netherlands, thousands marched through Amsterdam, criticising the Israeli attacks and the Dutch government's failure to condemn them. One banner declared: "Anne Frank is turning in her grave. Oh Israel!"

Protestors have not been afraid to compare Israel's treatment of the Palestinians to the Nazis' treatment of the Jews. In Stockholm, protestors set fire to an Israeli flag painted with a swastika. In Madrid more than 1,000 people marched, many carrying banners equating Zionism with Nazism. One banner declared: "This is not a war but a genocide".

Some of the biggest demonstrations were in countries where for historical reasons, people have previously felt particularly inhibited about expressing criticism of the Jewish state. In Salzburg in Austria around 2,500 people took to the streets. In Germany there were sizeable demonstrations in several cities: around 10,000 people protested in Frankfurt, a further 7,000 in Berlin. In Dusseldorf protestors held up a doll representing a bleeding baby with the placard "Made in Israel".

The significance of these protests cannot be underestimated. For most of the first 60years of its existence, Israel got an easy ride from Europeans due to European guilt over the Holocaust. But as revulsion over Israel's treatment of the Palestinians grows, the 'Holocaust card' - long used by Zionists in order to stifle legitimate debate over Israel's actions - no longer has the same impact.

Zionists will, of course, claim that the growing European opposition to Israel is a sign that the continent is reverting to anti-semitism; the staunchly pro-Israel commentator Melanie Phillips has already dismissed the anti-Israel protestors as "leftists, Jew-haters, Muslims and useful idiots".

But the most striking thing about the demonstrations to date has been the absence of anti-semitism. Anger is rising across Europe, but it is anger directed against the state of Israel - not Jews in general; in fact in some demonstrations, such as the one in London, Jewish groups themselves took part.

"Everybody is somebody's Jew. And the Palestinians are the Jews of the Israelis", the Jewish writer and holocaust survivor Primo Levi once famously remarked. It seems an increasing number of people across Europe are coming to the same conclusion.

UPDATE: For a shocking example of a Zionist playing the 'Holocaust card' to defend/apologise for Israel's actions in 2009 in Gaza, take a look at this piece by The Times' Chief Leader writer and tireless Israel propagandist Daniel Finkelstein.
They say that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel- in 2009 it's using The Holocaust to defend/apologise for Israel's war crimes.

Hat tip: The Exile.

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"Every war Israel has waged since 1948 has had the same objective: expulsion of the native people and theft of more land. But why are we in the west silent on this truth?"

You can read the rest of John's brilliant New Statesman article on Gaza, here.

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Many thanks for your support in the 2008 weblog awards: please keep the votes coming in- and remember you can vote once every 24 hours from the same computer. You can vote here.

Another request: could you also spare 10 seconds or so to cast a vote for Madam Miaow’s blog in the poll for Best Culture Blog? Madam Miaow aka Anna Chen, has a wonderful blog- combing socialist and anti-war commentary with lots of interesting features on the arts. It deserves to win. Many thanks again.

UPDATE: We need those votes more than ever- as Melanie Phillips has gone into strong overnight lead. She's put an appeal for votes on her Spectator blog and judging by the comments from her supporters there's no doubt that her victory would be held as evidence of support for Israel's actions in Gaza.

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