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2 Iyar 5765 - May 11, 2005 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
Muslims and Hate Camp Demand that Blair Resign

By Arnon Yaffeh, Paris

British Prime Minister Tony Blair just won a historical third victory for the Labor Party in the British Parliament yet the antiwar delegates from the back benches of the House of Commons and the Muslims are demanding he step down from his post right away.

Antisemitic propaganda influenced voters in London's Muslim neighborhoods and in impoverished cities and left-wing Laborites are out to get Blair's hide for his support of Bush's international policy. In some districts and in Northern Scotland war opponents and the antisemitic Liberal Party defeated both Labor and Conservative candidates. In the formerly Jewish East End, eggs were thrown at Jewish delegate A. King in a Jewish cemetery before she was defeated by a candidate who had been accused of receiving bribe money from Saddam Hussein.

Despite the shouts behind his back, Blair announced the formation of a new government that will advance his loyal supporters. Two key ministers will retain their posts: Jack Straw, who won the elections in Blackburn's Muslim quarter, will remain Foreign Minister and Gordon Brown will remain Finance Minister. Former Interior Minister John Reid has been appointed Defense Minister.

Eleven of the 46 Labor delegates from the back benches who were defeated, lost to delegates from the Liberal Democrat Party who incited the public against the war in Iraq and in favor of a pro-Arab platform. Other delegates were defeated by war opponents who ran as independents or from small parties. The delegates complained during home visits that they were received with hatred for their war policy and support of Bush.

Labor lost many districts—particularly in Scotland to Liberals and in London to Conservatives—but retained a majority of 66 seats in Parliament. Before it had a majority of 161. War opponents apparently drew former Labor voters in the heart of traditionally left-wing districts in Northern England and Scotland. Left-wing delegates are asking Blair to leave Iraq in order to return them to the party.

The Conservatives failed to recover even though they increased by 33 delegates. Michael Howard, the Jewish Conservative Party leader, announced his resignation a few minutes after his failure became known, using his age as a pretext. "I'll be 68 then and I won't be able to lead the Conservatives to victory," said Howard.

His resignation caught everyone by surprise. On election night more antisemitic remarks were fired at him from Conservative headquarters. His resignation put a stop to the antisemitic campaign against him. Speaking from Conservative Party headquarters Christopher, a priest from Holland, said, "No way can a Jew who has never tasted pork win elections in Britain." Howard's grandfather was murdered in Auschwitz.

According to The Times, the press and Blair's election advisors presented Howard as a bloodsucking vampire bat, but he managed to extract the Conservatives from the gloom, putting an end to their backslide by taking over 33 new seats from the Liberals and Labor. In their election propaganda left-wing Liberals called for the trouncing of the Conservatives but in fact were themselves trounced by the Tories in several districts. Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy, who bet on the war opponents, failed to get his party off the sidelines and remained insignificant with a mere 62 delegates.

Despite the unprecedented third victory Labor, especially the party's left wing, is displeased with his policies and is seeking to depose Blair, split from Bush and turn toward more left-wing policies. Finance Minister Gordon Brown, who made up with Blair before the elections, is waiting for his turn and is pressing the Prime Minister to make way for him.

Reporters wrote that Blair has lost his popularity and no longer represents hope. "People want change, they want new faces," said delegates. His victory was attributed to a lack of charisma among the Conservatives, who did not manage to present themselves as an alternative to his rule. A cartoon in The Times shows Brown standing on his skin. Blair's advisors say that those who are demanding his resignation have forgotten that he is the first Labor prime minister to win a third term and that he led the party to a historical achievement.

Blair is still considering whether he can serve all five years of his term or whether he will be forced to resign in another year-and-a-half or less. The doves who won seats have promised to make Parliamentary life miserable for him. George Galloway, the servant of Saddam Hussein and other Arab dictators, defeated Oona King — a big supporter of Blair — in the formerly Jewish neighborhood of Bethnal Green in London's East End, which is now predominantly Muslim. On election night Galloway celebrated his victory in the deserted, dilapidated streets carried by supporters chanting slogans in support of Arab dictators, Palestinians and terror in Iraq. King accused his supporters of waging an antisemitic campaign against her. During a memorial ceremony for the 143 Jewish victims killed during German bombing raids on the East End, a horde of Muslims began to rain eggs on her.

In his victory speech Galloway called Blair a murderer. "The defeat of all of the Labor delegates is due to the policy in Iraq," he claimed. "All of the people you killed and the lies you told have come back to haunt you. The right thing for Labor to do is to sack Blair immediately."

Some East End residents appeared stunned by his victory. "Galloway will make a big racket in Parliament, but who will listen to him to provide us jobs and rehabilitate the borough?" a Bengali resident said to reporters on the street. The handful of native-born British still living in the East End were alarmed over Galloway's victory, which reinforces the already heated atmosphere in the Muslim and Arab boroughs.

 

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