Jewish and Zionist Influence in the UK’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)

In 2017 an almost unprecedented situation occurred in British domestic politics with the then incumbent British Prime Minister Theresa May being forced into a direct political alliance with the Democratic Unionist Party (hereafter DUP) in order to govern as a minority government. (1)

I therefore thought it was high-time I looked at the links the DUP with Britain’s Israel Lobby, which in many ways are superior to the staunchly pro-Israel British Conservative Party’s own.

The DUP – founded by anti-Catholic firebrand preacher Ian Paisley in the 1970s – which was at the time led by Arlene Foster is a fanatically Christian Zionist group and interestingly doesn’t actually have many jewish members – let alone prominent ones – as far as I can work out.

Symbolic of this is the fact that it didn’t get its own ‘Friends of Israel’ lobbying group – a polite euphemism for Israel-first political gatekeepers – till June 2014 (2) although there has been an ‘Northern Ireland Friends of Israel’ group since March 2009 (3) that seems to be entirely comprised of one jewish ‘co-chair’ named Steven Jaffe – despite mainstream jewish attempts to claim it is a ‘grass roots movement’ – (4) who has direct links to the Israeli government (5) and its apologists (6) as well as acting like a shell company in order to funnel money from Israel’s supporters to the pro-Israel members of the legislative assembly of Northern Ireland (hereafter MLAs).

That said the party really didn’t need – and still doesn’t need – such a group considering that it has been slavishly pro-Israel since its inception.

Nothing quite like hating Catholics like the plague and worshipping jews is there?

I digress, but the following are examples of just how unhinged the DUP’s support of Israel is.

To wit:

Former DUP MLA for North Antrim David McIlveen has been visiting Israel very regularly ‘in his private capacity’ with the explicit purpose of promoting Israel’s interests and image in the UK, (7) which is better known as espionage (in the form of lobbying) on behalf of a foreign country against your own.

DUP MLA for Strangford Michelle McIlveen accepted £2,700 from NI Friends of Israel in order to pay for a ‘fact-finding’ four day trip to Israel in May 2018, which she failed to report to the Electoral Commission as required by law. (8)

DUP MP for Belfast North Nigel Dodds – who is also the DUP’s current political leader in Westminster – is a fanatical supporter of Israel’s interests, an ardent supporter of the jewish community in the UK and does everything he possibly can to aid and abet the agents of Israel in the country. (9)

DUP MLA for Belfast North William Humphrey accepted £2,700 from NI Friends of Israel in order to pay for a ‘fact-finding’ four day trip to Israel in May 2018, which he failed to report to the Electoral Commission as required by law. (10)

DUP MP for Upper Bann David Simpson is a pro-Israel fanatic – for the simple reason that Catholics in Northern Ireland tend to side with the Palestinians against the Israelis – and takes his cues (as well as likely a few cheques) from the Israeli government’s agents in ‘making Israel’s case’ in Westminster and beyond. (11)

DUP MLA for Upper Bann Jonathan Buckley accepted £2,700 from NI Friends of Israel in order to pay for a ‘fact-finding’ four day trip to Israel in May 2018, which he failed to report to the Electoral Commission as required by law. (12)

DUP MLA for Foyle Gary Middleton accepted £2,700 from NI Friends of Israel in order to pay for a ‘fact-finding’ four day trip to Israel in May 2018, which he failed to report to the Electoral Commission as required by law. (13)

You wouldn’t think there were only around eighty jews in Northern Ireland: would you? (14)

Yet the DUP spend an inordinate amount of time licking the boots of these eighty jews with their MPs and senior members regularly getting in contact with them and attending their communal events. (15)

I have already alluded to the origin of this fanatical support being reactionary in nature and nothing to do with conviction in the rightness of Israel’s cause. The Roman Catholics in Ireland tend to support (and identify with) the Palestinian struggle against Israel as a result the Protestant DUP tend to support (and identify with) the Israeli struggle against the Palestinians. (16)

This reactionary ideological position – which is allegedly secular – (17) is interestingly precisely because - unlike the DUP’s supposedly avowed Evangelical Christian opposition to ‘gay marriage’ that has promptly melted like ice cream in an Indian summer – (18) its support of Israel is even more fanatical than ever and has earned them a string of plaudits from jewish communal and Israeli organisations. (19)

Apparently supporting Israel comes before the DUP’s avowedly Christian beliefs.

Who’d have thought it?

Anyway, what is scary is that the DUP’s MPs are pushing heavily – along with the Conservative party’s fanatically pro-Israel myrmidons - for criticism of Israel to be effectively outlawed in the UK, (20) while the jewish community have similarly sensed an opportunity to make criticism of them and their true political allegiance to the Israeli state a criminal offence. (21)

Scared?

You should be.

References

(1) www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-40403434

(2) http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/stormont-meeting-launches-dup-friends-of-israel-group-1-6114099

(3) Ibid.

(4) https://bod.org.uk/bod-news/theres-a-growing-army-of-grassroots-groups-working-to-defend-israel/

(5) https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/i-want-a-better-middle-east-for-the-children-says-co-chair-of-ni-friends-of-israel/a1212953795.html

(6) https://nifriendsofisrael.wordpress.com/about/ ; https://nifriendsofisrael.wordpress.com/nifi-in-the-news/ ; https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/belfast-city-council-votes-to-back-expulsion-of-israeli-ambassadors-1.517297 ; https://bod.org.uk/bod-news/theres-a-growing-army-of-grassroots-groups-working-to-defend-israel/

(7) https://www.4ni.co.uk/northern-ireland-news/247822/four-dup-mla-s-accused-of-failing-to-declare-donations-for-israel-trip

(8) https://www.thejc.com/comment/analysis/the-dup-profile-1.440157

(9) https://www.4ni.co.uk/northern-ireland-news/247822/four-dup-mla-s-accused-of-failing-to-declare-donations-for-israel-trip

(10) https://www.thejc.com/comment/analysis/the-dup-profile-1.440157

(11) https://www.4ni.co.uk/northern-ireland-news/247822/four-dup-mla-s-accused-of-failing-to-declare-donations-for-israel-trip

(12) Ibid.

(13) Ibid.

(14) http://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/dup-minority-government/

(15) Ibid.

(16) Ibid; https://www.thejc.com/comment/analysis/the-dup-profile-1.440157

(17) http://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/dup-minority-government/

(18) http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-34776780

(19) http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/UK-Jewish-leader-Kingmaker-DUP-is-friend-of-the-community-and-Israel-496399; http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/06/11/jewish-leaders-dup-pact-positive-news-community-labour-anti-semitism/

(20) http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/2015/5/6/naming-and-shaming-the-list-of-israels-agents-within-british-politics ; https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/sarah-irving/british-politicians-mull-censorship-anti-israel-comments ; https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/theresa-may-be-propped-christian-zionists ; https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/lindy-mcdowell/lindy-mcdowell-looming-shadow-of-antisemitism-is-threatening-to-engulf-all-of-us-37582995.html

(21) https://www.thejc.com/comment/columnists/dysch-on-politics-1.440096