Who are the ‘Isle of Man Friends of Israel’?
In my research for my recent article on the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland and their links to a group named ‘Northern Ireland Friends of Israel’ run by one Steven Jaffe. (1) I came across another group called the ‘Isle of Man Friends of Israel’ and I thought it’d be interesting to look into it.
First of all, the group doesn’t have its own website, was formed in 2017 (2) and is primarily run on Facebook by one Rosalind Dobson. (3) Dobson is herself jewish and engages primarily in pro-Israel activism on Facebook. (4) She is a speech therapist by training (5) and appears to split her time between Douglas on the Isle of Man and the southern port city of Eilat in Israel. (6)
Dobson claims she ‘lost members of family’ in the internment camps – presumably the British government’s five internment camps for ‘enemy aliens’ (aka citizens of Axis countries jewish or otherwise) on the Isle of Man during World War II but it could be a poorly-worded reference to the concentration camps also used by the Germans – while her father was a member of the British Army in some unexplained capacity. (7)
As in most non-professional groups one or two people seem to do the bulk (or all) of the work for the ‘Isle of Man Friends of Israel’ and that person appears to be Dobson as she is the only one posting content on their Facebook page and is the only identifiable member that organises anything from talks on jewish history (8) and advocacy for Israel (9) to acting as a spokeswoman for the organization concerned ‘Holocaust Memorial Day’ (10) and ‘anti-Semitism’. (11)
Dobson’s views are nicely summarised by her comments on Steven Jaffe’s – of ‘Northern Ireland Friends of Israel’ and the ‘Jewish Leadership Council’ – rather trite (going by the report of the contents) talk about ‘anti-Semitism’ when she states:
‘As far as antisemitism on our island is concerned, I have never found it blatant, but it exists here as it does everywhere.
It can be obvious or manifest in snide or so-called humorous comments, and in unjustified, negative comments about Israel. Positive, fair criticism of the state, is, of course, always welcome, as is mutually respectful discussion, in the same way it would be for any democracy.’ (12)
To translate that into simple English and get rid of the weasel words this means:
No criticism of Israel is allowed because that is ‘anti-Semitism’, that ‘fair criticism’ is ‘positive criticism’ (rather like asking someone to ask a violent thief to please not take your laptop because they already have one) and ‘anti-Semitism is everywhere’.
I am rather reminded of Norman Finkelstein’s acerbic comments in ‘Beyond Chutzpah’ and ‘The Holocaust Industry’ that many jews who have written about anti-Semitism since World War II seem to think the ‘Holocaust’ is just about to occur (again) and that this view is extremely detached from reality, but as other jews (such as Richard Silverstein, Gilad Atzmon and Paul Eisen) have also been at pains to point out: this attitude might actually create the conditions for a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Yes ‘Isle of Man Friends of Israel’ is a small section of the Israel Lobby that exists within the UK, but it also serves as a good example of despite being well-funded with some full-time employees: the Israel Lobby in the UK is largely made up of a few part-time unpaid jewish ‘activists’ who operate under a variety of different organizational umbrellas and act much like the renowned Munzenberg Committees operating by KPD big-wig Willi Munzenberg on behalf of the Comintern in Europe and North America in order to – in Noam Chomsky’s famous words – ‘manufacture consent’.
References
(1) See my article: https://karlradl14.substack.com/p/jewish-and-zionist-influence-in-the
(2) https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/iom-friends-of-israel-hold-public-lecture/
(3) https://www.facebook.com/groups/iomnewsforjewsandfriends/members
(4) https://www.facebook.com/groups/325281357622983/user/1209081034/ ; https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/holocaust-memorial-day-shouldnt-be-forgotten-during-lockdown/
(5) https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosalind-dobson-8a4a275a/
(6) https://www.facebook.com/groups/325281357622983/user/1209081034/ ; https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/holocaust-memorial-day-shouldnt-be-forgotten-during-lockdown/
(7) https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/holocaust-memorial-day-shouldnt-be-forgotten-during-lockdown/
(8) https://www.manxradio.com/community/event/isle-of-man-friends-of-israel-talk/
(9) https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/iom-friends-of-israel-hold-public-lecture/
(10) https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/holocaust-memorial-day-shouldnt-be-forgotten-during-lockdown/
(11) https://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/antisemitism-talk-given-by-guest-speaker-227567; also https://nifriendsofisrael.wordpress.com/nifi-in-the-news/
(12) https://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/antisemitism-talk-given-by-guest-speaker-227567