<< December 2011 | February 2012 >>

At the beginning of January, it was reported that 9,000 US troops had begun “descending on Israel”, and that they are to be joined by a US aircraft carrier complete with warplanes. It is expected that this force will be staying in Israel until the end of the year, as part of the “US-Israeli Defence Force deployment in readiness for a military engagement with Iran and its possible escalation into a regional conflict”. This will be the biggest joint US-Israeli war game ever held. One of the exercise’s commanders said, “The coming event is more a deployment than an exercise”. The joint force will now be in place “ready for a decision to attack Iran’s nuclear installations or any war emergency”.

In December Iran reported that it was holding a military drill that would include exercises on “how to close the Strait of Hormuz”, the waterway through which some 40 per cent of the world’s oil is shipped to markets in the West.

Later, in early January, an Iranian army chief warned an American aircraft carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf after having left the area through the Strait of Hormuz in a “pre-planned, routine operation”. The US responded with a calm statement, “The deployment of US military assets in the Persian Gulf region will continue as it has for decades”. A US Navy spokesman added, “The US is committed to ensuring the safe flow of maritime traffic in waterways critical to global commerce”. The UK Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, released the text of a speech in Washington, in which he said, “Our joint naval presence in the Arabian Gulf is key to keeping the Strait of Hormuz open for international trade. Any attempt by Iran to block the waterway in retaliation for sanctions against its oil exports would be illegal and unsuccessful”, and he affirmed that “Britain stands ready to join any action to keep the Strait open”. All this followed a declaration by Iran’s vice-president, “If sanctions are adopted against Iranian oil, not a drop of oil will pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Our enemies will only abandon their plots when we give them a strong lesson”.

A report in The Daily Telegraph stated that the Royal Navy is sending its “mightiest ship to take on the Iranian show of force in the Gulf”. The 8,000-ton Type 45 destroyer, HMS Daring, has been fitted with new technology that will give it the ability to shoot down any missile in Iran’s armoury. A Royal Navy source indicated that more British ships would be sent to the Gulf if required. The second Type 45 destroyer, HMS Dauntless, will be available to sail at short notice.

The American Fifth Fleet is based about 100 miles from Iran’s coastline. It consists of more than 20 warships as well as attack aircraft and a small number of ground troops. It is likely to serve as the spearhead of any American military action against Iran.

In November 2011, the Russian Navy dispatched some of their warships to the Mediterranean, and claimed that the move had no connection with the situation is Syria. However, in early January, these warships headed for the Syrian port of Tartus. A source with the Russian Navy was quoted as saying, “It is planned that the port of Tartus will be visited by a big anti-submarine ship of the Northern Fleet”, without giving more details about the warships’ mission in the country.

The Gaza Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, speaking at a rally in Tunisia, said, “Israel no longer has allies in Egypt and Tunisia. We are saying to the Zionist enemies that times have changed and that the time of the Arab Spring, the time of revolution, of dignity and of pride has arrived. We promise you that we will not cede a single part of Palestine, we will not cede Jerusalem, we will continue to fight and we will not lay down our arms”. As the crowd chanted, “Death to Israel” he insisted that Hamas “will not recognise Israel”.

Earlier, at another event, Haniyeh reiterated that his organisation will never recognise Israel and will never give up on Jerusalem. He also called for the establishment of a “Jerusalem Army”, an army of Arab nations who will “conquer Jerusalem from the Jews”. On another occasion, Haniyeh referred to Hamas’ long-term strategic goal, “The elimination of all Israel”.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s new dominant political force, has vowed to “increase Cairo’s hostility toward Israel”. Their deputy leader, in an interview with an Arabic newspaper, insisted that his group “will never recognise Israel or its right to exist under any circumstance. The Brotherhood respects international conventions, but we will take legal action against the peace treaty with the Zionist entity”. Later, the Brotherhood stated that it “intends to negatively alter or cancel Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel” after the group assumes power in Cairo.

A report at the end of December claimed that “the entire Christian hierarchy in the UK, Catholic and Protestant as well, is part of the global battle against Israel. There is a virulent animosity towards the Jewish state in the established church in Britain, which promulgates inflammatory libels against it”.

Barry Morgan, the Archbishop of Wales, compared Israel to apartheid in South Africa, saying, “The situation resembles the apartheid system in South Africa because Gaza is next to one of the most sophisticated and modern countries in the world – Israel”. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, joined the Church of England General Synod, which voted to disinvest Church funds from “companies that make profits from Israel’s occupation”.

According to Canon Andrew White “anti-Jewish replacement theology is dominant and present in almost every church, fueling the venom against Israel”. The report concluded with the following words – “At the beginning of the 19th century, the UK Christian clergy was a driving force behind the Zionist enterprise, inspired by a brave interpretation of the Bible. A century later, British Christianity is one of the major producers of blood libels against the Jews”.