Commoner or Gardiner

Nile Gardiner, on no account to be confused with Frank "Help-me-I'm-a-Muslim" "Talk-to--the-Queen" Gardner, is on the right side. Not the right side of history - just the right side. From The Telegraph:

As Hamas’ rockets rain down on Israel, even striking Tel Aviv and threatening Jerusalem, Netanyahu’s words ring true. This is a confrontation between the freest country in the Middle East, and brutal terrorists blinded with hatred who seek to advance their goals by murdering civilians and indiscriminate terror. The thugs of Hamas share the same goal as the Mullahs in Tehran, who provide the bombs, weapons and resources used to sustain a huge terrorist enterprise – i.e., the destruction of Israel and its replacement with an Islamist state.

Hamas’ Iranian-supplied missile stockpile in Gaza is now estimated to be 10,000 strong. For the Israelis, this is a war of survival in an intensely hostile region. They deserve the full support of the United States, Great Britain, and the Western world, which must stand shoulder to shoulder with a close friend and ally. As Hamas’ offensive illustrates, Israel is the front line of a global conflict between the forces of freedom and the forces of tyranny and barbarism.

This is not just Israel’s war, it is ours too. The threat Israel faces from the Jihadists is the same threat the West faces on the streets of London, Paris, Washington or Berlin. Al Qaeda, which has had significant ties in the past to Hamas, will be closely watching the outcome of Israel’s military campaign. An emphatic defeat for Hamas will be a huge blow not only to the Islamist dictatorship in Tehran, but to the followers of Bin Laden as well.

On Radio 4's Today programme, Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks filled  the "Thought for the Day" slot, with some bland platitudes about something or other, only to be ambushed by a question about Gaza - a seemingly innocuous "What do you think about the situation?" He replied:  "Well, it's obviously coming from Iran ... what ... we're still on air? Well, I think that both sides should try to find a peaceful solution." Make of that what you will. I made of it that he has some inkling of the global nature of Jihad -- that the "Palestinian" question is not just a little local difficulty -- but that he is too cowardly to say so on air. Which makes him all the more culpable.