Tranzi Frenzi- and a hope

Melanie Phillips adds some info about the Israeli General's escape from the risiblly overextended arm of the law:

'Israel’s Maj.-Gen. Doron Almog who flew to Britain to raise money for a charitable cause, was warned by Israel’s ambassador to London not to disembark from his El Al flight at Heathrow because British detectives were waiting to arrest him. The arrest warrant had been issued on Saturday by the Bow Street Magistrate's Court at the request of a pro-Palestinian group. The warrant alleged that in 2002 Almog had ordered the demolition of 59 Palestinian homes in Rafah. Gen. Almog decided not to alight from the plane, and remained aboard until it turned around and returned to Israel.' (bold lettering mine)

I was incensed by this action of the part of the authorities- and I will be even more upset if the they take some actions aginst the sensible Israeli ambassador. Britain used to be a country which had a rational regard for Israel and its position, which understood the difference between soldiers and mobsters, and distinguished sensitively between types of government. Now we don't, even though the distinctions are ever more relevant and important for our own understanding of the world.

There's a perfect evil twin to this misuse of judicial power in the surrendering of British sovereignty to European law courts- as explained by Peter Glover. Essentially what's likely to happen is the harmonisation of EU criminal law- certainly the EU powers have that power now. As well as an abdication of real power (the opposite of the extension of false power), it's an abdication of thought- and to think is what we need more than ever to do. (hat tip, ATW)

Our law used to be decent, even if imperfect and limited in many ways by the eras in which it worked. Now the limitations are few, the boundaries are eroding away to nothing, but the results is illiberalism and powercrazy behaviour.

But, despite this gloom, there is an answer. The answer is not to be too negative, but to look for positive judgements and actions to outweigh the negative ones that have such high profile. From somewhere we have to find within the law some wise decision-making. I believe it might be possible since I've been proved wrong once before. I never believed that Lord Hutton would be as immune from the popular gossip as to blame the BBC for their behaviour surrounding the Kelly affair. From almost nowhere (well, Northern Ireland ;-)), came this decent, rational man to seemingly bunker-down and deliver a rational account of affairs.

Of course I am aware that legal decisions which give the EU such powers as have been given are difficult to cope with from my perspective, but the legal position and what happens in reality can be two different things. Thus Israel might find it has some British champions and the EU might find it gets its fingers well and truly burnt at some time in the future. I wish I could say I was active in this matter, but I'm open to suggestions. For now I'll retain a little hope that our legal system can find some fibre from somewhere.