The present government has betrayed the family and suppressed our Christian heritage, announced Nigel Farage this week.
The MEP, who represents the UK Independence Party, expressed concern that fear of causing offense has resulted in “Notting Hill claptrap about diversity”.
“We need a much more muscular defence of our Judaeo-Christian heritage” added Mr Farage. “Yes, we’re open to different cultures but we have to defend our values.”
His comments were made in an interview with the largely unsympathetic Telegraph journalist Cristina Odone. During the interview Mr Farage criticized the present government for their “betrayal” of the family, adding “This has been the most anti-family government we have ever seen. The very fact that they pushed for gay marriage, and thought that it was important at a time when not even Stonewall was campaigning for it, shows you their twisted sense of priorities.”
The UKIP leader also criticized the type of ‘equality’ that takes cultural tolerance so far that it turns a blind eye on horrific practices such as female genital mutilation. “We go on about equality but under our noses, female genital mutilation has been going on in this country. Tens of thousands of women a year, but is anyone talking about it? It’s brushed under the carpet.”
Find out how to join Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings (clicking on the link below does not commit you to join)
Please note that persons wishing to comment on this story must enter a valid email address. Comments from persons leaving fictitious email addresses will be trashed.
Greenpeace activists protest on a barge in Rotterdam harbour containing illegal US GM rice.
In an astonishing outburst, a Government minister has accused opponents of genetic modification of being ‘wicked’, reports the BBC.
Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Rt Hon Owen Paterson, MP, made the comments in an interview in the Independent newspaper.
He was referring in particular to so-called ‘Golden Rice’ which has vitamin A added by genetic modification.
Mr Paterson told The Independent that NGOs such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth that oppose GM technology were “casting a dark shadow over attempts to feed the world”.
And he backed an open letter signed by a group of eminent international scientists calling for the rapid rollout of vitamin A-enhanced rice which he believes will help prevent the cause of up to a third of the world’s child deaths.
Owen and Rose Paterson
“It’s just disgusting that little children are allowed to go blind and die because of a hang-up by a small number of people about this technology,” he said. “I feel really strongly about it. I think what they do is absolutely wicked.”
The BBC says, in its story on Mr Paterson’s claim, that opponents of GM rice can point to the World Health Organisation’s advocacy of routine administration of vitamin A supplements in countries where deficiency is a problem.
‘Vitamin A is needed for healthy skin and eyes and to help strengthen the immune system so that the body can fight infections. Deficiency can lead to blindness, illness and death,’ the BBC article went on.
‘People in the developed usually world get enough vitamin A from their diet by eating foods like cheese, yoghurts and eggs, but deficiency is a common problem in developing countries, and is estimated to affect between 140 million and 250 million children under the age of five.’
Bill Gates reportedly owns 500,000 Monsanto shares
The rice would be made available only in the developing world. The European Union has put such a break on the development of GM crops in member states that Monsanto has retreated into conventional plant breeding in Europe and has said it will no longer seek approval of its products across the Union.
There are no commercial GM crops in Britain, and there is only one active field trial, currently being grown under tight security at Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire. Across the EU, only two GM crops have been sanctioned for commercial planting.
That is in contrast to the United States, where GM corn (maize), soybeans, cotton, oil-seed rape and squash are commercially grown with around 85% of cotton and 50% of maize being GM. Opposition has had only limited success. Resistance is said to be growing in the developing world, despite heavy promotion by the Gates Foundation and United States Embassies world wide of GM crops manufactured by US giants Monsanto and Dupont. With Swiss firm Syngenta, they together account for 47% of the global proprietary seed market.
Owen Paterson became well-known for his opposition to gay marriage, and has also voted against civil partnerships, homosexuals adopting children, giant casinos, identity cards, hate-speech laws, the production of ‘saviour siblings’, and animal-human hybrids. He voted in 2008 to limit abortion to 12 weeks, the most ‘pro-life’ option on offer at the time.
So how come Mr Paterson finds himself so emotionally attached to the bad guys in the GM debate?
The Register of Parliamentary Interests merely records him accepting small-scale hospitality from Betfair, New Century Media and Co-operation Ireland to go to Ascot and other posh parties. He has not declared being on the pay-roll of any bio-tech company.
Matthew, Viscount Ridley
But Christian Voice has discovered that Owen Paterson is the brother-in-law, through his wife Rose, of Matthew, Viscount Ridley. Matthew Ridley isvisiting professor at Cold Spring Habor Laboratory. And what do they do? The answer is: genetic modification of plants.
The Cold Harbor website proudly proclaims: ‘CSHL has taken part in numerous plant genome sequencing projects including Arabidopsis, rice, sorghum and maize, as well as epigenomic sequencing and profiling. We are part of the iPlant Cyberinfrastructure consortium and the Long Island Biofuels Alliance. The Laboratory owns 12 acres of farmland nearby called Uplands Farm. Here, an expert staff raises maize, tomato and Arabidopsis plants for study.’
Quite simply, it appears Owen Paterson has had his ear bent by his fellow land-owning aristocratic brother-in-law. As my dear late mother used to say, ‘It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.’ Quite. Or perhaps as the Bible says:
Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
God’s created order was given us for a purpose:
Psalm 104:14 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;
Woe betide us if we interfere with it. We shall do so at our peril.
Gen 1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Find out how to join Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings (clicking on the link below does not commit you to join)
Please note that persons wishing to comment on this story must enter a valid email address. Comments from persons leaving fictitious email addresses will be trashed.
Claire Balding (r) with her ‘civil partner’ Alice Arnold
The lesbian BBC sports presenter Claire Balding and Peter Tatchell, ‘Outrage!’ leader and contributor to a 1980s paedophilia campaigning book, are joint second on the Independent’s 2013 ‘Pink List’ of 101 influential homosexuals.
Topping the list was a journalist by the name of Paris Lees, who was apparently born a man and has had a sex change.
Women’s Olympic boxing gold medal winner Nicola Adams MBE was fourth and Ruth Hunt, Deputy CEO of Stonewall, was fifth.
The judges included Ben Summerskill, Chief Executive of Stonewall, as well as a collection of Indy editors.
Matthew Parris, Sir Elton John, Stephen Fry and Sir Ian McKellen are among a celebrity-laden list of past or perhaps past-it campaigners, whom the Indy fervently hopes ‘don’t mind stepping aside to pass on the baton to those who campaign today’.
Find out how to join Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings (clicking on the link below does not commit you to join)
Please note that persons wishing to comment on this story must enter a valid email address. Comments from persons leaving fictitious email addresses will be trashed.
Magistrates could ask the Government to end the ancient tradition of swearing on the Bible to tell the truth in court if a campaign by secularist groups succeeds.
The Magistrates’ Association, which represents 23,000 lay magistrates, has agreed to discuss a motion claiming that the oath should be abolished because some people do not take it seriously.
The Chief Executive of the Magistrates Association, Mr Chris Brace, has told Christian Voice that rather than being discussed at one of its policy committees, which was stated in the press, notably in the Daily Mail, the proposal is being made as a member’s motion at its Annual General Meeting. We understand the date for the 2103 AGM is Saturday 19th October, but the Association had not at the time of writing put the date on its website.
Mr Brace said: ‘A member wishes to debate this at the AGM and the Board of Trustees decided that this was a motion worthy of debate, without fear or favour.’
Ian Abrahams, 62, a Bristol magistrate who is proposing the motion for scrapping the oath, said: ‘More and more I see people shrug their shoulders or say “whatever” when asked to take it.’I’m suggesting we take holy books out of the process. Instead, people will have to show they understand they could be sent to prison if they don’t tell the truth.
‘I don’t intend my motion to make any comment on religion. It is certainly not anti-religious.’
Church leaders, even without this information, also saw the underlying agenda.
The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, former Bishop of Rochester, said: ‘This could be the slippery slope towards the increasing secularisation of society. Where will it end – with the Coronation Oath?
‘The Bible is bound up with the constitution, institutions and history of this country. It is right for people to have a choice of oath, a religious or non-religious one.
‘But we are being urged, in the name of tolerance and secularisation, to restrict that choice.’
There is already an option for non-believers to take a secular oath, while those of other faiths can swear on their own holy texts. For example, Muslims may swear on the Koran or Jews on the Old Testament.
The Rev Arun Arora, director of communications for the Church of England, added: ‘Given that the last census showed almost 60 per cent of respondents self-identified as Christians and two thirds as people of faith, this proposal seems to ignore the statistical reality that we remain a faithful nation.
‘This kind of proposal seems driven more by blinkered campaigning agendas than abiding interests in justice and truth.’
Legal expert Lord Carlile said: ‘It would be unacceptable for the choice to take a religious oath to be removed.’
For hundreds of years Christian witnesses have been required to hold the Bible and state: ‘I swear by almighty God that I shall tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.’
Under Mr Abrahams’ proposal, the holy books would be removed and the oath would read: ‘I promise very sincerely to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth and I understand that if I fail to do so I will be committing an offence for which I will be punished and may be sent to prison.’
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: ‘We have no plans to change the arrangements for swearing an oath or making an affirmation in court, which have worked well for many years and still do.’
The Wunderlich family has now been reunited after an armed raid by German authorities following their decision to homeschool.
Last month we reported on the tragic series of events, which resulted in the four Wunderlich children, ages 7-14, being separated from their parents and taken to various unknown locations.
The German government has promised to return the children on one condition: that the parents send their children to state school. (In the German state schools, children are routinely exposed to graphic sex education, violence, witchcraft and atheism.)
Michael Farris of the Homeschool Legal Defense Association, commented,
“It’s a small victory, but it’s still a victory,” said Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) Chairman Michael Farris. “When the parents told the authorities that they would send their kids back to school during the raid, they were told it was too late. What we’ve seen today is a reversal in the German courts caused by the mounting international pressure from human rights advocates. This is a promising start to what will hopefully be a reversal on Germany’s stance on homeschooling altogether.”
“The German government loves compromises as long as they ultimately get their way. They were fine with a Muslim teenager wearing a swimsuit with a head covering as long as she took part in co-ed pool activities despite her objections. And now they’re fine that the Wunderlich family gets their children back as long as they attend a state school. The attitude of ‘Our way or else…’ is still very much alive in a supposedly tolerant society.”
Find out how to join Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings (clicking on the link below does not commit you to join)
Please note that persons wishing to comment on this story must enter a valid email address. Comments from persons leaving fictitious email addresses will be trashed.
Once the enemy of Christianity, Russia has now positioned itself as the hope of persecuted Christians, Ralph H. Sidway reported.
“Scarcely a day goes by now,” Sidway remarked, “where we do not read of yet another in a constellation of initiatives being undertaken by both the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian government on behalf of persecuted Christians and other victims in Syria, Egypt, and elsewhere in the world.”
Sidway’s article shows specific ways that Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church are working together to defend the plight of Christians in Egypt, Syria, and the rest of the world while the West turns a blind eye. To read this excellent article, click on the following link:
Find out how to join Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings (clicking on the link below does not commit you to join)
Please note that persons wishing to comment on this story must enter a valid email address. Comments from persons leaving fictitious email addresses will be trashed.
In 1971 92 per cent of working-age men were in employment. This year the figure had fallen to 76 per cent.
The number of women in work has gone up by almost as much as the number of men working has shrunk.
Only 53 per cent of women were in paid employment in 1971 compared with 67 per cent.
In August, the Institute for Public Policy Research published its ‘Who’s Breadwinning?’ study reporting that 2.2 million women are now the main breadwinner for their households – a rise of 80 per cent in 15 years.
The number of mothers living with a partner who are the principle household earner has risen from 18 per cent to 31 per cent. The employment rate of lone mothers has risen form 43 per cent to 58 per cent. The report called for universal child-care provision.
Feminists are delighted by all this, except by the news that more men work in high-status professions earning bigger salaries than women.
Daisy Sands, of women’s rights group the Fawcett Society, said: “While highlighting the strides women have made over the last 40 years, this (ONS) report serves as a timely reminder of how far we have to go before we have a women-friendly labour market.”
Meanwhile, the implications for our society of men losing their God-given role as providers of their families as women scurry around trying to balance home and work while children are left in day-care have not been addressed by anyone.
Find out how to join Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings (clicking on the link below does not commit you to join)
Please note that persons wishing to comment on this story must enter a valid email address. Comments from persons leaving fictitious email addresses will be trashed.
Of the 1,000 young people questioned, 28% said Britain would be better off with fewer Muslims, while 44% said Muslims did not share the same values as the rest of the population.
Some 60% thought the British public had a negative image of Muslims.
Other findings in the Comres survey, conducted in June, include:
* Only three in 10 (29%) think Muslims are doing enough to combat extremism in their communities. Even though 48% of young people agree that Islam is a peaceful religion, more than a quarter (27%) disagree.
* Young people place the blame for Islamophobia in Britain on terror groups abroad (26%), the media (23%) and UK Muslims who have committed acts of terror (21%).
* Young people are divided over whether or not immigration is good for Britain overall. Two-fifths (42%) say it is a good thing but more than a third disagree (35%)
An adviser on anti-Muslim hatred said the findings suggested young people needed to mix more.
Akeela Ahmed, a Muslim from a cross-government ‘working group on anti-Muslim hatred’, said: “These findings indicate that we need to ensure young people are mixing at local levels and that they’re working on projects together so that people can get to know Muslims and vice versa.”
Evidence shows, however, that it is Muslims who do not want to mix. They have formed enclaves in places like Oldham, Bradford, Cardiff, Oxford and Tower Hamlets where non-believers, known as ‘kaffir’, are despised and unwelcome.
A second problem with young people mixing with Muslims is that they could quickly encounter the Muslim practice of ‘taqiyya’ and have their preconceptions hardened.
In brief, ‘taqiyya’ is a culture of lying to protect Islam stemming from advice given by Mohammed himself. It spills over into every normal social encounter with the result that virtually any comment from a Muslim needs to be soundly corroborated before being believed.
Transplanting such a culture into a country whose Christian heritage assumes the truth will always be told and recognises no such loop-hole as ‘Taqiyya’ was always going to be fraught with difficulty.
A third problem is the aggressive manner in which Muslims in Britain practise their religion, with the full face-veil becoming a totem issue.
Anisha Patel, a practising Muslim, wears a black full-face veil and according to her comments in the Newsbeat story, claims to have been attacked by two men who pulled off her daughter’s veil.
“The kind of comments, the kind of looks and stares that we’re experiencing at this moment in time is very different to what it was before,” she said.
“They’ve become much more hostile, much more bitter, and much more aggressive in nature. It’s actually got to the stage where I’m beginning to feel that I want to stay in my house.”
She added: “At the end of the day this is a piece of cloth. It can neither harm anyone or do anything to anyone or do anything to anybody. If you’re going to add all the things on to it and say this is a terrorist or whatever they now think we are, it is just ignorance. Absolute ignorance.”
However, a 20-year-old woman who did not want to be named gave Newsbeat some background to her lack of trust of Muslims:
“When you hear about terrorism, more often than not it is Muslims that have carried it out. I just feel they’re all out to do that, they’re all the same.
“If we went to their country we can’t wear shorts and a crop top, yet they come here and cover themselves up. It’s almost like they’re forcing their religion on to us”, she said.
Such comments will dismay members of government working groups, but they indicate a growing depth of feeling at odds with the historic welcome Britain has given to immigrant communities.
However, groups like Huguenots and Jews fleeing religious persecution held similar religious and moral standards as the British, made attempts to assimilate and at the very least did not bring such an ‘in-your-face’ attitude as the recent wave of Muslims have done.
The Muslim population is set to grow in the United Kingdom by further immigration and a degree of natural fecundity spurned by both the Christian and secularist sectors. Muslims will be over-represented in both local and national government and will become more demanding.
Meanwhile, on present trends our culture will become more crass and brutal (as the website Brutal Britain shows) and both the freedom of the Christian faith and the rich Christian Heritage of Britain will be further eroded. It is highly likely that the church will stay within its walls and forget its duty to stand for the truth of the Gospel in the public square as did the prophets of old.
Given all that, it is a good job that Almighty God is in control, but has this country’s rebellion against his laws now outstripped our previous usefulness in spreading the Gospel? Has our national spiritual bank account slipped too far into the red? If so, there could be a rocky road ahead.
Find out how to join Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings (clicking on the link below does not commit you to join)
Please note that persons wishing to comment on this story must enter a valid email address. Comments from persons leaving fictitious email addresses will be trashed.
Muslim terrorists associated with Somalia- based Al Shabab (Arabic for ‘The Youth’) stormed the Westgate Centre in Nairobi’s up-market Westlands area on Saturday at noon local time. At least 62 people are dead with more than 170 injured. The dead and injured include Kenyans and many of other nationalities. President Uhuru Kenyatta’s nephew has been killed in the attack. The Mall itself is owned by an Israeli businessman.
Eye-witnesses say the attackers freed shoppers who could identify themselves as Muslims and shot at others. The Somali ambassador immediately denied this, despite not being there, while David Cameron said:
‘These appalling terrorist attacks that take place where the perpetrators claim they do it in the name of a religion – they don’t. They do it in the name of terror, violence and extremism and their warped view of the world. They don’t represent Islam or Muslims in Britain or anywhere else in the world.’
‘I don’t think any sensible person would argue that the perpetrators represent all Muslims. But it seems strange to say that a separation of people — and massacre of them — based solely on their religious identity can be said to have nothing to do with religion.’
It has emerged that there was what the Kenyan authorities described as a ‘multi-national’ element in the terrorist group. Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed told US PBS network that one of the militants was a British woman who had “done this many times before” and “two or three” Americans were also attackers.
Attention is focusing on the possible involvement of Samantha Lewthwaite, the widow of one of the men who carried out attacks on London’s transport system on 7th July 2005.
Postings on social media site Twitter in fluent English lend support to the theory that residents of the UK or US are heavily involved with the militants.
Al Shabab supporters commonly refer to ‘Brave Mujahideen’. It must take some quality to shoot defenceless men, women and children in cold blood, but courage does not immediately spring to mind.
Al Shabab aim to establish an Islamic state in Somalia and some factions within it want to export a Caliphate to the rest of East Africa, including Kenya and Uganda. All however, have taken exception to Kenyan army encursions into the country following attacks on Kenyan border towns. Last month Al Shabab murdered four policemen near Garissa in Eastern Kenya.
Nevertheless, a pan-African force including Kenya has succeeded in driving Al Shabab out of some of the areas it once held, and it may well be that the grenade and AK-47 attack in Nairobi is a sign of Al Shabab’s current weakness.
Relations between Christians and Muslims in Kenya are generally good. Christians represent some 80% of the population and Muslims 10%. There has been a strong Arabic influence for centuries from the trading centred on the Kenyan Indian Ocean port of Mombasa. Consequently, almost 50% of the population in the Coastal region is Muslim, tailing off the farther one moves from the south-east strip.
Yet even in Mombasa the two faiths manage an element of mutual respect, helped by the fact that Kenyan Christians hold their faith very strongly indeed, and never back down when standing up for the cause of Christ. On occasions, Christians and Muslims have stood together against secularist influences coming in from Europe and the US.
Despite the Nairobi attack, Kenya is a by-word for stability in East Africa, with many migrants from Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia. The Government will have to continue to address the Somali problem, but life will return to normal.
Please pray for those grieving for lost loved ones in Kenya and across the world. Pray that the perpetrators of the Westgate massacre will be brought to justice. Thank God for the Christian faith of the President and Vice-President. Pray for courage and wisdom for the Government of Kenya. Pray for the Church in Kenya, to stay resolute and preach the Gospel in season and out of season.
The blasts, among the deadliest of roughly 85 bomb and suicide attacks in Pakistan this year, come two weeks after political leaders agreed to initiate dialogue with militants in the region, including the Taliban.
The attack also came one day after Pakistan released from prison a high-ranking member of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, formerly the Taliban’s second-in-command.
All Saints’ Church is part of the Church of Pakistan, which was formed in 1970 following a union between Lutherans, Scottish Presbyterians, Methodists and Anglicans.
“They are the enemies of Islam, therefore we target them,” said the group’s spokesman, Ahmed Marwat. “We will continue our attacks on non-Muslims on Pakistani land.”
The attack has sparked protests by Christians and will jeopardise prospects for peace talks which the Government of Pakistan announced it would be holding with the Taliban.
Rashid Ahmed Khan, a professor of international relations at the University of Sargodha in Punjab province, said: “These attacks have put Sharif in a very tough spot. His offer of talks has emboldened these groups.”
Tomorrow: We report on the attack on Westgate Mall in Nairobi.
Find out how to join Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings (clicking on the link below does not commit you to join)
Please note that persons wishing to comment on this story must enter a valid email address. Comments from persons leaving fictitious email addresses will be trashed.
The ancient Christian settlement of Maalouda in Syria
Syrian rebels have attacked an ancient Christian town in Syria.
Residents fled as the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front occupied Maalouda. Government forces are said to have all but retaken the town, but there are reports of fighting carrying on in the town, which housed 3,000 people, many of them speakers of Aramiac, the ancient tongue spoken by the Lord Jesus himself.
The BBC’s Jeremy Bowen disputed reports of wholesale damage to churches but confirmed that six Christians have been kidnapped.
Mallouda is one of the most famous and historic centres of Christianity in the world. The attack illustrates the threat faced by the Christian minority from the rebels, who want to evict all non-Sunni minorities, including the Alawites amongst whom President Assad is numbered, and establish an Islamic state in Syria.
On 27th May, according to the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA), armed rebels affiliated to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) raided the Christian-populated al-Duvair village in Reef on the outskirts of Homs near the border with Lebanon and massacred all its civilian residents, including women and children.
Amid the chorus of denunciations of the brutality of President Assad’s forces, it has been difficult to hear any similar recognition of the abuses of the rebels from the likes of UK Foreign Secretary the Rt Hon William Hague and US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Kerry was accused of lying by the Russians last week after his response to a question from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee asking if the Syrian opposition had become more infiltrated by al-Qaeda.
“Kerry responded that that was ‘basically incorrect’ and that the opposition has ‘increasingly become more defined by its moderation.'” reported USA Today.
Despite the clear intentions of the Islamist rebels to butcher religious minorities in Syria, and the atrocities committed by them (see George Galloway’s speech in the House of Commons), Western Governments, including the UK, France and the US, are still supporting the rebels and doing all they can to destabilise President Assad.
Their actions, and those of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, have kept the fighting going when the rebellion might well have come to an end. Their support for the rebels has achieved nothing except tens of thousands of deaths and displacements.
Yesterday the Washington Post reported that the CIA are now arming the Syrian rebels. Weapons deliveries have been ‘streaming into the country over the past two weeks,’ the paper said.
This is despite the Russian intervention in which Syria will join the Chemical Weapons Convention, but cruise missile strikes appear to have been averted after it became clear that the American Congress would join the UK House of Commons in voting against its executive’s desire to start bombing Syrian Government positions. Congressmen were reporting that emails and telephone calls from constituents were in some case 244 to 1 opposed to military intervention. A straw poll on WND’s news story reporting the figures is currently running at around 98% opposed.
Find out how to join Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings (clicking on the link below does not commit you to join)
Please note that persons wishing to comment on this story must enter a valid email address. Comments from persons leaving fictitious email addresses will be trashed.
If the rebels gain control of Syria, then Eastern Syria could be the scene of a genocide against Christians comparable to the 1915 Armenian genocide.
As a Westerner, it is difficult to understand what is going on in Syria beyond the surface. The simplistic way our media deals with the Syrian crisis makes it difficult to appreciate the complexities of what is actually happening on ground level in this war-torn nation.
To address this need, Middle East scholar Samuel Noble recently spoke with John Maddex for Ancient Faith Radio. In an interview that lasted half an hour, Noble was able to give an overview of the background to Syria’s problems, as well as to raise concerns for the future of Syrian Christianity.
Nobel, who is a researcher in medieval Arabic Orthodox Christianity and Ph.D. candidate in Religious Studies at Yale University, explained how America and Britain have wanted to treat Syria as monolithic rather than diverse, and that their refusal to recognize the complex nature of Syria’s problems has resulted in incredibly naive and narcissistic political posturing.
One of the most chilling things Nobel said during the interview is that it would be a lot easier for America if there were not a large population of Christians living in Syria who have the sympathies of believers throughout the West.
Responding to claims made by the West that the Syrian rebels are a range of different groups which include moderates, Nobel explained that the range among the rebels is the range from the Muslim Brotherhood to Al-Qaeda. This means that if the rebels get control, then Eastern Syria (where the largest concentration of Christians are located) could experience a situation comparable to the 1915 Armenian genocide.
We strongly encourage you to listen to this mp3 interview and share it with your friends. It can be downloaded at the following link:
Find out how to join Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings (clicking on the link below does not commit you to join)
Please note that persons wishing to comment on this story must enter a valid email address. Comments from persons leaving fictitious email addresses will be trashed.
American President, Barack Obama, has begun another week of trying to persuade the American people that it is in the nation’s best interest to go to war with Syria.
The President’s unrelenting publicity campaign follows on the heels of a tense G20 conference in St Petersburg, where he clashed with Russian President, Vladimir Putin, over whether an attack against Syria would be justified.
Vladimir Putin has made clear that if America attacks Syria, Russia will stand by Bashar al-Assad, while Iran and China have also shown supportfor the Syrian regime. The grisly prospect of having to fight a war on three fronts (Syria, Iran and China) has not deterred President Obama from his goal of trying to convince the world that everyone will be safer once America starts launching bombs into Damascus.
In a press conference on the problem (see video below or transcript here), President Obama argued that the nations of the world need to “set aside [their] differences” and attack Syria.
(Those who are accustomed to hearing President Obama speak are used to hearing him talk of “setting aside our differences” as shorthand for “everyone needs to just agree with me.”)
Obama argued that “unless the international community is willing to put massive numbers of troops on the ground” that “we’re not going to get a long-term military solution for the country.” Short of a full solution, however, he said he would be satisfied if “this particular problem of using chemical weapons on children” could at least be dealt with.
Taken at face value, this means that Obama would be satisfied merely to ensure no further chemical attacks even if the rest of Syria’s problems (i.e., their the civil war) are not dealt with.
Secretary of State, John Kerry, was one person who apparently took the President at his word. Ina press briefing in London earlier today, Mr Kerry announce that Syria could avoid an American attack if Assad turns “over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community within the next week…”
Embarrassed by Mr Kerry’s proposal, the war-eager Obama had his administration rush to clarify what Mr Kerry had really meant, claiming he was merely “making a rhetorical argument.” But before the White House could kill Mr Kerry’s proposal with the death of a thousand qualifications,Russia put forward a concrete plan for implementing Kerry’s conditions. Assad subsequently welcomed the plan, which would involve turning over his arsenal of chemical weapons to international control.
This would be a convenient way to end a conflict that has brought the world perilously close to World War Three. If all parties accept this proposal, America could claim that their fighting talk paid off, that Assad backed down when faced with the prospect of an American attack. But al-Assad could also save face, claiming that his willingness to hand over his chemical weapons proves that he has nothing to hide because he never used them in the first place.
Unfortunately, it is uncertain whether Obama will agree to such a straight-forward solution, or whether he will try to impose additional demands that he knows al-Assad cannot agree to accept. The problem, of course, is that Obama’s moral outrage with al-Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons was never the real issue for him, even though he has used this as the justification for needing to go to war.
The fact is America was covertly supporting the Syrian rebels long before the recent issue of chemical weapons came up. In March this year, the New York Times reported that the America’s Central Intelligence Agency had expanded an airlift of arms and equipment to insurgent militants that had been occurring since early 2012, totalling around 3,500 tons of military equipment in total. This coincided with a series of rebel victories. America kept up the momentum, and in June this year Ben Rhodes, U.S. deputy national security adviser, revealed that America was stepping up the assistance it was giving to rebel groups, hoping to finally tip the balance to help the insurgents overthrow al-Assad’s government. The announcement coincided with the emergence of new lethal weapons in the hands of rebel forces.
Notice that this support of the rebels was before the 21 August chemical attack, which is now being used as justification for America getting involved. The fact is that Obama was already fighting an unofficial war against al-Assad long before the chemical attack allowed him to claim the moral high ground. That would explain why he was initially hesitant with a solution that merely guaranteed al-Assad would hand over his chemical weapons, and why his first reaction was to try to squash the significance of Kerry’s diplomatic proposal.
Behind the smoke-screen of humanitarian concern lies America’s support for the, so called, ‘Arab Spring’ movement. Any time radical Muslims group together to try to overthrow a dictator, Obama has been right there to support the radicals. Many people don’t realize it, but the United States is also currently training rebel groups in both Jordan and Turkey.
then he would have attacked North Korea long ago. It is well-established and uncontroversial that for decades North Korea has had Nazi-style concentration campswhere inhuman practices occur that include gassing people to death. If the United States is really tasked with the job of acting as an international police force against rogue nations, and if Obama really is being motivated by humanitarian concerns, why has he focused on Syria and ignored the far greater human rights violations in North Korea?
So what has really been motivating Obama?
Gaining control of Syria is central to America’s long-term ambition of crippling Russia. Russia has never been a team player, while their prioritization of national interests creates barriers to the spread of global consumer markets.
Controlling Syria would also enable America to cripple Russia’s military. Russia has a strong naval presence along the major Syrian ports of Latakia and Tartus, giving them access to the Mediterranean. If Syria falls into the hands of America, then so would these strategic ports.
Oil is another important issue. In order for the West to suppress Russia and gain control of the energy markets, they must gain control of Syria. Currently oil is supplied to Western Europe through Russia’s Druzhba pipeline. Syria is a key alternative energy transit route to Europe that would break the West’s dependence on Russia. That is why, in 2009, America supported Qatar’s proposal for a gas pipeline from the Gulf to Turkey that would travel through Syria to the Mediterranean and into Europe. But al-Assad refused to play ball, making deals with Russia instead, and refusing to let the Qatar pipeline pass through their land. If the United States assists in a regime change in Syria, then they will be in a position to control the future government of the nation, enabling them to revisit the Qatar pipeline idea. (Syria is also the site of a proposed pipelinecontrolled by Iran and its allies, which would supply Western Europe and undercut America’s energy interests in favour of Russia. America is against this idea, but to prevent it from happening they must control Syria.)
It is also possible that Obama’s own pro-Muslim sympathies may be playing a significant role in his eagerness to attack Syria. It is no secret that al-Assad’s regime, for all its problems, has kept at bay the fundamentalist Muslim elements that would otherwise turn Syria into a Muslim state. Already we are getting a foretaste of what would happen if the rebels are victorious. Since the civil war began, Christians throughout Syria have been being killed, tortured, and raped at the hands of the very rebels that Obama has been supporting. (Thisgruesome video shows just how far the Obama-Backed Syrian jihadists are willing to go in their blood-thirsty activities.) Last Saturday the Free Syrian Army, which Secretary of State John Kerry and Senator John McCain have both described as ‘moderates’, attacked a Christian village and posted videos of the slaughter on Youtube.
We know Obama is pro-Muslim, as that much is clear from his video congratulating ISNA, a group linked to both the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. “My administration is proud to be your partner,” he said in a video praising the achievements of the group whose mother organization has been burning churches in Egypt. Obama has also aligned himself with those who have sought to criminalize all criticism of Islam. Moreover, though it has yet to be substantiated, many believe there is evidence that President Obama is actually a member of the Muslim brotherhood. Saad Al-Shater, the son of imprisoned Muslim Brotherhood leader Khairat Al-Shater, claims his father “had in his hand” information, documents and recordings that could put Obama in prison. As the evidence has not yet been made public, we are not in a position to comment on it. But this much is clear: Obama has been supporting the jihadists who have been systematically butchering Syria’s struggling Christian population.
Find out how to join Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings (clicking on the link below does not commit you to join)
Please note that persons wishing to comment on this story must enter a valid email address. Comments from persons leaving fictitious email addresses will be trashed.
In an interview which was recorded on video, the Russian President went on to appeal to Obama as a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Echoing comments I made in a 2010 article titled ‘Is Obama a Man of Peace?‘, Putin asked Obama to consider carefully whether war with Syria is really in the interest of world peace.
Putin He also challenged America to bring forward the evidence they claim to possess showing that Assad’s regime used chemical weapons against the rebel forces.
ElsewherePutin raised concern for the way Christians are suffering persecution throughout the Middle East, including Syria, a topic on which President Obama has remained silent.
Obama Launches Unofficial War Against Syria
President Obama has been having as much difficulty getting Congress to approve his plan to go to war with Syria as David Cameron had trying to convince Parliament. But that has not stopped Obama waging an unofficial war against Syria.
In March this year, the New York Times reported that the America’s Central Intelligence Agency had expanded an airlift of arms and equipment to insurgent militants that had been occurring since early 2012, totalling around 3,500 tons of military equipment in total. This coincided with a series of rebel victories.
America has kept up the momentum, and in June this year Ben Rhodes, U.S. deputy national security adviser, revealed that America was stepping up the assistance it was giving to rebel groups, hoping to finally tip the balance to help the insurgents overthrow al-Assad’s government. The announcement coincided with the emergence of new lethal weapons in the hands of rebel forces.
Last Monday the New York Times reported that the first 50-man cell of fighters who have been trained by the CIA, are beginning to sneak into Syria to help try to overthrow the government.
Syria can now be added to Obama’s long list of undeclared wars. The only thing Congress has stopped Obama from doing is going to war officially with Syria.
Time to Stop Meddling in the Middle East
Given the history of America’s involvement in the Middle East, their intervention in Syria seems the height of madness. The intervention of America and Britain in Iraq resulted in a hard-line Islamic takeover and the eviction or extermination of the native Christians living in Iraq, as Andre Doran showed in his must-read article ‘How the Iraq War Became a War on Christians and Why Supporting Syria’s Rebels May Extinguish Christianity in its Oldest Environs.’ Doran explains that many Iraqi Christians died, while countless others fled to Syria where they thought they would be safe. And now Western powers are seeking to empower the very forces that are persecuting the Christian population in Syria.
Iran was a parallel situation in the mid 20th century, as I discussed in my article 2010 post ‘Foreign Policy.’ Our interference in Egypt was another case in point, leading to more killing of Christians, not less, as I showed in my article ‘Egypt: I Did Warn About This.’ And this doesn’t even include the disastrous results of America’s intervention in Libya and Afghanistan (for that, see my Examiner article ‘Why American Should Stop Meddling in the Middle East.’)
A problem with the West involving itself in Syria’s conflict, apart from the fact that it is none of their business, is the simple fact that America has chosen to support the wrong side. No one is claiming that al-Assad’s authoritarian government has been godly; however, the prospect of what might emerge if his government is overthrown is almost unthinkable. Yonadam Kanna, a member of the Iraqi National Assembly and Secretary General for the Assyrian Democratic Movement warned that the collapse of the Syrian state would be a jihadist triumph and endanger Christians throughout the entire Middle East.
Find out how to join Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings (clicking on the link below does not commit you to join)
Please note that persons wishing to comment on this story must enter a valid email address. Comments from persons leaving fictitious email addresses will be trashed.
The Wunderlich children have been taken from their parents because of the decision to homeschool.
German social services officials have raided the home of a family and abducted their children on the sole grounds that the parents were exercising their right to home-school.
The armed raid occurred on the morning of 29 August, just as the Wunderlich family was beginning lessons.
The team of 20 SS personnel, police officers and special agents approached the home with a battering ram after Judge Koenig, a Darmstadt family court judge, authorized force “against the children” since the children had “adopted the parents’ opinions.”
The four children, ages 7-14, were all forcibly removed and taken to unknown locations, leaving the parents devastated.
Home School Legal Defense Association obtained the court documents authorizing the seizure. The documents reveal that the only legal grounds for action against the family was their decision to home-school. There were no allegations of abuse or neglect, nor any concern that the children were receiving inadequate education.
Dirk Wunderlich, the father, reported, “I looked through a window and saw many people, police, and special agents, all armed. They told me they wanted to come in to speak with me. I tried to ask questions, but within seconds, three police officers brought a battering ram and were about to break the door in, so I opened it.
“The police shoved me into a chair and wouldn’t let me even make a phone call at first. It was chaotic as they told me they had an order to take the children. At my slightest movement the agents would grab me as if I were a terrorist. You would never expect anything like this to happen in our calm, peaceful village. It was like a scene out of a science fiction movie. Our neighbors and children have been traumatized by this invasion.”
The Wunderlich family with members of HSLDA, taken prior to the raid.
“When I went outside, our neighbor was crying as she watched. I turned around to see my daughter being escorted as if she were a criminal by two big policemen. They weren’t being nice at all. When my wife tried to give my daughter a kiss and a hug goodbye, one of the special agents roughly elbowed her out of the way and said, ‘It’s too late for that.’ What kind of government acts like this?”
Having been pestered by the state for their decision to home-school, the Wunderlich family has traveled throughout the EU in the last four years looking for a place to live in freedom. Sadly, the family was forced back to Germany by lack of work. Upon returning to the country, the children’s passports were immediately seized to ensure they could never leave again.
The right of German parents to home-school is recognized by the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Ignoring these and other declarations, the German government seems to be following the directives of Adolf Hitler, who wrote in 1937: “The youth of today is ever the people of tomorrow. For this reason we have set before ourselves the task of inoculating our youth with the spirit of this community of the people at a very early age, at an age when human beings are still unperverted and therefore unspoiled. This Reich stands, and it is building itself up for the future, upon its youth. And this new Reich will give its youth to no one, but will itself take youth and give to youth its own education and its own upbringing.”
Dirk Wunderlich spoke with Mike Donnelly, HSLDA Director for International Affairs. “These are broken people,” Donnelly said. “They said they felt like they were being ground into dust. They were shaken to their core and shocked by the event. But they also told me that they had followed their conscience and the dictates of their faith. Although they don’t have much faith in the German state, they have a lot of faith in God. They are an inspiring and courageous family.
“I’ve been fighting for German home-school freedom for years,” he continued, “and I had hoped that things were changing in Germany since it has been some time since brutality of this magnitude has occurred. But I was wrong.”
Petra Wunderlich said her heart was shattered. “We are empty,” she said. “We need help. We are fighting but we need help.”
Obama Interferes to Deport German Homeschool Family
The Obama administration has ordered the Romeike family to be deported to Germany, where the parents will almost certainly lose custody of their children for their decision to home-school.
Many other families have been persecuted at the hands of the totalitarian German state for wanting to home-school. One particular family, the Romeikes, fled Germany in 2008 after being ordered not to home-school. They hoped to find safety in the United States. In 2010 the Romeike family were granted asylum to remain in the U.S. on the grounds that returning to Germany would be dangerous for them (Michael Farris has pointed out that the German High Court is on record for saying that religious home-schoolers should be targeted and severely punished). Since then they have been living in Tennessee, where they purchased a farm and have been educating their children according to their evangelical Christian beliefs.
In an unexpected act of executive interference, President Obama appealed the ruling which allowed the Romeike family to remain in America. In April, the Obama administration obtained an order from a higher court to deport the family., arguing that parents essentially have no right to determine how and what their children are taught. At the same time, Obama is granting amnesty to millions of people who have gone to the US illegally. He has also released thousands of illegals who have committed crimes.
In the German state schools, children are exposed to graphic sex education, violence, witchcraft and atheism. Moreover, the German government has openly declared that its policy is based on suppressing minorities. One German court decision explained their opposition to home education explicitly in terms of ideological thought control:
“The general public has a justified interest in counteracting the development of religiously or philosophically motivated ‘parallel societies’ and in integrating minorities in this area. Integration does not only require that the majority of the population does not exclude religious or ideological minorities, but, in fact, that these minorities do not segregate themselves and that they do not close themselves off to a dialogue with dissenters and people of other beliefs. Dialogue with such minorities is an enrichment for an open pluralistic society. The learning and practicing of this in the sense of experienced tolerance is an important lesson right from the elementary school stage. The presence of a broad spectrum of convictions in a classroom can sustainably develop the ability of all pupils in being tolerant and exercising the dialogue that is a basic requirement of democratic decision-making process.”
Find out how to join Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings (clicking on the link below does not commit you to join)
Please note that persons wishing to comment on this story must enter a valid email address. Comments from persons leaving fictitious email addresses will be trashed.
Foreign Secretary William Hague was ready to ignore the UN Security Council and start military action against Syria.
The UK’s House of Commons has voted against any military action in Syria.
The House threw out Labour’s amendment, which watered down the Government motion, by 332 votes to 220, then voted against the Government motion itself by the narrower margin of 285 votes to 272.
Thirty Conservatives voted against military action and eleven LibDems. Thirty-two more Conservatives and 14 LibDems abstained or were absent, partly balancing the thirty-five Labour members who did not vote.
Except for three absent DUP MPs, all the ‘minor party’ MPs voted against. Their votes swung the day.
Here are the details (scroll down for good points from speeches and scroll right down for how your MP voted):
The Government motion:
‘That this House:
‘Deplores the use of chemical weapons in Syria on 21 August 2013 by the Assad regime, which caused hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries of Syrian civilians;
‘Recalls the importance of upholding the worldwide prohibition on the use of chemical weapons under international law;
‘Agrees that a strong humanitarian response is required from the international community and that this may, if necessary, require military action that is legal, proportionate and focused on saving lives by preventing and deterring further use of Syria’s chemical weapons;
‘Notes the failure of the United Nations Security Council over the last two years to take united action in response to the Syrian crisis;
‘Notes that the use of chemical weapons is a war crime under customary law and a crime against humanity, and that the principle of humanitarian intervention provides a sound legal basis for taking action;
‘Notes the wide international support for such a response, including the statement from the Arab League on 27 August which calls on the international community, represented in the United Nations Security Council, to “overcome internal disagreements and take action against those who committed this crime, for which the Syrian regime is responsible”;
‘Believes, in spite of the difficulties at the United Nations, that a United Nations process must be followed as far as possible to ensure the maximum legitimacy for any such action;
‘Therefore welcomes the work of the United Nations investigating team currently in Damascus, and, whilst noting that the team’s mandate is to confirm whether chemical weapons were used and not to apportion blame, agrees that the United Nations Secretary General should ensure a briefing to the United Nations Security Council immediately upon the completion of the team’s initial mission;
‘Believes that the United Nations Security Council must have the opportunity immediately to consider that briefing and that every effort should be made to secure a Security Council Resolution backing military action before any such action is taken, and notes that before any direct British involvement in such action a further vote of the House of Commons will take place; and
‘Notes that this Resolution relates solely to efforts to alleviate humanitarian suffering by deterring use of chemical weapons and does not sanction any action in Syria with wider objectives.’
Some points from some of the speeches
Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con): I began my speech by referring to the first world war. Next year, we will commemorate the centenary of the events of August 1914. Those events have a worrying parallel. At that time, a series of actions and reactions drew in, in an escalating fashion, one country after another. Nobody thought that the assassination of an obscure archduke would lead to a world conflagration. As Admiral Lord West has said, this is a powder keg, and we should not be lobbing weapons into the heart of such combustible material.
George Galloway (Bradford West) (Respect)
The reason for the unease is that people can see the character of the Syrian opposition. They have seen the horrific videos that we have heard about. Take a look at the video of one of the commanders of the Syrian revolution cutting open the chest of a human being and eating his heart and liver. He videotaped himself doing it and put it up on YouTube because he thought that it might be considered attractive. Take a look at the videos of Christian priests having their heads sawn off—not chopped off; sawn off—with breadknives. Even a bishop in the Christian Church was murdered by these people. Every religious minority in Syria—there are 23 of them—is petrified at the thought of a victory for the Syrian rebels, whom the British Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have been doing their utmost to supply with weapons and money over the last two years.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP): Does the hon. Gentleman share my concern, and that of many Members, about the Christian minority of some half a million, who have been displaced, murdered and ethnically cleansed? Any attack upon Syria, whatever it may be, could have repercussions for the Christian minority, who are concerned about what would happen given the example of Iraq, where there were 1.3 million Christians before the war and only 300,000 afterwards.
Dr Alasdair McDonnell (Belfast South) (SDLP): I share the hon. Gentleman’s concerns…
Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab): I remember, 10 years ago, like many Members, sitting on the Government Benches listening to the whole of the Iraq debate and agonising about how I should vote. I remember my heart telling me that I should support my leader—I particularly wanted to support my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mr Straw), my good friend—and my head telling me throughout that debate, “No, there’s something wrong here,” and I voted no. …
On this occasion, 10 years on, I am very clear and I am not agonising. I oppose military action in this case.
I do not think … we have any proof that bombing will make things any better or get rid of the chemical weapons, if they are there. We need to remember that once we cross that line of military action, as other Members have said, even if it is a short strike and very few civilians are killed, which is highly unlikely, the result will be that when anyone is killed in future years in Syria, whoever has killed them or whatever the background, the west will be blamed. The United Kingdom will be blamed, as has happened throughout the middle east, and we will see the repercussions on our streets in the form of increased extremism.
Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson (Lagan Valley) (DUP): The Democratic Unionist party has never been found wanting when it has come to supporting military action on behalf of our nation when it was deemed necessary. That has happened on at least three occasions during my time in Parliament. I have to say, however, that I have not yet heard a compelling argument today to convince me that military intervention in this case is either necessary or in our national interest.
Main Question put.
The House divided:
Ayes 272, Noes 285.
10.17 pm
How your MP voted:
Voted No: Abbott, Ms Diane (Lab) (Hackney North & Stoke Newington)
Voted No: Abrahams, Debbie (Lab) (Oldham East & Saddleworth)
Voted Aye: Adams, Mr Nigel (Con) (Selby & Ainsty)
Did not vote: Afriyie, Mr Adam (Con) (Windsor)
Voted No: Ainsworth, RH Mr Bob (Lab) (Coventry North East)
Voted Aye: Aldous, Mr Peter (Con) (Waveney)
Voted Aye: Alexander, RH Danny (LD) (Inverness Nairn Badenoch & Strathspey)
Voted No: Alexander, RH Mr Douglas (Lab) (Paisley & Renfrewshire South)
Voted No: Alexander, Ms Heidi (Lab) (Lewisham East)
Voted No: Ali, Ms Rushanara (Lab) (Bethnal Green & Bow)
Voted No: Allen, Mr Graham (Lab) (Nottingham North)
Voted No: Amess, Mr David (Con) (Southend West)
Voted No: Anderson, Mr David (Lab) (Blaydon)
Voted Aye: Andrew, Mr Stuart (Con) (Pudsey)
Voted Aye: Arbuthnot, RH Mr James (Con) (North East Hampshire)
Voted No: Ashworth, Jonathan (Lab) (Leicester South)
Did not vote: Austin, Mr. Ian (Lab) (Dudley North)
Voted No: Bacon, Mr Richard (Con) (South Norfolk)
Voted No: Bailey, Mr Adrian (Lab) (West Bromwich West)
Voted No: Bain, Mr William (Lab) (Glasgow North East)
Voted Aye: Baker, Mr Norman (LD) (Lewes)
Voted No: Baker, Mr Steve (Con) (Wycombe)
Voted Aye: Baldry, Sir Tony (Con) (Banbury)
Voted Aye: Baldwin, Ms Harriett (Con) (West Worcestershire)
Voted No: Balls, RH Ed (Lab) (Morley & Outwood)
Voted No: Banks, Mr Gordon (Lab) (Ochil & South Perthshire)
Voted Aye: Barclay, Mr Stephen (Con) (North East Cambridgeshire)
Voted Aye: Barker, rh Gregory (Con) (Bexhill & Battle)
Voted No: Baron, Mr John (Con) (Basildon & Billericay)
Voted No: Barron, RH Mr Kevin (Lab) (Rother Valley)
Voted Aye: Barwell, Mr Gavin (Con) (Croydon Central)
Voted No: Bayley, Mr Hugh (Lab) (York Central)
Voted Aye: Bebb, Mr Guto (Con) (Aberconwy)
Voted No: Beckett, RH Margaret (Lab) (Derby South)
Voted No: Begg, Dame Anne (Lab) (Aberdeen South)
Voted Aye: Beith, RH Sir Alan (LD) (Berwick-upon-Tweed)
Did not vote: Bellingham, Mr Henry (Con) (North West Norfolk)
Voted No: Benn, RH Hilary (Lab) (Leeds Central)
Voted No: Benton, Mr Joe (Lab) (Bootle)
Voted Aye: Benyon, Mr. Richard (Con) (Newbury)
Did not vote: Bercow, Mr John (Speaker) (Buckingham)
Voted Aye: Beresford, Sir Paul (Con) (Mole Valley)
Voted No: Berger, Ms Luciana (Lab) (Liverpool Wavertree)
Voted Aye: Berry, Mr Jake (Con) (Rossendale & Darwen)
Voted No: Betts, Mr Clive (Lab) (Sheffield South East)
Voted No: Bingham, Mr Andrew (Con) (High Peak)
Voted Aye: Binley, Mr Brian (Con) (Northampton South)
Voted No: Birtwistle, Mr Gordon (LD) (Burnley)
Voted Aye: Blackman, Mr Bob (Con) (Harrow East)
Did not vote: Blackman-Woods, Dr. Roberta (Lab) (City of Durham)
Voted Aye: Blackwood, Ms Nicola (Con) (Oxford West & Abingdon)
Did not vote: Blears, RH Hazel (Lab) (Salford & Eccles)
Voted No: Blenkinsop, Mr Tom (Lab) (Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland)
Did not vote: Blomfield, Mr Paul (Lab) (Sheffield Central)
Voted No: Blunkett, RH Mr David (Lab) (Sheffield Brightside & Hillsborough)
Voted No: Blunt, Mr Crispin (Con) (Reigate)
Voted Aye: Boles, Mr Nick (Con) (Grantham & Stamford)
Voted Aye: Bone, Mr Peter (Con) (Wellingborough)
Voted Aye: Bottomley, Sir Peter (Con) (Worthing West)
Voted Aye: Bradley, Ms Karen (Con) (Staffordshire Moorlands)
Did not vote: Bradshaw, RH Mr Ben (Lab) (Exeter)
Did not vote: Brady, Mr Graham (Con) (Altrincham & Sale West)
Voted Aye: Brake, RH Tom (LD) (Carshalton & Wallington)
Voted Aye: Bray, Ms Angie (Con) (Ealing Central & Acton)
Voted Aye: Brazier, Mr Julian (Con) (Canterbury)
Voted No: Brennan, Mr Kevin (Lab) (Cardiff West)
Voted Aye: Bridgen, Mr Andrew (Con) (North West Leicestershire)
Voted Aye: Brine, Mr Steve (Con) (Winchester)
Voted Aye: Brokenshire, Mr James (Con) (Old Bexley & Sidcup)
Did not vote: Brooke, Ms Annette (LD) (Mid Dorset & North Poole)
Did not vote: Brown, RH Mr Gordon (Lab) (Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath)
Voted No: Brown, Ms Lyn (Lab) (West Ham)
Voted No: Brown, RH Mr Nicholas (Lab) (Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Voted No: Brown, Mr Russell (Lab) (Dumfries & Galloway)
Voted Aye: Browne, Mr Jeremy (LD) (Taunton Deane)
Voted No: Bruce, Ms Fiona (Con) (Congleton)
Voted Aye: Bruce, rh Sir Malcolm (LD) (Gordon)
Voted No: Bryant, Mr Chris (Lab) (Rhondda)
Voted No: Buck, Ms Karen (Lab) (Westminster North)
Voted Aye: Buckland, Mr Robert (Con) (South Swindon)
Did not vote: Burden, Mr Richard (Lab) (Birmingham Northfield)
Voted Aye: Burley, Mr Aidan (Con) (Cannock Chase)
Voted No: Burnham, RH Andy (Lab) (Leigh)
Voted Aye: Burns, Mr Conor (Con) (Bournemouth West)
Voted Aye: Burns, RH Mr Simon (Con) (Chelmsford)
Voted Aye: Burrowes, Mr David (Con) (Enfield Southgate)
Voted Aye: Burstow, rh Paul (LD) (Sutton & Cheam)
Voted Aye: Burt, Mr Alistair (Con) (North East Bedfordshire)
Did not vote: Burt, Ms Lorely (LD) (Solihull)
Voted Aye: Byles, Mr Dan (Con) (North Warwickshire)
Voted No: Byrne, RH Mr Liam (Lab) (Birmingham Hodge Hill)
Voted Aye: Cable, RH Vince (LD) (Twickenham)
Voted Aye: Cairns, Mr Alun (Con) (Vale of Glamorgan)
Voted Aye: Cameron, RH Mr David (Con) (Witney)
Voted No: Campbell, Mr Alan (Lab) (Tynemouth)
Voted No: Campbell, Mr Gregory (DUP) (East Londonderry)
Voted Aye: Campbell, RH Sir Menzies (LD) (North East Fife)
Voted No: Campbell, Mr Ronnie (Lab) (Blyth Valley)
Voted Aye: Carmichael, RH Mr Alistair (LD) (Orkney & Shetland)
Voted Aye: Carmichael, Mr Neil (Con) (Stroud)
Voted Aye: Carswell, Mr Douglas (Con) (Clacton)
Did not vote: Cash, Mr William (Con) (Stone)
Voted No: Caton, Mr. Martin (Lab) (Gower)
Did not vote: Champion, Sarah (Lab) (Rotherham)
Voted No: Chapman, Mrs Jenny (Lab) (Darlington)
Voted Aye: Chishti, Mr Rehman (Con) (Gillingham & Rainham)
Did not vote: Chope, Mr Christopher (Con) (Christchurch)
Voted Aye: Clappison, Mr James (Con) (Hertsmere)
Voted Aye: Clark, RH Greg (Con) (Tunbridge Wells)
Voted No: Clark, Ms Katy (Lab) (North Ayrshire & Arran)
Did not vote: Clarke, RH Mr Kenneth (Con) (Rushcliffe)
Voted No: Clarke, RH Mr Tom (Lab) (Coatbridge Chryston & Bellshill)
Voted Aye: Clegg, RH Mr Nick (LD) (Sheffield Hallam)
Voted Aye: Clifton-Brown, Mr. Geoffrey (Con) (The Cotswolds)
Did not vote: Clwyd, RH Ann (Lab) (Cynon Valley)
Voted No: Coaker, Mr. Vernon (Lab) (Gedling)
Voted No: Coffey, Ms Ann (Lab) (Stockport)
Voted Aye: Coffey, Dr Th‚rŠse (Con) (Suffolk Coastal)
Voted Aye: Collins, Mr Damian (Con) (Folkestone & Hythe)
Voted Aye: Colvile, Mr Oliver (Con) (Plymouth Sutton & Devonport)
Did not vote: Connarty, Mr. Michael (Lab) (Linlithgow & East Falkirk)
Did not vote: Cooper, Ms Rosie (Lab) (West Lancashire)
Voted No: Cooper, RH Yvette (Lab) (Normanton Pontefract & Castleford)
Voted No: Corbyn, Mr Jeremy (Lab) (Islington North)
Did not vote: Cox, Mr Geoffrey (Con) (Torridge & West Devon)
Voted Aye: Crabb, Mr. Stephen (Con) (Preseli Pembrokeshire)
Did not vote: Crausby, Mr David (Lab) (Bolton North East)
Voted No: Creagh, Ms Mary (Lab) (Wakefield)
Voted No: Creasy, Ms Stella (Lab) (Walthamstow)
Voted No: Crockart, Mr Mike (LD) (Edinburgh West)
Voted No: Crouch, Ms Tracey (Con) (Chatham & Aylesford)
Voted No: Cruddas, Mr Jon (Lab) (Dagenham & Rainham)
Did not vote: Cryer, Mr John (Lab) (Leyton & Wanstead)
Voted No: Cunningham, Mr Alex (Lab) (Stockton North)
Voted No: Cunningham, Sir Jim (Lab) (Coventry South)
Voted No: Cunningham, Sir Tony (Lab) (Workington)
Voted No: Curran, Ms Margaret (Lab) (Glasgow East)
Voted No: Dakin, Mr Nic (Lab) (Scunthorpe)
Voted No: Danczuk, Mr Simon (Lab) (Rochdale)
Voted No: Darling, RH Mr Alistair (Lab) (Edinburgh South West)
Voted Aye: Davey, rh Mr Edward (LD) (Kingston & Surbiton)
Voted No: David, Mr Wayne (Lab) (Caerphilly)
Did not vote: Davidson, Mr Ian (Lab) (Glasgow South West)
Voted No: Davies, David T. C. (Con) (Monmouth)
Voted No: Davies, Mr Geraint (Lab) (Swansea West)
Voted Aye: Davies, Mr Glyn (Con) (Montgomeryshire)
Voted No: Davies, Mr Philip (Con) (Shipley)
Voted No: Davis, RH Mr David (Con) (Haltemprice & Howden)
Voted No: de Bois, Mr Nick (Con) (Enfield North)
Voted No: De Piero, Ms Gloria (Lab) (Ashfield)
Voted No: Denham, RH Mr John (Lab) (Southampton Itchen)
Voted Aye: Dinenage, Ms Caroline (Con) (Gosport)
Voted Aye: Djanogly, Mr Jonathan (Con) (Huntingdon)
Voted No: Dobbin, Mr Jim (Lab) (Heywood & Middleton)
Voted No: Dobson, RH Frank (Lab) (Holborn & St Pancras)
Voted No: Docherty, Mr Thomas (Lab) (Dunfermline & West Fife)
Voted No: Dodds, RH Mr Nigel (DUP) (Belfast North)
Did not vote: Doherty, Mr. Pat (SF) (West Tyrone)
Voted No: Donaldson, RH Mr Jeffrey M. (DUP) (Lagan Valley)
Voted No: Donohoe, Mr Brian H. (Lab) (Central Ayrshire)
Voted No: Doran, Mr Frank (Lab) (Aberdeen North)
Voted Aye: Dorrell, RH Mr Stephen (Con) (Charnwood)
Did not vote: Dorries, Mrs. Nadine (Con) (Mid Bedfordshire)
Voted No: Doughty, Stephen (Lab) (Cardiff South & Penarth)
Voted No: Dowd, Mr Jim (Lab) (Lewisham West & Penge)
Voted No: Doyle, Ms Gemma (Lab) (West Dunbartonshire)
Voted Aye: Doyle-Price, Ms Jackie (Con) (Thurrock)
Voted No: Drax, Mr Richard (Con) (South Dorset)
Voted No: Dromey, Mr Jack (Lab) (Birmingham Erdington)
Voted Aye: Duddridge, Mr. James (Con) (Rochford & Southend East)
Voted No: Dugher, Mr Michael (Lab) (Barnsley East)
Did not vote: Duncan, RH Mr Alan (Con) (Rutland & Melton)
Voted Aye: Duncan Smith, RH Mr Iain (Con) (Chingford & Woodford Green)
Voted Aye: Dunne, Mr Philip (Con) (Ludlow)
Voted No: Durkan, Mr Mark (SDL) (Foyle)
Voted No: Eagle, Ms Angela (Lab) (Wallasey)
Voted No: Eagle, Ms Maria (Lab) (Garston & Halewood)
Voted No: Edwards, Mr Jonathan (PC) (Carmarthen East & Dinefwr)
Voted No: Efford, Mr Clive (Lab) (Eltham)
Voted No: Elliott, Ms Julie (Lab) (Sunderland Central)
Voted Aye: Ellis, Mr Michael (Con) (Northampton North)
Voted Aye: Ellison, Ms Jane (Con) (Battersea)
Voted No: Ellman, Mrs Louise (Lab) (Liverpool Riverside)
Voted Aye: Ellwood, Mr Tobias (Con) (Bournemouth East)
Voted Aye: Elphicke, Mr Charlie (Con) (Dover)
Voted No: Engel, Ms Natascha (Lab) (North East Derbyshire)
Voted No: Esterson, Mr Bill (Lab) (Sefton Central)
Voted Aye: Eustice, Mr George (Con) (Camborne & Redruth)
Voted No: Evans, Mr Chris (Lab) (Islwyn)
Voted Aye: Evans, Mr Graham (Con) (Weaver Vale)
Voted Aye: Evans, Mr Jonathan (Con) (Cardiff North)
Did not vote: Evans, Mr. Nigel (Con) (Ribble Valley)
Voted Aye: Evennett, Mr David (Con) (Bexleyheath & Crayford)
Voted Aye: Fabricant, Mr Michael (Con) (Lichfield)
Voted Aye: Fallon, rh Michael (Con) (Sevenoaks)
Voted No: Farrelly, Mr Paul (Lab) (Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Did not vote: Farron, Mr Tim (LD) (Westmorland & Lonsdale)
Voted Aye: Featherstone, Ms Lynne (LD) (Hornsey & Wood Green)
Voted No: Field, RH Mr Frank (Lab) (Birkenhead)
Voted Aye: Field, Mr Mark (Con) (Cities of London & Westminster)
Voted No: Fitzpatrick, Mr Jim (Lab) (Poplar & Limehouse)
Voted No: Flello, Mr. Robert (Lab) (Stoke-on-Trent South)
Voted No: Flint, RH Caroline (Lab) (Don Valley)
Voted No: Flynn, Mr Paul (Lab) (Newport West)
Voted Aye: Foster, rh Mr Don (LD) (Bath)
Did not vote: Fovargue, Ms Yvonne (Lab) (Makerfield)
Voted Aye: Fox, RH Dr Liam (Con) (North Somerset)
Voted No: Francis, Dr Hywel (Lab) (Aberavon)
Voted Aye: Francois, RH Mr Mark (Con) (Rayleigh & Wickford)
Voted Aye: Freeman, Mr George (Con) (Mid Norfolk)
Voted Aye: Freer, Mr Mike (Con) (Finchley & Golders Green)
Voted Aye: Fullbrook, Ms Lorraine (Con) (South Ribble)
Voted Aye: Fuller, Mr Richard (Con) (Bedford)
Voted Aye: Gale, Sir Roger (Con) (North Thanet)
Voted No: Galloway, Mr. George (Res) (Bradford West)
Voted No: Gapes, Mr Mike (Lab) (Ilford South)
Voted No: Gardiner, Mr. Barry (Lab) (Brent North)
Voted Aye: Garnier, Sir Edward (Con) (Harborough)
Voted Aye: Garnier, Mr Mark (Con) (Wyre Forest)
Did not vote: Gauke, Mr David (Con) (South West Hertfordshire)
Voted No: George, Mr Andrew (LD) (St Ives)
Voted Aye: Gibb, Mr Nick (Con) (Bognor Regis & Littlehampton)
Voted Aye: Gilbert, Mr Stephen (LD) (St Austell & Newquay)
Did not vote: Gildernew, Ms Michelle (SF) (Fermanagh & South Tyrone)
Voted Aye: Gillan, RH Mrs Cheryl (Con) (Chesham & Amersham)
Voted No: Gilmore, Ms Sheila (Lab) (Edinburgh East)
Voted No: Glass, Ms Pat (Lab) (North West Durham)
Voted Aye: Glen, Mr John (Con) (Salisbury)
Voted No: Glindon, Mrs Mary (Lab) (North Tyneside)
Voted No: Godsiff, Mr Roger (Lab) (Birmingham Hall Green)
Voted No: Goggins, RH Paul (Lab) (Wythenshawe & Sale East)
Voted Aye: Goldsmith, Mr Zac (Con) (Richmond Park)
Voted No: Goodman, Ms Helen (Lab) (Bishop Auckland)
Voted Aye: Goodwill, Mr Robert (Con) (Scarborough & Whitby)
Voted Aye: Gove, RH Michael (Con) (Surrey Heath)
Voted Aye: Graham, Mr Richard (Con) (Gloucester)
Voted Aye: Grant, Mrs Helen (Con) (Maidstone & The Weald)
Voted Aye: Gray, Mr James (Con) (North Wiltshire)
Voted Aye: Grayling, RH Chris (Con) (Epsom & Ewell)
Voted No: Greatrex, Mr Tom (Lab) (Rutherglen & Hamilton West)
Voted Aye: Green, rh Damian (Con) (Ashford)
Voted No: Green, Ms Kate (Lab) (Stretford & Urmston)
Did not vote: Greening, Ms Justine (Con) (Putney)
Did not vote: Greenwood, Ms Lilian (Lab) (Nottingham South)
Voted Aye: Grieve, RH Mr Dominic (Con) (Beaconsfield)
Voted No: Griffith, Ms Nia (Lab) (Llanelli)
Voted Aye: Griffiths, Mr Andrew (Con) (Burton)
Voted Aye: Gummer, Mr Ben (Con) (Ipswich)
Voted No: Gwynne, Mr Andrew (Lab) (Denton & Reddish)
Voted Aye: Gyimah, Mr Sam (Con) (East Surrey)
Voted Aye: Hague, RH Mr William (Con) (Richmond Yorks)
Did not vote: Hain, RH Mr Peter (Lab) (Neath)
Voted Aye: Halfon, Mr Robert (Con) (Harlow)
Voted Aye: Hames, Mr Duncan (LD) (Chippenham)
Voted No: Hamilton, Mr David (Lab) (Midlothian)
Voted No: Hamilton, Mr. Fabian (Lab) (Leeds North East)
Voted Aye: Hammond, RH Mr Philip (Con) (Runnymede & Weybridge)
Voted Aye: Hammond, Mr Stephen (Con) (Wimbledon)
Voted Aye: Hancock, Mr Matthew (Con) (West Suffolk)
Voted No: Hancock, Mr Mike (LD) (Portsmouth South)
Voted Aye: Hands, Mr. Greg (Con) (Chelsea & Fulham)
Did not vote: Hanson, RH Mr David (Lab) (Delyn)
Voted No: Harman, RH Ms Harriet (Lab) (Camberwell & Peckham)
Voted Aye: Harper, Mr Mark (Con) (Forest of Dean)
Voted Aye: Harrington, Mr Richard (Con) (Watford)
Voted Aye: Harris, Ms Rebecca (Con) (Castle Point)
Voted No: Harris, Mr Tom (Lab) (Glasgow South)
Voted Aye: Hart, Mr Simon (Con) (Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshir)
Did not vote: Harvey, Mr Nick (LD) (North Devon)
Did not vote: Haselhurst, RH Sir Alan (CWM) (Saffron Walden)
Voted No: Havard, Mr Dai (Lab) (Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney)
Voted Aye: Hayes, rh Mr John (Con) (South Holland & the Deepings)
Voted Aye: Heald, Mr. Oliver (Con) (North East Hertfordshire)
Voted No: Healey, rh John (Lab) (Wentworth & Dearne)
Voted Aye: Heath, Mr David (LD) (Somerton & Frome)
Voted Aye: Heaton-Harris, Mr Chris (Con) (Daventry)
Voted Aye: Hemming, Mr John (LD) (Birmingham Yardley)
Voted No: Henderson, Mr Gordon (Con) (Sittingbourne & Sheppey)
Voted No: Hendrick, Mr. Mark (Lab) (Preston)
Voted Aye: Hendry, Mr Charles (Con) (Wealden)
Voted No: Hepburn, Mr Stephen (Lab) (Jarrow)
Voted Aye: Herbert, RH Nick (Con) (Arundel & South Downs)
Voted No: Hermon, Lady (UU) (North Down)
Did not vote: Heyes, Mr David (Lab) (Ashton-under-Lyne)
Voted No: Hillier, Ms Meg (Lab) (Hackney South & Shoreditch)
Voted No: Hilling, Ms Julie (Lab) (Bolton West)
Voted Aye: Hinds, Mr Damian (Con) (East Hampshire)
Voted Aye: Hoban, Mr Mark (Con) (Fareham)
Voted No: Hodge, RH Margaret (Lab) (Barking)
Did not vote: Hodgson, Mrs Sharon (Lab) (Washington & Sunderland West)
Voted No: Hoey, Ms Kate (Lab) (Vauxhall)
Voted Aye: Hollingbery, Mr George (Con) (Meon Valley)
Voted No: Hollobone, Mr Philip (Con) (Kettering)
Voted No: Holloway, Mr Adam (Con) (Gravesham)
Voted No: Hood, Mr Jim (Lab) (Lanark & Hamilton East)
Voted No: Hopkins, Mr Kelvin (Lab) (Luton North)
Voted Aye: Hopkins, Mr Kris (Con) (Keighley)
Voted Aye: Horwood, Mr Martin (LD) (Cheltenham)
Voted No: Hosie, Mr Stewart (SNP) (Dundee East)
Voted No: Howarth, RH Mr George (Lab) (Knowsley)
Voted Aye: Howarth, Sir Gerald (Con) (Aldershot)
Voted Aye: Howell, Mr. John (Con) (Henley)
Did not vote: Hoyle, Mr. Lindsay (Lab) (Chorley)
Voted Aye: Hughes, RH Simon (LD) (Bermondsey & Old Southwark)
Voted Aye: Hunt, RH Mr Jeremy (Con) (South West Surrey)
Voted No: Hunt, Mr Tristram (Lab) (Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Did not vote: Hunter, Mr Mark (LD) (Cheadle)
Voted No: Huppert, Dr Julian (LD) (Cambridge)
Voted Aye: Hurd, Mr Nick (Con) (Ruislip Northwood & Pinner)
Voted No: Irranca-Davies, Mr Huw (Lab) (Ogmore)
Voted No: Jackson, Ms Glenda (Lab) (Hampstead & Kilburn)
Voted Aye: Jackson, Mr Stewart (Con) (Peterborough)
Voted Aye: James, Ms Margot (Con) (Stourbridge)
Voted No: James, Mrs Siƒn C. (Lab) (Swansea East)
Voted No: Jamieson, Ms Cathy (Lab) (Kilmarnock & Loudoun)
Voted No: Jarvis, Mr Dan (Lab) (Barnsley Central)
Voted Aye: Javid, Mr Sajid (Con) (Bromsgrove)
Voted Aye: Jenkin, Mr Bernard (Con) (Harwich & North Essex)
Voted No: Johnson, RH Alan (Lab) (Kingston upon Hull West & Hessle)
Did not vote: Johnson, Ms Diana (Lab) (Kingston upon Hull North)
Voted Aye: Johnson, Mr Gareth (Con) (Dartford)
Voted Aye: Johnson, Mr Joseph (Con) (Orpington)
Voted Aye: Jones, Mr Andrew (Con) (Harrogate & Knaresborough)
Voted Aye: Jones, rh Mr David (Con) (Clwyd West)
Voted No: Jones, Mr Graham (Lab) (Hyndburn)
Voted No: Jones, Ms Helen (Lab) (Warrington North)
Voted No: Jones, Mr Kevan (Lab) (North Durham)
Voted Aye: Jones, Mr Marcus (Con) (Nuneaton)
Voted No: Jones, Susan Elan (Lab) (Clwyd South)
Voted No: Jowell, RH Dame Tessa (Lab) (Dulwich & West Norwood)
Voted No: Joyce, Mr. Eric (Lab) (Falkirk)
Voted No: Kaufman, RH Sir Gerald (Lab) (Manchester Gorton)
Voted Aye: Kawczynski, Mr Daniel (Con) (Shrewsbury & Atcham)
Did not vote: Keeley, Ms Barbara (Lab) (Worsley & Eccles South)
Did not vote: Kelly, Mr Chris (Con) (Dudley South)
Voted No: Kendall, Ms Liz (Lab) (Leicester West)
Did not vote: Kennedy, RH Mr Charles (LD) (Ross Skye & Lochaber)
Voted No: Khan, RH Sadiq (Lab) (Tooting)
Voted Aye: Kirby, Mr Simon (Con) (Brighton Kemptown)
Voted Aye: Knight, RH Mr Greg (Con) (East Yorkshire)
Voted Aye: Kwarteng, Mr Kwasi (Con) (Spelthorne)
Voted Aye: Laing, Mrs Eleanor (Con) (Epping Forest)
Voted Aye: Lamb, Mr Norman (LD) (North Norfolk)
Voted No: Lammy, RH Mr David (Lab) (Tottenham)
Voted Aye: Lancaster, Mr. Mark (Con) (Milton Keynes North)
Voted Aye: Lansley, RH Mr Andrew (Con) (South Cambridgeshire)
Did not vote: Latham, Ms Pauline (Con) (Mid Derbyshire)
Voted No: Lavery, Mr Ian (Lab) (Wansbeck)
Voted Aye: Laws, RH Mr David (LD) (Yeovil)
Voted No: Lazarowicz, Mr. Mark (Lab) (Edinburgh North & Leith)
Voted Aye: Leadsom, Ms Andrea (Con) (South Northamptonshire)
Voted Aye: Lee, Ms Jessica (Con) (Erewash)
Voted No: Lee, Dr Phillip (Con) (Bracknell)
Voted Aye: Leech, Mr John (LD) (Manchester Withington)
Voted Aye: Lefroy, Mr Jeremy (Con) (Stafford)
Did not vote: Leigh, Mr Edward (Con) (Gainsborough)
Did not vote: Leslie, Ms Charlotte (Con) (Bristol North West)
Voted No: Leslie, Mr Chris (Lab) (Nottingham East)
Voted Aye: Letwin, RH Mr Oliver (Con) (West Dorset)
Voted No: Lewell-Buck, Mrs Emma (Lab) (South Shields)
Voted Aye: Lewis, Mr Brandon (Con) (Great Yarmouth)
Voted No: Lewis, Mr Ivan (Lab) (Bury South)
Voted No: Lewis, Dr Julian (Con) (New Forest East)
Did not vote: Liddell-Grainger, Mr Ian (Con) (Bridgwater & West Somerset)
Voted Aye: Lidington, RH Mr David (Con) (Aylesbury)
Voted Aye: Lilley, RH Mr Peter (Con) (Hitchin & Harpenden)
Voted Aye: Lloyd, Mr Stephen (LD) (Eastbourne)
Voted No: Llwyd, RH Mr Elfyn (PC) (Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Voted No: Long, Ms Naomi (All) (Belfast East)
Did not vote: Lopresti, Mr Jack (Con) (Filton & Bradley Stoke)
Voted Aye: Lord, Mr Jonathan (Con) (Woking)
Voted Aye: Loughton, Mr Tim (Con) (East Worthing & Shoreham)
Did not vote: Love, Mr Andrew (Lab) (Edmonton)
Voted No: Lucas, Ms Caroline (Gre) (Brighton Pavilion)
Voted No: Lucas, Mr Ian (Lab) (Wrexham)
Voted Aye: Luff, Mr Peter (Con) (Mid Worcestershire)
Voted Aye: Lumley, Ms Karen (Con) (Redditch)
Voted Aye: Macleod, Ms Mary (Con) (Brentford & Isleworth)
Voted No: MacNeil, Mr Angus Brendan (SNP) (Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Voted No: MacTaggart, Ms Fiona (Lab) (Slough)
Voted No: Mahmood, Mr Khalid (Lab) (Birmingham Perry Barr)
Voted No: Mahmood, Ms Shabana (Lab) (Birmingham Ladywood)
Did not vote: Main, Mrs Anne (Con) (St Albans)
Voted No: Malhotra, Ms Seema (Lab) (Feltham & Heston)
Voted No: Mann, Mr John (Lab) (Bassetlaw)
Voted No: Marsden, Mr Gordon (Lab) (Blackpool South)
Did not vote: Maskey, Mr. Paul (SF) (Belfast West)
Voted Aye: Maude, RH Mr Francis (Con) (Horsham)
Voted Aye: May, RH Mrs Theresa (Con) (Maidenhead)
Voted Aye: Maynard, Mr Paul (Con) (Blackpool North & Cleveleys)
Voted No: McCabe, Mr. Steve (Lab) (Birmingham Selly Oak)
Voted No: McCann, Mr Michael (Lab) (East Kilbride Strathaven & Lesmahago)
Voted No: McCarthy, Mr Kerry (Lab) (Bristol East)
Voted No: McCartney, Mr Jason (Con) (Colne Valley)
Voted Aye: McCartney, Mr Karl (Con) (Lincoln)
Voted No: McClymont, Mr Gregg (Lab) (Cumbernauld Kilsyth & Kirkintilloch)
Did not vote: McCrea, Dr William (DUP) (South Antrim)
Did not vote: McDonagh, Ms Siobhain (Lab) (Mitcham & Morden)
Voted No: McDonald, Andy (Lab) (Middlesbrough)
Voted No: McDonnell, Dr Alasdair (SDL) (Belfast South)
Voted No: McDonnell, Mr John (Lab) (Hayes & Harlington)
Voted No: McFadden, RH Mr Pat (Lab) (Wolverhampton South East)
Voted No: McGovern, Ms Alison (Lab) (Wirral South)
Voted No: McGovern, Mr. Jim (Lab) (Dundee West)
Did not vote: McGuinness, Mr. Martin (SF) (Mid Ulster)
Voted No: McGuire, RH Mrs Anne (Lab) (Stirling)
Voted Aye: McIntosh, Miss Anne (Con) (Thirsk & Malton)
Voted No: McKechin, Ms Ann (Lab) (Glasgow North)
Voted No: McKenzie, Mr Iain (Lab) (Inverclyde)
Voted No: McKinnell, Ms Catherine (Lab) (Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Voted Aye: McLoughlin, RH Mr Patrick (Con) (Derbyshire Dales)
Voted No: McPartland, Mr Stephen (Con) (Stevenage)
Voted Aye: McVey, Ms Esther (Con) (Wirral West)
Voted No: Meacher, RH Mr Michael (Lab) (Oldham West & Royton)
Voted No: Meale, Sir Alan (Lab) (Mansfield)
Voted No: Mearns, Mr Ian (Lab) (Gateshead)
Voted Aye: Menzies, Mr Mark (Con) (Fylde)
Did not vote: Mercer, Mr Patrick (Con) (Newark)
Voted Aye: Metcalfe, Mr Stephen (Con) (South Basildon & East Thurrock)
Voted No: Miliband, RH Edward (Lab) (Doncaster North)
Voted No: Miller, Mr Andrew (Lab) (Ellesmere Port & Neston)
Voted Aye: Miller, rh Maria (Con) (Basingstoke)
Voted No: Mills, Mr Nigel (Con) (Amber Valley)
Voted Aye: Milton, Ms Anne (Con) (Guildford)
Voted Aye: Mitchell, RH Mr Andrew (Con) (Sutton Coldfield)
Did not vote: Mitchell, Mr. Austin (Lab) (Great Grimsby)
Voted No: Moon, Mrs Madeleine (Lab) (Bridgend)
Voted Aye: Moore, rh Michael (LD) (Berwickshire Roxburgh & Selkirk)
Voted Aye: Mordaunt, Ms Penny (Con) (Portsmouth North)
Voted No: Morden, Ms Jessica (Lab) (Newport East)
Voted Aye: Morgan, Ms Nicky (Con) (Loughborough)
Voted No: Morrice, Mr Graeme (Lab) (Livingston)
Voted No: Morris, Ms Anne Marie (Con) (Newton Abbot)
Voted Aye: Morris, Mr David (Con) (Morecambe & Lunesdale)
Voted No: Morris, Grahame M. (Lab) (Easington)
Voted Aye: Morris, Mr James (Con) (Halesowen & Rowley Regis)
Voted Aye: Mosley, Mr Stephen (Con) (City of Chester)
Voted Aye: Mowat, Mr David (Con) (Warrington South)
Voted No: Mudie, Mr George (Lab) (Leeds East)
Did not vote: Mulholland, Mr Greg (LD) (Leeds North West)
Voted Aye: Mundell, RH David (Con) (Dumfriesshire Clydesdale & Tweeddale)
Did not vote: Munn, Ms Meg (Lab) (Sheffield Heeley)
Did not vote: Munt, Ms Tessa (LD) (Wells)
Did not vote: Murphy, Mr Conor (SF) (Newry & Armagh)
Voted No: Murphy, RH Mr Jim (Lab) (East Renfrewshire)
Voted No: Murphy, RH Paul (Lab) (Torfaen)
Voted No: Murray, Mr Ian (Lab) (Edinburgh South)
Voted Aye: Murray, Ms Sheryll (Con) (South East Cornwall)
Voted Aye: Murrison, Dr Andrew (Con) (South West Wiltshire)
Voted No: Nandy, Ms Lisa (Lab) (Wigan)
Voted No: Nash, Ms Pamela (Lab) (Airdrie & Shotts)
Voted Aye: Neill, Mr Robert (Con) (Bromley & Chislehurst)
Voted Aye: Newmark, Mr Brooks (Con) (Braintree)
Voted Aye: Newton, Ms Sarah (Con) (Truro & Falmouth)
Voted Aye: Nokes, Ms Caroline (Con) (Romsey & Southampton North)
Did not vote: Norman, Mr Jesse (Con) (Hereford & South Herefordshire)
Voted Aye: Nuttall, Mr David (Con) (Bury North)
Voted Aye: O’Brien, rh Mr Stephen (Con) (Eddisbury)
Voted No: O’Donnell, Ms Fiona (Lab) (East Lothian)
Voted Aye: Offord, Dr Matthew (Con) (Hendon)
Voted Aye: Ollerenshaw, Mr Eric (Con) (Lancaster & Fleetwood)
Voted No: Onwurah, Ms Chi (Lab) (Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Voted Aye: Opperman, Mr Guy (Con) (Hexham)
Voted Aye: Osborne, RH Mr George (Con) (Tatton)
Voted No: Osborne, Ms Sandra (Lab) (Ayr Carrick & Cumnock)
Voted Aye: Ottaway, Mr Richard (Con) (Croydon South)
Voted No: Owen, Mr Albert (Lab) (Ynys Mtn)
Did not vote: Paice, RH Mr James (Con) (South East Cambridgeshire)
Did not vote: Paisley, Mr Ian (DUP) (North Antrim)
Voted Aye: Parish, Mr Neil (Con) (Tiverton & Honiton)
Did not vote: Patel, Ms Priti (Con) (Witham)
Voted Aye: Paterson, RH Mr Owen (Con) (North Shropshire)
Voted Aye: Pawsey, Mr Mark (Con) (Rugby)
Voted No: Pearce, Ms Teresa (Lab) (Erith & Thamesmead)
Voted Aye: Penning, Mr Mike (Con) (Hemel Hempstead)
Voted Aye: Penrose, Mr John (Con) (Weston-Super-Mare)
Voted No: Percy, Mr Andrew (Con) (Brigg & Goole)
Voted No: Perkins, Mr Toby (Lab) (Chesterfield)
Voted Aye: Perry, Ms Claire (Con) (Devizes)
Voted Aye: Phillips, Mr Stephen (Con) (Sleaford & North Hykeham)
Voted No: Phillipson, Ms Bridget (Lab) (Houghton & Sunderland South)
Voted Aye: Pickles, RH Mr Eric (Con) (Brentwood & Ongar)
Voted Aye: Pincher, Mr Christopher (Con) (Tamworth)
Voted Aye: Poulter, Dr Daniel (Con) (Central Suffolk & North Ipswich)
Voted No: Pound, Mr. Stephen (Lab) (Ealing North)
Voted No: Powell, Lucy (Lab) (Manchester Central)
Did not vote: Primarolo, RH Dawn (Lab) (Bristol South)
Voted Aye: Prisk, Mr Mark (Con) (Hertford & Stortford)
Voted Aye: Pritchard, Mr Mark (Con) (The Wrekin)
Did not vote: Pugh, Dr. John (LD) (Southport)
Did not vote: Qureshi, Ms Yasmin (Lab) (Bolton South East)
Voted Aye: Raab, Mr Dominic (Con) (Esher & Walton)
Voted Aye: Randall, RH Mr John (Con) (Uxbridge & South Ruislip)
Voted No: Raynsford, RH Mr Nick (Lab) (Greenwich & Woolwich)
Voted Aye: Reckless, Mr Mark (Con) (Rochester & Strood)
Did not vote: Redwood, RH Mr John (Con) (Wokingham)
Voted No: Reed, Mr Jamie (Lab) (Copeland)
Voted No: Reed, Mr Steve (Lab) (Croydon North)
Voted Aye: Rees-Mogg, Mr Jacob (Con) (North East Somerset)
Voted Aye: Reevell, Mr Simon (Con) (Dewsbury)
Voted No: Reeves, Ms Rachel (Lab) (Leeds West)
Voted Aye: Reid, Mr Alan (LD) (Argyll & Bute)
Did not vote: Reynolds, Ms Emma (Lab) (Wolverhampton North East)
Voted No: Reynolds, Mr Jonathan (Lab) (Stalybridge & Hyde)
Voted Aye: Rifkind, RH Sir Malcolm (Con) (Kensington)
Voted No: Riordan, Mrs Linda (Lab) (Halifax)
Voted No: Ritchie, Ms Margaret (SDL) (South Down)
Voted Aye: Robathan, RH Mr Andrew (Con) (South Leicestershire)
Voted No: Robertson, Mr Angus (SNP) (Moray)
Voted Aye: Robertson, rh Hugh (Con) (Faversham & Mid Kent)
Voted No: Robertson, Mr John (Lab) (Glasgow North West)
Voted Aye: Robertson, Mr Laurence (Con) (Tewkesbury)
Voted No: Robinson, Mr Geoffrey (Lab) (Coventry North West)
Voted No: Rogerson, Mr. Dan (LD) (North Cornwall)
Did not vote: Rosindell, Mr Andrew (Con) (Romford)
Voted No: Rotheram, Mr Steve (Lab) (Liverpool Walton)
Voted No: Roy, Mr Frank (Lab) (Motherwell & Wishaw)
Voted No: Roy, Mr. Lindsay (Lab) (Glenrothes)
Voted No: Ruane, Mr Chris (Lab) (Vale of Clwyd)
Voted Aye: Rudd, Ms Amber (Con) (Hastings & Rye)
Voted No: Ruddock, rh Dame Joan (Lab) (Lewisham Deptford)
Did not vote: Ruffley, Mr David (Con) (Bury St Edmunds)
Voted Aye: Russell, Sir Bob (LD) (Colchester)
Voted Aye: Rutley, Mr David (Con) (Macclesfield)
Did not vote: Sanders, Mr Adrian (LD) (Torbay)
Voted Aye: Sandys, Ms Laura (Con) (South Thanet)
Voted No: Sarwar, Mr. Anas (Lab) (Glasgow Central)
Voted No: Sawford, Andy (Lab) (Corby)
Voted Aye: Scott, Mr Lee (Con) (Ilford North)
Voted No: Seabeck, Ms Alison (Lab) (Plymouth Moor View)
Voted Aye: Selous, Mr Andrew (Con) (South West Bedfordshire)
Voted No: Shannon, Mr Jim (DUP) (Strangford)
Voted Aye: Shapps, RH Grant (Con) (Welwyn Hatfield)
Voted Aye: Sharma, Mr Alok (Con) (Reading West)
Voted No: Sharma, Mr Virendra (Lab) (Ealing Southall)
Voted No: Sheerman, Mr Barry (Lab) (Huddersfield)
Voted Aye: Shelbrooke, Mr Alec (Con) (Elmet & Rothwell)
Voted No: Shepherd, Sir Richard (Con) (Aldridge-Brownhills)
Voted No: Sheridan, Mr Jim (Lab) (Paisley & Renfrewshire North)
Voted No: Shuker, Mr Gavin (Lab) (Luton South)
Did not vote: Simmonds, Mr. Mark (Con) (Boston & Skegness)
Did not vote: Simpson, Mr David (DUP) (Upper Bann)
Voted Aye: Simpson, Mr Keith (Con) (Broadland)
Voted Aye: Skidmore, Mr Chris (Con) (Kingswood)
Voted No: Skinner, Mr Dennis (Lab) (Bolsover)
Voted No: Slaughter, Mr Andy (Lab) (Hammersmith)
Voted No: Smith, RH Mr Andrew (Lab) (Oxford East)
Did not vote: Smith, Ms Angela (Lab) (Penistone & Stocksbridge)
Voted Aye: Smith, Miss Chloe (Con) (Norwich North)
Voted Aye: Smith, Mr Henry (Con) (Crawley)
Voted Aye: Smith, Mr Julian (Con) (Skipton & Ripon)
Voted No: Smith, Mr Nick (Lab) (Blaenau Gwent)
Voted No: Smith, Mr Owen (Lab) (Pontypridd)
Voted Aye: Smith, Sir Robert (LD) (West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine)
Voted Aye: Soames, RH Nicholas (Con) (Mid Sussex)
Voted Aye: Soubry, Ms Anna (Con) (Broxtowe)
Did not vote: Spellar, RH Mr. John (Lab) (Warley)
Voted Aye: Spelman, RH Mrs Caroline (Con) (Meriden)
Voted Aye: Spencer, Mr Mark (Con) (Sherwood)
Voted Aye: Stanley, RH Sir John (Con) (Tonbridge & Malling)
Voted Aye: Stephenson, Mr Andrew (Con) (Pendle)
Voted Aye: Stevenson, Mr John (Con) (Carlisle)
Voted Aye: Stewart, Mr Bob (Con) (Beckenham)
Voted Aye: Stewart, Mr Iain (Con) (Milton Keynes South)
Did not vote: Stewart, Mr Rory (Con) (Penrith & The Border)
Voted No: Straw, RH Mr Jack (Lab) (Blackburn)
Voted Aye: Streeter, Mr Gary (Con) (South West Devon)
Voted Aye: Stride, Mr Mel (Con) (Central Devon)
Voted No: Stringer, Mr. Graham (Lab) (Blackley & Broughton)
Voted No: Stuart, Ms Gisela (Lab) (Birmingham Edgbaston)
Voted Aye: Stuart, Mr Graham (Con) (Beverley & Holderness)
Voted No: Stunell, rh Sir Andrew (LD) (Hazel Grove)
Voted Aye: Sturdy, Mr Julian (Con) (York Outer)
Voted No: Sutcliffe, Mr Gerry (Lab) (Bradford South)
Voted No: Swales, Mr Ian (LD) (Redcar)
Voted Aye: Swayne, RH Mr Desmond (Con) (New Forest West)
Voted Aye: Swinson, Ms Jo (LD) (East Dunbartonshire)
Voted Aye: Swire, RH Mr Hugo (Con) (East Devon)
Voted Aye: Syms, Mr Robert (Con) (Poole)
Voted No: Tami, Mr Mark (Lab) (Alyn & Deeside)
Voted No: Tapsell, RH Sir Peter (Con) (Louth & Horncastle)
Voted No: Teather, Ms Sarah (LD) (Brent Central)
Voted No: Thomas, Mr Gareth (Lab) (Harrow West)
Voted No: Thornberry, Ms Emily (Lab) (Islington South & Finsbury)
Voted Aye: Thornton, Mike (LD) (Eastleigh)
Did not vote: Thurso, Mr John (LD) (Caithness Sutherland & Easter Ross)
Voted No: Timms, RH Stephen (Lab) (East Ham)
Voted Aye: Timpson, Mr Edward (Con) (Crewe & Nantwich)
Voted Aye: Tomlinson, Mr Justin (Con) (North Swindon)
Did not vote: Tredinnick, Mr David (Con) (Bosworth)
Voted No: Trickett, Mr Jon (Lab) (Hemsworth)
Voted Aye: Truss, Ms Elizabeth (Con) (South West Norfolk)
Voted No: Turner, Mr Andrew (Con) (Isle of Wight)
Did not vote: Turner, Mr Karl (Lab) (Kingston upon Hull East)
Voted No: Twigg, Mr Derek (Lab) (Halton)
Voted No: Twigg, Mr Stephen (Lab) (Liverpool West Derby)
Did not vote: Tyrie, Mr Andrew (Con) (Chichester)
Voted No: Umunna, Mr Chuka (Lab) (Streatham)
Voted Aye: Uppal, Mr Paul (Con) (Wolverhampton South West)
Voted Aye: Vaizey, Mr Edward (Con) (Wantage)
Voted Aye: Vara, Mr Shailesh (Con) (North West Cambridgeshire)
Voted No: Vaz, RH Keith (Lab) (Leicester East)
Voted No: Vaz, Ms Valerie (Lab) (Walsall South)
Voted No: Vickers, Mr Martin (Con) (Cleethorpes)
Voted Aye: Villiers, RH Mrs Theresa (Con) (Chipping Barnet)
Voted No: Walker, Mr Charles (Con) (Broxbourne)
Voted Aye: Walker, Mr Robin (Con) (Worcester)
Voted Aye: Wallace, Mr Ben (Con) (Wyre & Preston North)
Voted No: Walley, Ms Joan (Lab) (Stoke-on-Trent North)
Voted Aye: Walter, Mr Robert (Con) (North Dorset)
Voted No: Ward, Mr David (LD) (Bradford East)
Voted Aye: Watkinson, Dame Angela (Con) (Hornchurch & Upminster)
Voted No: Watson, Mr Tom (Lab) (West Bromwich East)
Voted No: Watts, Mr Dave (Lab) (St Helens North)
Voted Aye: Weatherley, Mr Mike (Con) (Hove)
Did not vote: Webb, Mr Steve (LD) (Thornbury & Yate)
Voted No: Weir, Mr Mike (SNP) (Angus)
Voted Aye: Wharton, Mr James (Con) (Stockton South)
Voted Aye: Wheeler, Ms Heather (Con) (South Derbyshire)
Voted No: White, Mr Chris (Con) (Warwick & Leamington)
Voted No: Whiteford, Dr Eilidh (SNP) (Banff & Buchan)
Voted No: Whitehead, Dr Alan (Lab) (Southampton Test)
Voted Aye: Whittaker, Mr Craig (Con) (Calder Valley)
Voted Aye: Whittingdale, Mr John (Con) (Maldon)
Did not vote: Wiggin, Mr Bill (Con) (North Herefordshire)
Voted Aye: Willetts, RH Mr David (Con) (Havant)
Voted No: Williams, Mr Hywel (PC) (Arfon)
Did not vote: Williams, Mr Mark (LD) (Ceredigion)
Voted No: Williams, Mr. Roger (LD) (Brecon & Radnorshire)
Voted Aye: Williams, Mr Stephen (LD) (Bristol West)
Voted No: Williamson, Mr Chris (Lab) (Derby North)
Voted Aye: Williamson, Mr Gavin (Con) (South Staffordshire)
Did not vote: Willott, Ms Jenny (LD) (Cardiff Central)
Voted No: Wilson, Mr Phil (Lab) (Sedgefield)
Voted Aye: Wilson, Mr Rob (Con) (Reading East)
Voted No: Wilson, Mr Sammy (DUP) (East Antrim)
Voted No: Winnick, Mr David (Lab) (Walsall North)
Voted No: Winterton, RH Ms Rosie (Lab) (Doncaster Central)
Voted No: Wishart, Mr Pete (SNP) (Perth & North Perthshire)
Voted No: Wollaston, Dr Sarah (Con) (Totnes)
Voted No: Wood, Mr Mike (Lab) (Batley & Spen)
Did not vote: Woodcock, Mr John (Lab) (Barrow & Furness)
Did not vote: Woodward, RH Mr Shaun (Lab) (St Helens South & Whiston)
Voted No: Wright, Mr David (Lab) (Telford)
Voted No: Wright, Mr Iain (Lab) (Hartlepool)
Voted Aye: Wright, Mr Jeremy (Con) (Kenilworth & Southam)
Voted Aye: Wright, Mr Simon (LD) (Norwich South)
Did not vote: Yeo, Mr Tim (Con) (South Suffolk)
Voted Aye: Young, RH Sir George (Con) (North West Hampshire)
Voted Aye: Zahawi, Mr Nadhim (Con) (Stratford-on-Avon)
Find out how to join Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings (clicking on the link below does not commit you to join)
Please note that persons wishing to comment on this story must enter a valid email address. Comments from persons leaving fictitious email addresses will be trashed.
The message 'Boycott Israel' greets the Norwegian Labour Party's Foreign Minister on a visit to the Otoya youth camp
The Norwegian Foreign Minister puts his weight behind the anti-Israel Labour summer camp on Otoya Island in 2011.
Three days ago we posted an article about the launch of the anti-Israel Kairos network in Britain at this year’s sub-Christian Greenbelt festival.
But it was the blogger Archbishop Cranmer who drew attention to a bizarre anti-semitic board game being played at this year’s Greenbelt.
Called ‘Occupation’, it encourages participants to view themselves as Palestinian ‘victims of oppression’ in Israel. The people behind the game are called ‘Embrace the Middle East’ as if the only people in the Middle East are those who live in Gaza and the ‘West Bank’ (Judea and Samaria).
The ‘Occupation!’ game by ‘Embrace the Middle East’
‘Our installation in the Centaur foyer aims to give a glimpse of the challenges faced by ordinary Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. There’ll be a giant, interactive floor game – Occupation! – for all ages. Roll the dice and make your way through checkpoints and challenges, permit denials and poverty. On your journey, you’ll learn about the issues affecting the West Bank and Gaza and find out how you can help Embrace the Middle East to make a positive difference to the lives of marginalised people.’
Oddly enough, there appear to be no squares for ‘Fire Rocket at Ashkelon’ or ‘Put on Suicide Vest and Blow up Israeli School-Children’. An oversight, no doubt.
It is insidious propaganda – quite outrageous indoctrination-by-play – which poisons the mind of young Christians and delegitimises the State of Israel. And this year the Festival also hosts the launch of Kairos Britain – an anti-Semitic/anti-Israel mis-information and propaganda network which condemns Israel at every turn as oppressive and racist – with no mention of its right to self-defence against acts of terrorism and rocket bombardment, or even of its right to exist at all.
But it was the shameless propaganda of the ‘Occupation’ board game which took this writer’s mind back two years to the Labour Party summer camp on Utøya Island in Norway and the similar games being played there.
The adult organisers of the Utøya camp encouraged the young people placed in their charge to hold up signs calling for a boycott on Israel. Mr Jonas Gahr Støre, who was Norwegian Foreign Minister at the time, was pictured walking past approvingly as the young people did their masters’ bidding.
Good game – Utøya summer campers play at being a Hamas flotilla.
Israel National News (INN) reports that the Labour Party youth movement also invited representatives from the Palestinian Popular Front of Palestine to participate in their Utøya camp.
The Norwegian Prime Minister was also photographed getting a T-Shirt from the Fatah Youth leader Hassan Faraj with the inscription “Free Palestine”, which INN observe means death to Israel.
The jolly game played at Utøya (you need water – this game won’t work so well in the middle of Cheltenham), was a re-enacting of the HAMAS flotilla in which terrorists tried to murder Israeli soldiers.
Nothing impresses a point on adolescent minds quite so readily as acting it out, something which Jeremy Moody, CEO of EmbraceME, will be well aware.
Greenbelt possibly have some way to go to ascend to the dizzy heights of Norwegian-style leftist anti-semitism.
But just imagine someone from Fatah sharing a stage next year with Peter Tatchell and calling for liberation for gay Palestinians.
Come on Greenbelt, how inclusive would that be?
P.S. We understand over a hundred Christians were outside the Greenbelt festival on Sunday standing with Israel against the pro-Palestinian propaganda inside. Read the report here.
Find out how to join Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings (clicking on the link below does not commit you to join)
Please note that persons wishing to comment on this story must enter a valid email address. Comments from persons leaving fictitious email addresses will be trashed.
They love ‘alternative’ views at Greenbelt, but not Biblical ones, of course. No-one was invited either in 2010 or 2012 to put the alternative view to Tatchell’s anti-Christian polemics.
Nor will there be an alternative view this year (August 2013), when Reverend Lucy Winkett who chairs the Amos Trust will launch, on behalf of the trust, the anti-Israel Kairos Britain network of Churches. (Sorry, the link has evaporated: so much for ‘Kairos Britain’ network!)
Kairos, also being launched in other countries around the world, sees Israel as an oppressive, unjust and racist nation which gives no rights to Palestinians. Kairos condemns Israel and denies any right for Israel to defend herself and to live on land rightfully her own.
They call for what they describe as an end to ‘oppression and injustice’ by Israel and for ‘justice’ for Palestinians but refuse to address the oppression of Christians in Gaza or the removal of human rights of women and young men or the summary executions in HAMAS governed areas.
Kairos has failed to notice, let alone condemn, the firing of 29,000 rockets into Israeli communities since 2000 or the suicide bombings which are now mercifully being prevented by the security fence. They don’t address the increasing teaching of hatred in Palestinian Arab schools.
Greenbelt are also hosting a number of other speakers who are anti-Israel, one of whom, Mark Braverman, calls Zionism ‘racism’. Many young people attend Greenbelt unaware that it is a sub-Christian campaigning front for grindingly politically-correct fashionable left-wing propaganda.
A group from Christians for Zion are so concerned about Greenbelt’s stance that they have organised a witness outside the festival on Sunday 24th August 2013
Greenbelt’s profiling of voices from Israel-Palestine has been long and consistent. From the early 1980s onwards we have sought to give a platform to voices from the region not usually heard on the global stage; voices struggling for peace and justice who advocate non-violent action and dialogue – both Israeli and Palestinian.
But have they actually had anyone pro-Israel? Er, no. And are the anti-Israel ‘voices’ ‘not usually heard’? Er, no, again. The world’s media is awash with them. Truth is the first casualty of Greenbelt’s propaganda war.
Find out how to join Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings (clicking on the link below does not commit you to join)
Please note that persons wishing to comment on this story must enter a valid email address. Comments from persons leaving fictitious email addresses will be trashed.
The BHA, a registered charity which regularly engages in political campaigning, has just found out that over 40 schools, mainly academies, are insisting that teachers should not promote homosexuality to their pupils.
Given the levels of disease, the promiscuity, the degradation and the perversion inherent in the homosexual lifestyle, anyone with any sense of care for the young would have thought this was only sensible. A robust child-centred view would see promotion of homosexuality to 13-16 year-olds in the same light as grooming.
Parents send their children to school to get an education, not to be indoctrinated with the personal predilictions of teachers and ‘sex workers’. Most parents would regard ‘pro-gay’ teaching as child abuse.
But no, for the BHA and the Indy, it’s ‘The Return of Section 28’, the measure brought in under Margaret Thatcher at the instigation of Baroness Knight, Sir William Shelton, the Earl of Halsbury and others, to ban ‘gay lessons’. The Indy quoted Peter Tatchell in support of its stance without mentioning his contribution to the notorious pro-paedophilia book ‘The Betrayal of Youth’ in 1986. A leader-writer claimed ‘gay is perfectly natural’.
Wes Streeting, who is ‘head of education’ at the pro-sodomy organisation Stonewall, claimed that Section 28 had a ‘deeply damaging effect on the education and well-being of so many young people’. Actually, it may have saved very many more from being recruited into homosexual practice and the ‘gay’ lifestyle.
Not many parents know that the Equality Act 2010 put an obligation on public authorities to promote homosexuality and that includes LEA schools. Academies appear to be outside that obligation, but are still subject to the Sexual Orientation regulations which say homosexuals should not be discriminated against in the provision of goods and services. There is no evidence of discrimination in any of these schools. Furthermore, there is no national sex education curriculum. School governing bodies have the responsibility of drawing one up themselves.
The Department for Education, the DfE, said: “All schools can draw up their own sex-education policy, but they must ensure they do not discriminate on grounds of sexual orientation. Our guidance makes it clear that schools should not promote any sexual orientation. The DfE will be looking into these schools.”
Disturbingly, instead of standing up for themselves, the schools immediately began running for cover. According to the Indy:
‘In its first statement of its sex education policy, the Castle View Enterprise Academy in Sunderland could not have been clearer. It said: “The Governing Body will not permit the promotion of homosexuality.”
‘After being contacted by The Independent, it deleted the guidance from its website. The academy said the “incorrect information” was “one of several policy drafts shared by schools and project management companies as examples before the academy opened”. It said the policy had never been approved by its governing body. Principal Janet Bridges said: “We are thankful this administrative error has been brought to our attention and apologise for any upset it may have caused.”
‘An identical phrase was used by Colston’s Girls’ School, Bristol. And it executed a similar U-turn when contacted by the Liberal Democrat MP for Bristol West, Stephen Williams. He said: “I was amazed when I saw it and assumed at first it was some old policy from when it was a private school.”
‘Other schools are expected to rapidly delete similar guidance.’
Find out how to join Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings (clicking on the link below does not commit you to join)
Please note that persons wishing to comment on this story must enter a valid email address. Comments from persons leaving fictitious email addresses will be trashed.
The press fawn over a Russian homosexual activist.
Holding the Winter Olympics in Russia has turned into a jamboree for the professionally aggrieved.
Stephen Fry, described as an ‘actor, author and television presenter’ has written an open letter to Prime Minister David Cameron condemning what he describes as the “toxic mix of shaven headed thuggery and bigoted religion” currently ‘being used to demonise LGBT communities in Russia’. As if there are no shaven-headed homosexual thugs and bigots.
Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party, told Fry to “get over it”. David Cameron said he was against a boycott.
However, A Downing Street spokesman said the Government remained ”greatly concerned“ about restrictions on the promotion of sodomy in Russia and said Mr Cameron had raised the issue directly with President Putin. President Obama has also raised concerns, as well he might. He has also declined to meet President Putin. What with whistle-blower Snowden and now this attack on his nearest and dearest, it would make any President concerned to defend immorality flounce out of a summit.
The flurry of interest has arisen since Russia’s lower house of parliament, the Duma, passed a law prohibiting the provision of information about homosexuality to people under 18. A fine can be imposed for promoting the Western man’s vice.
Related? Griffin Fry
The WInter Olympics are due to be held in the Russian town of Sochi in February 2014.
By the way, has anyone else been struck by the uncanny similarlity between Stephen Fry and Nick Griffin? Can they by any chance be related? Or at least related to a common porcine ancestor? Not that we do evolution here.
Proving Godwin’s Law, that at some stage Nazi Germany will be mentioned in any online discussion, Fry got his over-the-top retaliation in first, saying:
“The 1936 Berlin Olympics proceeded under the exultant aegis of a tyrant who had passed into law an act which singled out for special persecution a minority whose only crime was the accident of their birth.
”Putin is eerily repeating this insane crime, only this time against gay Russians.
“I am gay. I am a Jew. My mother lost over a dozen of her family to Hitler’s anti-Semitism. I for one, weep at seeing history repeat itself.”
I, for one, weep at the misuse of the comma, but I shan’t be writing to David Cameron about it..
The present government has betrayed the family and suppressed our Christian heritage, announced Nigel Farage this week.
eunited after an armed raid by German authorities following their decision to homeschool.
