Talk to the Salisbury group about his new book ‘Complicit’
January 2026
The Amnesty International Salisbury Group invited the noted journalist and author Peter Oborne to speak about his recently published book* ‘Complicit: Britain’s Role in the Destruction of Gaza’ which describes in detail the extent to which British governments and media have supported the Israeli government presentation of events in Gaza since the massacre in October 2023. The event, held in the Methodist Church, was very well attended, with an audience of around 80. Following his presentation there was an opportunity for the audience to ask questions. Thirty copies of his book quickly sold out.
Asked about the motivation for writing the book, Mr Oborne (on the right of the picture) said that the drive came to him while in Nablus in October 23, as a continuation of his previous work as a political journalist and critic of lying in politics and the pro-Israel lobby. He noted that the former prime minister Rishi Sunak had declared unequivocal support for Israel, and the current prime minister Sir Keir Starmer notoriously agreed that the Israelis ‘had the right to deny fuel and water to the Gazans’. This brought them into an alliance with the far right and right wing media.
The role of the United States as a factor was considered. This has affected the language that is used in the conflict. Sir Keir Starmer, it was noted, was a human rights lawyer, and a Corbynite [reference to Jeremy Corbyn, a previous leader of the Labour Party], who changed as soon as he became leader.
Asked how influential the Conservative Friends of Israel were, Mr. Oborne noted that as MPs they must be compromised and should not be part of the debate if receiving funding from them (Note: the Salisbury MP Mr. John Glen is a member of this group). The funding is significant and amount to around half a million pounds by some estimates. He observed that during the committee stage of a related bill, only pro-Israeli MPs were called.
Media bias
The discussion moved on to the question of misrepresentation of events in the media. The claim that Hamas had ‘beheaded babies’ was reported as fact in the Daily Mail and the Times, and such stories were used as a justification for deliberate targeting by the IDF. In general, war has always led to misreporting historically: the first casualty in war is truth. Lurid stories of baby killings were repeated in the Independent (!) and the Daily Express and repeated by the Israeli Ambassador and other politicians.
Q: how many babies were killed and beheaded? A: Two were killed, none beheaded. In his book Peter Oborne quotes research by the Israeli paper Haaretz which revealed one had been shot through a door and a second infant had died after delivery by Caesarean section and the mother had died as well. Terrible events but not the mass killing of babies which the British media had swallowed whole.
Even the BBC and broadsheet newspapers were guilty of misreporting, sometimes by omission rather than commission. In his book, Oborne describes the BBC’s coverage as ‘a reporting disaster and a moral calamity‘ (p51)
For example, no mention was ever made of the “Dahiya doctrine” of military destruction of civilian entities. The doctrine itself calls for the deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure in order to induce suffering and severe distress throughout the targeted population. By targeting indiscriminately, the IDF hopes to deter further military attacks against Israel, destroy its enemies, as well as influence the population to oust the militants seen as the primary target. This seems to contradict Israeli claims of targeting actions against Hamas not civilians, a claim endlessly repeated by the media.
Why did British media consistently misreport events in the Gaza war Peter was asked? The fear of being called anti-Semitic is a factor in bias among reporters. The Israel lobby will respond immediately to critical comment and not all journalists recognize the rules of the game. The IDF will regularly challenge reporting of actual events. With most newspapers being pro-Israel, it is easier to report from that angle.
Israel accused UNRWA of employing and harbouring Hamas terrorists among its 17,000 staff. As a result, the British government immediately withdrew its support. UNWRA was the largest agency operating in Gaza and by closing their warehouses and distribution work it had a devastating effect on the lives of those living there. In the past few days, their HQ was demolished by Israel, and, although the UK reinstated its connection, the myth of Hamas involvement was never rejected.
Questions from the floor
Questions from the floor included the makeup of the IDF (the Israeli national army, but one with a substantial number of foreign volunteers) and the influence of Israel had over the USA and UK policy. He thought some but is was not overwhelming. In answer to a question, Mr. Oborne praised Mrs. Thatcher for her support of international law, something not sustained today, We are being let down by politicians, but some who have been supportive of the Palestinian cause were named along with alternative media. Asked about President Trump’s “Board of Peace”, it was considered to be not a serious venture, not least because there is still no genuine ceasefire.
On the question of whether the political classes will be held to account, the speaker’s view was that if not, then might would be right. If the International Court of Justice concludes that genocide has taken place, British politicians may be liable – although, since the Attorney-General was a government appointment he would have to take the case up and this is unlikely to happen. The possibility remains that other countries might decide to prosecute.
Mr. Oborne was thanked for coming to Salisbury and discussing his book.
*OR Books (pub) ISBN: 9781682194263
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Peter Oborne now writes for Middle East Eye and Byline Times.
Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire 
Revisionist history has a old bastard pedigree. From the NT to the Koran to Arafat Philistine Palestinians. Evil people love to employ lies and slander to govern the masses – classic Greek rhetoric.
Chag Shevuoth 46th day of the Omer – struggling to remove tuma middot from within the Yatzir Ha’Ra of the hearts of my people. The counting of the Omer accomplished through the שם מ”ב and the Divine soul Name האל, initially dedicated when we burn the חמץ prior to Pesach; but culminates upon the dedication of the soul Name האל upon Chag Shevuath – tefillah a matter of dedication of tohor middot within the heart – תורה לא בשמים הוא. Torah scholarship distinguishes the רוח הקודש thirteen middot Spirits “pronouns” of the 1st Commandment לא בשמים הוא Name which breathes the spirit of life into the chosen Cohen people whenever we do wisdom commandments known as time-oriented mitzvot; which Moshe Rabbeinu heard orally at Horev. As contrasted by the much later rabbinic פרדס inductive logic which relies upon warp/weft middot: the 7 Yovel middot, 10 judicial justice middot, and 13 pursuit of righteousness middot – halacha thread vs. the 32 Aggadic middot – woven into the halachic precedents which the Amoraim sages brought to interpret the language of some specific Home Mishna – which the Gemara views from different fixed “witness” perspectives. Jewish common law a courtroom legalism. As opposed and contrasted by Greek and Roman fiat statute law (cult of personality) legislative decrees, issued by authorities on High – as if from Heaven itself. Later such ‘Royal Fiat’ called the ‘Divine Right of Kings’, which the Magna Carta originally challenged and the American and French revolutions permanently uprooted.
Contrast revisionist history, which as a hard rule, behaves like a pig; that presents its cloven feet, and declares itself kosher. A more specific example: the public display of a bastard pedigree, presented through the ‘Son of God’ metaphor. From the NT to the Koran to Arafat Philistine Palestinians – Evil power hungry people love to employ lies and slander to govern the clueless masses – herein defines classic Greek rhetoric. The Romans developed Greek rhetoric by maintaining cheap bread prices in Rome to conceal the corruption and debauchery of the court of Caesar!
No serious historian says “the United States was created in 1776,” because nations – founded, declared, or achieve independence, not “created” as if by divine fiat mythology; akin to Romans sucking the tits of a mamma wolf. [Nakba: the humiliation of failing to stop the creation of Israel] False. God creates. Israel won its national independence by winning a war. France in 1789 established as their Constitution ‘The Rights of Man’. The ensuing general European wars that followed express the rejection of Monarchy governments to the revolutionary French democracy. The modern state of Greece likewise defeated the Ottoman Turks, as likewise did Muhammad Ali of Egypt! India had developed vibrant economy, until British imperialism raped that land; all the while – employing the rhetoric of calling conquered India – the Crown Jewel of the British empire! To state otherwise = revisionist history.
[The collapse of Arab political society] False; never in all Human history a Palestinian state. Arabs who fled League Mandated territories labelled “Palestine”, followed by the loss of the war which 5 to 7 Arab states started, has consequences. Once these refugees – who never embraced the British Palestine Mandate throughout 1923 to 1948 – fled, they lost all claims to 1948 Israel. The PLO 1964 Charter states openly that only ’48 Israel “occupied territory”. Later post ’67 attempts by the UN Security Council to pass off the illegal Jordanian West Bank as the legitimate lands of a Palestinian state – likewise revisionist history. In 1950 only England and Pakistan validated the Jordanian nationalization “West Bank” as part of Trans-Jordan “East Bank”; all other UN members condemned Jordans annexation of Samaria as illegal. Post ’67 UN fiat decrees like 242, 338, 446, 2334 etc promote the abracadabra rhetoric that the “West Bank” “illegal occupied territory”. England severed Trans-Jordan from its Palestine Mandated territories at the Jordan river in 1923.
Arab propaganda which compares “the Zionist entity” to Mideaval Chrusader states – another utter distortion of facts and history. [Later dominant Palestinian meaning (especially post‑1960s)] Imposing later revisionist history conclusions upon earlier historical facts – utterly false. Nakba for it to apply to Arab refugees must equally apply to the greater number of Jewish refugees expelled from almost all Arab countries in 1948. Arab revisionist propaganda does NOT extend Nakba to Jewish ’48 refugees. Therefore post-1960s a blagard-lie to foist Nakba upon post defeat Arab refugee populations. If for no other reason that such propaganda conceals the even greater disgraces perpetuated by UNWRA and all Arab states – which promotes the bait & switch Nakba onto Arab refugees and conceals the failure of all Arab states to repatriate their refugee populations!
Kapo Israeli revisionist historians – a curse of the ערב רב since Israelites left Egypt. My question centers upon Omer Bartov, why this man accepts patent Arab propaganda as anything other than a bald faced lie? Bartov’s reasoning is not theological, not Zionist, and not rooted in the political history of the Mandate. His entire intellectual world comes from genocide studies, ethnic violence, and comparative nationalism.
Bartov attempts to compare the Arab attempt to throw the Jews into the Sea in 1948 and again later in 1967 with the blagard-slander of ‘Zionist Ethnic cleansing’! Such false comparisons to Galicia, Volhynia, the Balkans, Anatolia, Rwanda, Bosnia – actual autrocities of ‘Ethnic cleansing’ – to the post ’48 plight of Arab refugees amounts to political porn. Why?
Israel openly accepted the Peel Commission of 1936 which contributed to the British sponsored UN 181, where two-thirds of all UN member states recognized Jews equal rights to achieve self determination as originally envisioned by the Balfour Declaration\Palestine mandate of 1922. Compound the fact, the declared Arab intent to complete the Nazi genocide of Jews permanently removes any and all comparison, made by Bartov with these distant other Goyim massacres of Goyim. Proof for this fact: Israel gave Israeli citizenship to ’48 Arabs. No Arab state has ever repatriated the ’48 and later ’67 Arab refugee populations.
Bartov reaches conclusions based upon shallow superficial reactionary comparisons; akin to the ICJ condemnation of Israel for war crimes post the Oct 7th 2023 slaughter of some 1200 Israelis perpetuated by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and UNWRA criminals. His emotional empathetic reactions to Arab displaced refugees taken completely out of context to larger Jewish displaced refugee populations during the same period of time! One hand clapping produces only the lies of sound. ’48 Arab refugees never existed in the fabled numbers of “hundreds of thousands”! This UNWRA revisionist history utterly false. A lie equal to, the UN false pretense of a permanent Palestine Mandate – to this very day! Had the Arabs won their war of extermination how would Bartov frame that as “history”? Post war ’48 Arabs did NOT experience “ethnic cleansing”. That’s a blood libel host desecration Jews poisoned the wells lie. Such a lie, compares to condemning the US dropping bombs on Tokyo for the ‘war crime’ of Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor!
Bartov looks at 1948 almost only through the lens of “what happened to Arafat’s Pie in the Sky ‘Palestinians’,” and not “what the ’48 war exposed”. Arab states steadfast rejection that dhimmi Jews have equal rights to achieve self-determination in their own homeland! This Arab revisionist history lie. stands upon the foundation of the Koran itself; which about 2000 years after the revelation of the Torah at Sinai, its false prophet Muhammad fundamentally rejected; the Koran declares that Jews lied and replaced Yitzak for Yishmael at the Akadah; Arabs lie straight from their mothers’ milk! Benny Morris, Yoav Gelber, Anita Shapira – the burden rests upon them to prove that “several hundred thousand Arab refugees” in 1948 some how created out of the blue hocus pocus witchcraft!
More Jewish villages depopulated in Arab countries than Arab villages depopulated on orders from their own military leadership! Bartov’s shallow reactionary one-hand clapping bs duplicates to thousands of years after the fact NT and Koran revisionist substitute history/theology. His historical analysis compares to Stalin’s expunging the contributions of Leon Troskii in order to seize the helm of Lenin’s ‘Dictatorship of the Proletariat’.
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