The Guardian World View, which is particularly applicable to CiF, is that Israel is always in the wrong.   The emotionally-compromised haters who are encouraged to “contribute” below the line have as great a difficulty in separating out reasoned criticism of Israel from the unreasoned and at times vitriolic criticism of her people, and are encouraged to vent their spleen furthering that view.  All this, as I have said, makes for the ideal climate for Israel- and at times Jew-hatred to flourish there.

With all this in mind, enter stage left (and I say this deliberately because the man in question is still a Labour councillor of Ward 4 Paisley North West) Councillor Terry Kelly who, not content with venting his ignorant spleen on his own blog (more of that anon) seemed obviously to have been drawn to CiF for some reason or other.

However, since I began writing this article there has been a strange turn of events – that particular Councillor Kelly (hereinafter referred to as the alternative Councillor Terry Kelly) who allegedly wrote the following to CiF:

“cllrterrykelly’s comment

“22 Jan 10, 2:48pm (about 5 hours ago)

If I have said someone is a racist and a liar it is because they are. These people have subjected my family to a violent hate campaign for years; I’m not surprised they find support amongst the squalid internet horde; they are like the people who used to write poison pen letters in years gone by; now they have the internet which saves on psychiatrists. The police should be shutting this stuff down imho.”

And:

“cllrterrykelly

22 Jan 2010, 6:27PM

There is no Anti-semitism; only anti-zionism. Real jews know that zionism is against Judaism. Its the squalid liars and cowards who defend the slaughter of innocent people that exploit anti-semitism as a cover for their agression.”

is not, according to the real Councillor Kelly, the actual Councillor Kelly (if you get my drift)

(I can’t help but think of a theory well-known to classical scholars that the Greek poet Homer’s epics were not written by Homer, but by another person with the same name….)

This is all very confusing because the comments on the real Councillor’s own blog,  (of which further details follow) very much resemble the alternative Councillor Kelly’s alleged rantings on CiF.  If he was set up then it was by someone who knew him very well indeed.

Note, for example, the rank hypocrisy in this particularly nasty little thread (from the real Terry Kelly’s blog) in which he seems to be concerned that Jews suffer because of Israel’s actions.  His concern is merely a device, however, as his real self as a cardholding antisemite comes through elsewhere on the blog with the following selection of statements and comments:

“I have no problem with Jews who are ‘assertive, religious, able to defend themselves’ who have temporal or political power’ but, ‘a homeland’ – Israel, is of course the homeland you refer to. The problem is it’s not theirs, they took it by force from a peaceful people who had lived there for 2,000 I know many Jews who can hardly bare (sic) the shame of what is going on in their name.”

“I support a two state solution because it’s the only way forward but, I’m not prepared to lie about it, what I would like to see is a one state solution, Palestine, from the Jordan to the sea, a state that can accommodate everyone who wants to live there in peace and freedom.”

“If you are up to speed with this as you appear to be you will be aware of the blackmailing tactics used by some of the pro Israeli lobby which amounts to screaming anti Semite at anyone who makes any criticism of Israel, this takes on a more sinister look in America where people come under extreme pressure to say nothing about Israel’s behaviour, to the extent that peoples (sic) lives, jobs, academic freedom etc. are put at risk. It’s quite liberating to be unafraid of them, they are a disgrace to the Jewish people and a bunch of thugs.”

“Jim – Hamas’s stated aim is the destruction of Israel you have chosen to take the blood curdling fighting rhetoric literally because it suits your argument, you just sound silly, the newspapers today are carrying stories about Hamas already calling for talks with Fatah, that’s not very blood curdling is it ?”

“Anyone who can discuss the Middle East without condemning Israel’s crimes is the one in need of medication.”

“Don’t buy Israeli goods; don’t have dealings with Israel; don’t visit the place; ban sporting contacts with them; shun them for the vile racists they are; force them through an economic blockade to do the decent thing. Force them to act as they once did; when their treatment under the Nazis won them the respect and affection of most of the world; many people like me remain livid at the Behaviour (sic) of the Israeli State; behaviour that has made many of us move from being massively sympathetic to the suffering of the Jews to being livid at the way they continue to treat the Palestinians.”

“British playwright Caryl Churchill wrote a well received play in response to the Gaza tragedy called “Seven Jewish Children” the play’s theme is taken from Jewish history and guess what; BBC radio bosses refused to broadcast it because they claimed again they were concerned about impartiality, what is going on here who is pulling the strings?”

“You are a liar, there is nowhere in the Gaza Strip where a bomb could land and be safe for civilians, it is the most densely packed area of land in the world; Israel has turned it into the worlds biggest prison.  Your comments are vile and they support war crimes, what kind of person are you? You are trying to justify the killing of innocent children, have you no decency at all?”

“People who demand yes or no answers usually don’t have a very strong case. I believe that every violent death is a tragedy. The real acid test is for people like you to say what your attitude would be if you were a young Palestinian living in Gaza, if I was and my courage didn’t fail me I would be fighting the occupier at every opportunity.”

“I am a friend of Israel that’s what friends do for each other, they tell the truth, like the many Israelis and Jews who agree with me.”

The real Councillor Kelly digs an even deeper hole for himself in his latest contribution to Harry’s Place where the following shows him  in full throttle:

“Terry Kelly
26 January 2010, 5:26 pm

I will now break my own rule and write to another web site. frank; Flaming Fairy; Gene and Mick. This is the real Terry Kelly; not the one who exploited (sic)(eh?) your bigotry and made such fools of you. A cursery (sic)glance at my site would have made it obvious to most people that it was not me who wrote these things.

It’s even more clear from your latest efforts that there is nothing I can say that will prevent you from finding some offence real or imagined.

You are not very graciuos (sic) losers; maybe you can learn from this; I genuinely hope so.

Cllr. Terry Kelly.”

and

“Terry Kelly
26 January 2010, 5:37 pm

This is truly worrying I expected better; it would appear that I am not to be treated fairly after all. You are reinforcing the Zionist stereotype; there is clearly no point in discussing it; none of you is even prepared to admit that you were duped and the reason it was easy to dupe you is quite evident in your latest reactions.”

That gem entirely merited the following measured and reasoned response which seems to sum up perceptions generally:

“Graham
26 January 2010, 5:58 pm

Cllr Kelly.

Speaking as someone whose cat is often impersonated by the ‘Legal Officer’ of the BNP allow me to say that your own impersonator appears to have fascistic tendencies too.

The only thing is – how do we tell you apart?”

The real Councillor Terry Kelly comes across as a typically uncouth bare-knuckle apology for a “debater,” who hates Israel blindly and actually knows very little about Middle Eastern politics.  His idea of debate on his blog is to dismiss as liars and/or otherwise insult the people who disagree with his views or argue with him.  Is this pugnacity a residual personality trait?   Where has it got him in the past?

Not surprisingly his inability to engage his brain before he opens his mouth has got him into all sorts of trouble in the council chamber.   Perhaps his blog serves to allow him to vent online against Israel/Jews rather than in meetings against his fellow councillors.

You could be forgiven for thinking that the real Councillor Terry Kelly would be just the CiF type of anti-Israel scrapper and be welcomed with open arms by the Guardianistas.  Indeed he comes across as if he is Berchmans’ first cousin and makes just as little sense.

Therefore it is hardly surprising  that anyone who chose to impersonate  Kelly should do so on CiF.  Perhaps they did so in the knowledge that CiF is an ideal facilitating climate for such drivel and it is likely to get by virtually unnoticed.