Bill Carmichael: Don’t tar Bradford with the madness of George Galloway

Yes, I am afraid it really is that crazy. On what authority he claims to instigate such a ban isn’t clear. Unfortunately, and to the city’s eternal shame, Galloway is the MP for Bradford West, but the last time I checked it didn’t give him the right to decide who can and cannot enter the city.

Also unclear is how he plans to police the ban. Will there be a new border crossing set up on the M606 motorway with black-shirted Gauleiters checking everyone’s passport?

Perhaps for easy identification Jewish people in Bradford should be forced to wear yellow stars on their clothing? Someone with views very similar to Galloway’s once tried that, and it didn’t end happily.

Galloway also boasts he has made Bradford an “Israeli free zone” banning Israeli goods and visits by Israeli academics. If so the people of Bradford are going to have to get along without mobile phones or computers – both powered by Israeli technology.

It is easy to laugh at Galloway’s latest madness, but there is a serious point to be made here. The Left collectively has entirely taken leave of its senses when it comes to Israel.

They have joined forces with neo-Nazis and extremist Islamists to try to destroy the tiny Jewish democracy for daring to defend itself from terrorist attacks.

In recent days we have had another Bradford MP, David Ward, fantasising about firing rockets at Israeli homes, and Baroness Warsi quit her government post because she demanded stronger action against Israel.

Vile anti-Semitism of the sort spouted by Galloway and Ward is not only accepted on the Left but has become very fashionable.

The singling out and demonisation of Israel by politicians has its consequences. Around the world attacks on Jewish people and property are increasing rapidly and in Berlin and Paris the mobs scream “Jews to the gas chamber”.

I am afraid that thanks to the inflammatory wickedness of people like Galloway we are very close to similar violence here in the UK. The Islamist and Leftist thugs who attach themselves to the anti-Israeli cause won’t take much persuading to start firebombing synagogues.

And don’t for a moment think that this anti-Israeli hysteria is motivated by any compassion for the Palestinian people. Galloway has never met a blood-soaked Arab tyrant that he hasn’t liked, including Saddam Hussein. In a piece of nauseating sycophancy, he hosed down the then Iraqi leader with praise and infamously lauded him as “indefatigable”.

Galloway is also a staunch supporter of the Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, who has killed more Palestinian civilians than the Israelis ever have, including months of bombardment by jets and artillery of the Palestinian refugee camp at Yarmouk, near Damascus.

The fighting in Syria has claimed more than 170,000 lives including more than 9,000 children, compared to fewer than 2,000 killed in Gaza, yet I don’t recall Galloway ever calling for a ban on Syrian nationals or the Left boycotting Syrian goods.

It seems dead Palestinians are perfectly fine as long as it’s your friends that are doing the killing.

In fact when Assad used chemical weapons against his own people Galloway excused the atrocity and dreamt up a bizarre conspiracy theory that the attack was all the fault of – yes you guessed it – the Israelis.

I used to live in Bradford and have many friends there. Unlike Galloway, who once hilariously confused Bradford with Blackburn, I know the city well and visit it often. The city has fallen on hard times recently and sadly there are some misguided people who will vote for clowns such as Galloway.

But at the risk of saying the obvious, Galloway does not speak for Bradford. The overwhelming majority of the population are decent people who want to see peace in the world and who detest the sort of racism and bigotry espoused by Galloway.

The next time Galloway makes one of his lucrative visits to see his chums in Beirut or Damascus he could do the people of Bradford a huge favour if he just bought a one-way ticket.