I should like to see the STATISTICAL evidence that Jews are by far the most common victims of hate crimes. I need to know how a hate crime is defined and how many actual convictions there have been for hate crimes against Jews compared with other ethnic groups, or non-ethnic groups for that matter. Bear in mind that an accusation is not an indication of a crime. Only convictions by courts count. Claims are easy to make. Providing the evidence could be a tad harder. Put up or shut up, bobad.

Al, in a severely polarised Middle East it DOES matter where the Israelis get their guns from. In fact, it's at the hub of the whole problem of the Middle East. Israel gets three billion dollars per annum of unconditional military aid from the United States. That is neither an insignificant factor, bearing in mind that the population of Israel is about that of Scotland and Wales, neither is it politically insignificant bearing in mind that the US has a very long history of interference in the region, never on the side of Israel's adversaries. Finally, the treatment of Arabs in Israel is not more detestable than in the surrounding countries. Nobody here says that it is. I think Saudi Arabia is an utterly detestable regime and I think we should do no business with them whatsover on principle, oil or no bloody oil. But Israel sets itself up as an enlightened western-style democracy. A close inspection of the way Israel treats its minority gives the lie to that big time. I don't see how a country that discriminates against its non-Jewish minority, or which constantly gets into conflicts with its neighbours, can call itself a democracy.