Natasha Kaplinsky

[john mahoney]

[font=arial][size=2]I just saw Natasha Kaplinsky's programme and it very moving and upsetting. It is so important that today's young people can associate with the catastrophic history of Jewish people, particularly during the second world war years.[/size][/font]
[font=arial][size=2]I would like to give some background to what I am about to say. It is also slightly 'out of context' to Natasha's own personal story but is relevant (in my opinion) to the wider view of the holocaust and it's aftermath.[/size][/font]
[font=arial][size=2]My father was born in Cardiff, Wales in 1914 a committed socialist and a proud opponent of Mosely's black shirts and British fascism. He was bitterly anti fascist and hated the Nazi ideology. I was born in 1954 and agree totally. [font=arial][size=2]In my profession (Mental Health) I must say some of the most important people in my career , and people who I have the greatest respect for, have been Jewish - Professor Len Stein, Dr. Paul Polak, Dr. Loren Mosher (deceased) and Dr. Alan Rosen - many of whom, I know, have similar stories. It is against this background I am making some controversial comments.[/size][/font][/size][/font]
[font=arial][size=2]I have worked in Palestine for the World Health Organisation during the last five years and have seen history repeating itself. Obviously it is not the same catastrophic genocide but I have seen terrible Israeli persecution against the Palestinian people, nonetheless. I have worked in both the West Bank and Gaza. I have witnessed terrible loss of human life and seen first hand the poverty most people now live in and in a Country that has been their (Palestinian) ancesteral home for thousands of years.[/size][/font]
[font=arial][size=2]Obviously there are Palestinian's who are involved in the armed struggle but, in targetting a whole population in retaliation, Israel has become the persecutors to some of the nicest people I have ever met. Given the history and persecution of so many of Israel's population, I would expect a more measured response. [/size][/font]

[rhyst]

I'm afraid to say that I became progressively more disappointed with this programme. I
expected a pure investigation into Natasha's ancestry, instead it dwelled rather too much on certain branches of her family tree. There were two notable omissions which rendered the programme unacceptably biased.

Firstly the passing comment of how Raphael's parents failed to support him in his
stand against Apartheid.

Secondly, surely the parallel should have been drawn between the white oppression,
dominance and stealing of blacks and their land in South Africa, and the Israeli
domination of the Palestinians, and the continued theft of the indigenous people's
lands. Considering how much footage of Nazis humiliating Jews we saw in this
programme, it was quite unbalanced not to mention the Palestine issue.


Rhys Thomas
I certainly enjoyed Natasha's cousin's moving singing, but overall this programme was
another opportunity for the Jews to try to rekindle feelings of guilt in everyone
else, while failing to take responsibility for their own actions.

[cheesio]

congratulations john, it would seem some of your best friends are jews.

[cheesio]

did it not occur to bbc magazines that having a forum topic that even vaguely mentions anything connected to anybody jewish is an invitation for the forum to be hijacked by morons such as john mahoney and rhyst. these despicable specimens of humanity reveal that their opposition to israel goes beyond the political when they use the completely inappropriate context of nazi genocide to criticize israeli government policy. i hope that bbc magazines will delete these posts, in particular the second one.