Whether through fear or self-interest, 'democratic' politicians have a standard response to anyone with the temerity to question the state of Israel, or even criticise a Jew or group of Jews.

Andrew Pelling, Conservative MP for Croydon Central, gave a textbook example of this response recently when contacted by two of his constituents, Alfred and Angela Litten.

Mr and Mrs Litten asked whether Mr Pelling would support an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons expressing concern about recent moves to strengthen trade links between Israel and the European Union.

They were somewhat surprised when, as reported by the Independent newspaper on February 28th, their MP retorted:
It will be a pleasure to have you both not voting for me - why don't you go and vote for the BNP?

Note the well-trained political reflexes – for the likes of Pelling, trenchant criticism of Israel automatically consigns even ordinary constituents to the lunatic fringe.
 
But of course the irony is Pelling’s ignorance of his own constituency, of the fact that the BNP leadership is now so devoted to the Jewish cause that they banned Lady Renouf from speaking to the party's Croydon branch, showing that some BNP officials are themselves eager to cultivate philosemitic reflexes.

Perhaps Mr Pelling needs to be educated as to who the real 'extremists' are?