Brown warns Iran to end 'totally abhorrent' threat to destroy Israel

It's one of those lies which has been repeated so often that it is now universally accepted as a truth. It is the lie that Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" when, in actual fact, Ahmadinejad did not say that.

But now we have politicians of all stripes and colours all proclaiming their horror at what Ahmadinejad didn't say.

The latest is Gordon Brown who is in Israel promising to stand firm against this threat that wasn't really a threat.

Gordon Brown will today recall the Holocaust as he delivers a blunt warning to Iran to end its "totally abhorrent" threat to destroy Israel, calling on Tehran to abandon plans to develop nuclear weapons.

In the first speech by a British prime minister to the Israeli parliament, Brown will declare that Britain will stand by the country when its "very right to exist" is under threat.

Brown's remarks will be seen as a signal that Britain could be prepared to support a military strike against Iran if all other diplomatic routes fail, including a tightening of sanctions. The prime minister will tell Israeli MPs: "Britain is your true friend. A friend in difficult times as well as in good times, a friend who will stand beside you whenever your peace, your stability and your existence are under threat."

Brown will single out Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, who has said that Israel should be wiped from the map. The prime minister will say: "To those who question Israel's right to exist, and threaten the lives of its citizens through terror, we say: the people of Israel have a right to live here, to live freely and to live in security. And to those who believe that threatening statements fall upon indifferent ears we say in one voice: that it is totally abhorrent for the president of Iran to call for Israel to be wiped from the map of the world."

It really does appear as if no western leader is allowed on to the international stage unless he is prepared to accept several false talking points as fact. In this case Brown offers two, the "wipe Israel off the map" statement which Ahmadinejad did not make, and the assumption that Iran are chasing a nuclear weapon, despite the fact that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued a fatwa saying the production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons was forbidden under Islam.

Brown has also offered an extra £30 million in aid to the Palestinians in an attempt to appear even handed, but then slipped in this:

Brown chose his language with care as he said Palestinians needed to do more to ensure Israel can live in peace.

This is the only instance I can think of where it is the responsibility of the occupied people to ensure the safety of their occupiers, normally that is precisely the other way around.

But, as Brown's entire speech proves, everything is back to front when it comes to the Middle East.

Israeli MPs will today hear a personal account from Gordon Brown of how he has been a passionate supporter of their country from when he was growing up in the 1950s. Brown will tell the Knesset, in a speech marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, that he was inspired by his father.

John Brown used to visit Israel up to twice a year in the 1950s and 1960s as a chairman of the Church of Scotland's Church and Israel Committee. The prime minister's father would return home and show slides of the building of the new state to his family.

What Brown will omit to mention is the fact that in those days Israel was a tiny socialist country whose workers organised kibbutz'. It's hard to imagine Brown's father being as moist eyed today as he watches Israel carry out the longest occupation in modern history.

But facts counts for nothing when it comes to this part of the world.

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Tags: Brown, Israel, Knesset, Iran, Palestine, Ahmadinejad