Alan Hart

At about 3.30pm Tel Aviv time on Sunday 4 June 1967, a young British television reporter handed the Israeli military censor the text of a story he had written and, if it was cleared, was going to record for broadcasting by ITN in its main evening news bulletin.

ITN’s Sunday evening bulletins were less than eight minutes in total length so the story had to be very short. In Londonforeign editor Hans Verhoven had agreed that the reporter could have 40 seconds. At three words per second that was a total of 120 words including the sign-off.

The reporter’s intro was the following: “For some reasons I can report, for others I cannot, I think the war is going to start tomorrow morning.” And he signed off: “Alan Hart, ITN, Tel Aviv, on the eve of war.”

I didn’t think the military censor would allow me to say “Israel is going to war tomorrow morning,” so I didn’t put it quite like that; but since I was in Israel that was obviously my meaning.

I was going out on a long limb with my (actually well informed) speculation because … continue reading

Dear Prime Minister Blair,

“Giving the impossible a go” in Israel-Palestine

I write to you with the warning words of Yehoshafat Harkabi reverberating in my mind. (He was, before your time, Israel’s longest serving and most enlightened Director of Military Intelligence. I’ll get to his warning words in due course).

After you cease to be burdened by the constraints of high political office, you could secure for yourself a place in history as the leader above all others (in all of human history) if you could do for the Middle East what you’ve done for Northern Ireland … continue reading

I’ve been asked if there is a one-page summary of my two-volume book. There is, in the form of an author statement. Here it is.

The “they” of the headline above are governments and awesomely powerful vested interests – military, economic, political and mainstream media. They have no interest in the truth about how the Palestine problem was created and why a peaceful resolution of it has remained, and seems set to remain, beyond the reach of diplomacy. And they would prefer you to remain ignorant of it.

The “you” of the headline above are the citizens of nations, peoples of all faiths and none, who are concerned by events in the Middle East and their global fall-out – 9/11 in America, terrorist bombs in Madrid and London and so on.

In my view the prerequisite for peace in the Middle East is … continue reading

On Tuesday evening 1 May, a BBC correspondent noted in passing that the Bush administration believes that “Iran is meddling in Iraq”. (My emphasis added).

I wonder what single word best describes what the Bush administration is doing in Iraq…..?

For those who believe or profess to believe that a genuine two-state solution to the Palestine problem is still an option, the following summary report from the Alternative Information Center ought to be required reading … continue reading