Eloquent pilgrim

I disagree insomuch as I have seen little, or no, ambiguity towards Hezbollah; although I note that you do not express an opinion about their legitimacy. I don’t pretend that mine is the only view; maybe you didn’t realise that my original comment was replying to @JimCM who has a completely opposite view to myself, and believes Hezbollah to be a freedom fighting group. Maybe you could make a comment to him telling him not to pretend that his is the only view, or the only correct view …… hmmmmm

Did you read the comment I was replying to ? What did I take out of context ? He said, and I quote “Hezbollah are a legitimate freedom fighting group” and I replied that they are not, that they are in fact a terrorist organisation. How is that taking anything out of context ? Are you feeling okay ?

This is a flawed opinion for many reasons. Hezbollah are a terrorist organisation illegally occupying swathes of Lebanon; they have two stated aims; the complete destruction of Israel, and the removal of the Lebanese government to be replaced by and Islamic government, modelled on the one of their sponsors, Iran; you failed to mention either of these fundamental points. From south of the Litani river, Hezbollah are able to hit Israeli territory with rockets, which they have done countless times; consequently there was an agreement for Hezbollah to remain north of the river, and for south of the river to be controlled by the Lebanese government and UN forces. Hezbollah have continually broken this agreement, causing at one point the complete evacuation of northern Isreal . All of this watched by UN forces who somehow failed to find bunkers and weapons stores which the IDF come across every single time they enter Lebanon. One tunnel they found is a stones throw away from a UN watchtower. The last thing Israel needed at this time was to have to deal with Hezbollah again; but during the night of 1-2 March, Hezbollah broke a ceasefire that had stood since 27th November 2024. Hezbollah claim to have fired more than 280 rockets at Israel since 2nd March, and with the Lebanese government and the UN forces unable, or unwilling to stop Hezbollah from attacking Israel, the IDF have had to do it themselves; you will no doubt find these facts uncomfortable, but if you knew the history of the Golan Heights, you might have a better understanding of the Israeli action.

Is the Australian government prepared to send troops there to remove Hezbollah, because they are the occupying party in Lebanon. ?

I didn’t think it particularly deflective to mention an Islamic terrorist attack in the UK when the thread is about a Western democracy at war with the Islamic terrorist organisation, Hezbollah. I also wanted to flag up the excellent BBC dramatisation “A Song For Jenny” You are the one to indulge in deflection, exactly as the poster I was replying to does; you followed the same dictum, don’t engage and indulge immediately in whataboutery. All but 5 words of your reply to me are about the IRA and the Omagh bombing in 1998 !! You don’t want a discourse about Islamic terrorism, because like the left-wing extremists on this forum, you have a hissy fit if any muslim is criticised, totally regardless of any heinous act they have committed. It is not just the acts of terrorism though, it is also the threats, designed to intimidate, silence and shut down any criticism of Islam; in March 2021 at Batley Grammar school in Yorkshire, a teacher showed a caricature of Muhammad in a religious class about blasphemy. A baying crowd of muslims descended on the gates of the school demanding his sacking, and he and his wife and young children all received death threats. There was a mountain of online evidence of death threats, but despite this, West Yorkshire Police failed to make one single arrest or prosecution; instead they told the teacher to go into hiding with his wife and four young children. In 2024 a review by Dame Sara Khan concluded that the police had completely failed the teacher (guess why) The teacher and his entire family were all given new identities, and are still in hiding 5 years later, their lives lying in tatters …. You and others on the left want to ignore incidents like this, and consequently embolden the intimidation, shameful … Britain 2026

Hi Andrew Thanks, and yes, I don't think there are the legendary delays in the UK now. I will post when I get my new one and see if they return any copies, not that I will need them, but out of interest.

Thanks; the young lady at VFS said she thought it would be about 4 weeks. I don’t know how much negative impact the war is having on flights and consequently mail and courier services. I’m happy at the moment that my application has been received by HMPO, and my credit card charged. I will post when my new passport arrives.

I have no idea; but perhaps you should just be grateful that your nasty racist comment was actually removed.

Really ? You said in a thankfully now removed comment “I’m way too anti semitic to listen to a Jew on YT” …… that is racist plain and simple; but maybe you follow the left wing dictum that antisemitism is not racism … but it is I prefer the dictum that when someone shows you who they are, believe them first time Anyhow, maybe best to leave it there; can’t imagine either of us getting much benefit from a prolonged discourse about it …. Have a good day ✌️

This needs an edit In all fairness, I should point out that Hezbollah terrorists are up to 100k terrorists ……… there ya go And apparently, most of the Hezbollah terrorists claim that they could hold back an Israeli advance single handedly.

It is not a fact that Douglas Murray is a clueless bigot; it might be your opinion that he is, and it is my opinion that he is not. However, your comment clearly demonstrates the sense of entitlement of many on the left; stating an opinion as fact.

solidifies

Archetypal response, straight from the left-wing book of deflection techniques; if Islamic terrorism is ever mentioned, don’t engage, ignore it completely, and deflect, obfuscate and always use whataboutery; when any Islamic terrorism is mentioned, it is a dictum you follow with the kind of fanaticism not often found west of Tabriz. Not being a UK citizen, you probably don’t appreciate the scale of the devastation of the 7/7 London bombings; when 4 nice young muslim lads from the religion of peace blew themselves up, killing 52 innocent UK citizens, and injuring over 700; something in my comment that you unsurprisingly have totally ignored.

I understand it fully, and am very happy for you to respond to me on behalf of Jim. I find if both entertaining and very touching that you continually put a comforting arm around his shoulder. ✌️

Lovely to see you still responding on behalf of your buddy Jim; even before he has had an opportunity to respond himself this time. It is a privilege, and somewhat touching, to be able to witness the blossoming of this bromance ✌️

Just a brief update, last evening (15.40 GMT) I received an email from HMPO saying that they had received my new Passport application, giving me a reference number, and saying they would contact me if they needed any further information. I checked the UK credit card that I used for payment and the fee of £143.51 has been debited, so all seems to be well so far, and I think that it is a fairly good response time.

Astonishing that anyone who’s IQ score is a minimum of double digits (which I assume yours is) could look at the (truncated) list and conclude that there is not a worldwide problem with Islamic terrorism. It would indicate either an inability to process factual information, total delusion, or cognitive bias. Not sure when and how your indoctrination of hatred for western civilisation, and your love for Islam happened, but it seems to have become an unreasonable obsession with you. There is an excellent program on BBC iPlayer “A song for Jenny” It is a dramatisation of the grief and anger of a mother, Julie Nicholson, after the death of her daughter, Jenny, at Edgware Road tube station in the 7/7 London bombings. It even gets a glowing review in the left wing publication, The Guardian. It requires a depth of emotional intelligence and human empathy to appreciate; not sure if it would be your cup of chai ?

That's exactly what he means; and unfortunately, lots of them on this forum

On the first page of this topic you said in a comment: “btw Hezbollah are a legitimate freedom fighting group” If that is not voicing support for them, I don’t know what is. You don’t seem capable of controlling your fanaticism when you comment.

Indeed; it elevates irony to a new level

Douglas Murray is a hugely intelligent writer and orator; that you dismiss him as a clueless bigot, serves only to highlight your very limited ability to understand critical thinking and intellectual discourse.

Nurse

Indeed, antisemitism is a light sleeper; easily awoken in the gullible, incurious, and keffiyeh wearing slogan screechers.

Well, he probably finds it a bit sticky wearing that keffiyeh on the beach 🏖️

Jim, this is satire of Olympic standard; and please remember, only a few hours ago, you referred to a proscribed muslim terrorist organisation, Hezbollah, as freedom fighters. Peaceful religion of Islam, Jim; you seem to have a short memory, so here’s a few reminders for you. 9/11 USA 2,996 dead 25,000 + injured 7/7 London bombs 52 dead 784 injured 2017 London Bridge, 8 killed 48 injured 2017 Barcelona, driver mows down 100 people, 14 dead 130 injured. 2022 Manchester concert bomb, 22 dead 119 injured 2015 Charlie Hebbo 12 dead 2019 London Bridge 2 dead 3 injured 2020 France stabbing and beheading 3 dead 2020 Samuel Paty, French teacher beheaded in the street 2015 Bataclan, Paris 130 dead 350 wounded 2015 Nice, France, truck rampage 86 dead 434 injured 2023 Arras France .. teacher stabbed to death 2016 Rouen France 85 year old priest has throat slit at alter of church 2023 Brussels, 2 Swedish football fans shot dead 2018 Carcassonne France 5 dead 15 injured 2024 Crocus hall Moscow: 140 dead 300 injured 2023 7th October Israel: 1,195 Killed 250 taken hostage. 2025 Feb 13 Munich: Car ramming, 37 injured 2 killed. 2025 Dec 14 Bondi: 15 killed 40 injured All these slaughters of innocent western civilians, and there are hundreds more, yes, hundreds, and hundreds more, were carried out by adherents to the faith of Islam …. peace be with you ✌️