By John Kaponi

Israel used its measured diplomacy and murdered 275 civilians; Pakistan has sent thousands of troops to the Indian border, meanwhile in London people were fighting over....handbags.

Yes the stupid season is here once again folks.  The Government has destroyed all sense and prudence by slashing interest rates so that those that did have some money in the bank have been punished, and those idiots who borrowed to the max are now the victors and are binging again on shopping they really didn’t need.

Meanwhile the western media have been subjected to the preposterous Israeli government "media blitz" with some dude from South Africa claiming the "Palestinian people are not Israel’s enemy".  Well call me stupid but what does the indiscriminate attack on Gaza say to your average Palestinian, "oh in fact I am not the target but Hamas is".  Israel has again used the window of opportunity, when all those stupid Brits and Americas are binging on repeat Only Fools and Horses and are more concerned with getting 30% per cent at the NEXT department, than Israel killing innocent people.

Reports from Israel indicate that London and Washington and even Arab capitals were fully aware of the attacks by the IDF, and did nothing to stop them.  Is it just me but does violence not breed more violence?  What the hell is that waste of time Tony Blair doing in the Middle East, I thought he was the "Middle - East peace envoy" for the quartet.  Maybe the Prime Minister should send a polite P45 in the post this New year, because he has patently failed in his duties.

Hamas was democratically elected by the Palestinians, however repulsive their policies are to many, that was the will of the people, and Israel cannot and will not destroy this.  If it is believed that ground troops are being prepared for another wave of attacks on Gaza, this will surely provoke a reaction from Iran and Syria.  Maybe I am cynical but is this the end game?  For Israel to draw Iran and Syria into an open military conflict and then use superior military power the IDF have to attack both at the same time?

What really annoys me is that the British and American governments did not even so much as condemn the Israelis over reaction, but called for "restraint" and pretty much pleaded on Israel to not kill innocent civilians.  Yep Israel must be really worried.

For us Londoners, the security issue will deteriorate with so many people affected by what goes on in the Middle East.  We have enough cases of British born Muslims who are waiting for these "hot episodes" to happen to justify their nihilistic take on Islam and do something really stupid.  Lets hope the Muslim community in the UK has learnt from the lessons of the past and will show by good example that this country allows people and groups to protest, but will not tolerate any acts of terrorism.

Moreover I hope the only scenes of violence in London are those between housewives decamped outside of John Lewis all night and then totally losing their cool inside the store, that I can tolerate.