Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes

That Latin stuff (that could be loosely translated as "fear the gift-bearing Greeks") does not have anything to do with the Greeks in this case. Neither does the phrase "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" have much to do with horses in this story, but these two are fairly tearing me apart at the moment.

On one hand, we have the friendly folks from the British Council who want to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the State of Israel. Which could be considered as a gift, surely. On the other hand, to celebrate this event, they choose no one else but Judy Price, a British filmmaker who is characterized by some as "a radical left-wing member of the London-based Jews for Justice for Palestinians", which is a delicate way to say "a fringe member of a fringe group of nutcases".

And probably, not being fringe enough to her taste, Ms Price tried to recruit a certain professor Haim Bresheeth - a most rabid and open Israel-hater. He, at least, had the grace to refuse the mission.

So, while we here will celebrate the sixty years jubilee, Judy Price will do her best to transform it into a mourning for the "Naqba", according to David T quoting from her e-mail:

The British Council is trying to operate with integrity, not to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Israel but to mark it in a critical way along with the Naqba.

Says it all, doesn't it? With friends like these...

On the other hand, why worry? We shall celebrate and they shall mourn. Who gets a better deal?

Cross-posted on Yourish.com.