One of the most infamous incidents in the history of the House of Commons occured in 1972 during a debate about the murder of 14 civilians in Derry by the British army - Bloody Sunday. At one point Bernadette Devlin, who had witnessed the slaughter first-hand, rose from her seat, strode across the august chamber and punched home secretary Reggie Maudling in the mouth.
Predictably this caused uproar. While Devlin's action was certainly "un-parliamentary", no one got seriously hurt that day. As she herself later pointed out, it spoke volumes that some people in the British establishment were more outraged by her behaviour than by the actions of their soldiers in Derry a few days previously.
This came to my mind recently with the furore caused by Mahmoud Abbas' description of Israel as "the Zionist enemy". This observation was met with howls of protest by Sharon's loyal attack dogs in Israel and the US. Israel's deputy prime minister Ehud Olmert described Abbas' remark as "intolerable".
But, as so often happens, the Sharonistas missed the point entirely. For Abbas only made this remark in reaction to the firnig of an Israeli tank shell which killed seven Palestinian children in Gaza. Of course, the Israeli government claimed that their real targets were "terrorists" operating in the area, which I'm sure is of great comfort to the parents of the children who were blown to bits.
Those working themselves into a frenzy about three words from Abbas, seem to have no moral outrage left for the death of seven children. This is scarcely surprising. After all, Palestinians frequently meet violent deaths at the hands of the mis-named Israeli Defense Force. During this intifada, the IDF has murdered men women and children in the occupied territories almost daily. Through all the peace deals, the hudnas, the road-maps and the walls, this killing has continued. Even now, during this wonderful Window Of Opportunity, the IDF goes about its work as usual.
So the murder of seven children is not considered shocking, but a few choice words from the soon-to-be Palestinian leader causes outrage.
But what is so wrong with what Abbas said? Why should he not describe the government which is killing his people as "the enemy"? As for his choice of adjective, I can't think of a single person taking up elbow room at the Israeli cabinet table who would not describe themselves proudly as a Zionist.
While you can accuse Abbas of playing to the gallery, of electioneering (what politician doesn't?) with his choice of words, you can hardly accuse him of inaccuracy.
It speaks volumes that harsh but fair words cause more outrage in some quarters than harsh and unfair murder.