There are few times in history when one is privileged (or horrified) to see a person of rare force rise above national boundaries to become an international phenomenon almost single-handedly.  Even rarer is to see someone who both entrances and horrifies at the same time.  Such a man is Member of Parliament George Galloway; and he is out of control.

To those unfamiliar with him, he is a British demagogue, of Scottish and Irish ancestry. He has been in the British parliament for decades where, in spite of condemnation for his extremism, the British have been forced to concede he may be their best orator.  The Spectator, in 2001, awared him the title of Debator of the Year.

Galloway is a natural hurricane.  With his Stentorian delivery he commands attention.  His timing is perfect. He tone and pitch are honed to an edge. His wit is beguiling. His vocabulary is lethal.  He quite possibly might be the best orator in the English language since Kennedy or Churchill; and may possibly surpass both of them.

Yet, his talents are wielded in the service of villains.  Over the past decade the chief beneficiaries of his praise have been Yassir Arafat, Hezbollah, and Hamas.  One merely has to see how he eviscerated a newcaster on Fox's sister network Sky News in Britain reporting on the 2006 Lebanon War, to appreciate his skill.  During the interview, Galloway would call Israel "a terrorist state," follow up by declaring that, "Hezbollah is winning the war,"  and applauded that the Israels, "seem to be getting a bloody good hiding."  Yet, he does it in a way that almost commands aggreement, if one is not wary.

Such opinions would be unthinkable for an American politician to utter, but Galloway keeps getting re-elected.  We could chalk this up to British tolerance of eccentricity, but his bilge is not confined to England.

Galloway ...

A) ... broadcasts weekly internationally through Iran's Press TV with his TV show COMMENT.

This is no minor achievement. The show brings in callers from all over the world, not just Muslims, who cheerlead Galloway onward.  From England, Ireland, Europe, the Muslim world, Canada?! ... Yes one of his regular callers is Gary in Halifax ... and even  from America.  When Europe starting banning PressTV from satellite broadcast, the show barely skipped a beat.  It picked up via the internet, and went on. 

B) ... also starred on another Press TV show called  The Real Deal.   He apparently was a primo celebrity.  The Iranians knew star material and use him to full potential.

C) .. has also signed up to broadcast in Lebanon's Al-Mayadeen.   Apparently, Europe is not enough of a venue for him.  Galloway has even caught the attention of MEMRI (The Middle East Media Research Institute), for his excoriation of the Arabs for attacking Syria, instead of fighting jihad ... on behalf of the Palestinians.

D)  ... has recently been broadcasting from a New York radio station, WBAI, with a show called The Mother of All Talk Shows. where he acquired a following.

E)  Prior to all of this, he had one of the most popular radio shows in England on TalkSport radio.  One of his more famous broadcasts was a live call-in from Lebanon, where he was drumming up support for the Lebanese resistance from Beirut.

F)  ... was a respected columnist.

Canada tried to ban him from their country, but Galloway prevailed in court, and now he returns regularly and  boastfully.

He runs aid convoys to Gaza, in an activity he calls Viva Palestina. He hugs the leader of Hamas.  He now plans to run aid convoys to Kashmir; because there seems to be no Muslim cause he will not espouse.

Galloway is not to be underestimated.  He was brought before a US Congressional committee and eviscerated them brutally.  A video of the drubbing survives on the internet thanks to those who lionize him.  The issue was whether or not Galloway had ties to Saddam Hussein.  He turned out to be a pitbull of a witness;  and masterfully - let's give the devil his due - turned the tables on his accusers.

It turns out that Galloway may have indeed been falsely set up; but what is interesting is his response which was not one of dignified self-defense, but of vicious counter-attack.

The list could on.  His last three former(?!) wives have been Muslim which leads many people to believe he might be a convert.  He certainly cites the Koran as an authoritative source; proclaiming, "There is only one Koran."  

This blue-eyed Gael (his ancestry is Scots and Irish) has recently won a surpise upset victory in Bradford West, from a heavily Islamic constituency after spreading around leaflets proclaiming ...

God KNOWS who is a Muslim. And he KNOWS who is not, ... Let me point out to all the Muslim brothers and sisters what I stand for. I, George Galloway, do not drink alcohol and never have. Ask yourself if the other candidate ... in this election can say that truthfully. I, George Galloway, have fought for the Muslims at home and abroad, all my life, and paid a price for it. I, George Galloway, hold Pakistan's highest civil awards.

He humiliated an ethnic Muslim opponent, Imran Hussain, because the community knew who the real Muslim was. The British were stunned by the landslide.  Such is the tenacity of Galloway.

He regularly trounces all those who oppose him, whether it be Canadian immigration, the US Congress, European satellite broadcasters, or the Labour party which rejected him. 
He has become an enormous star on the anti-Israel circuit. One merely has to see him at the Al-Awda (Return) conference in New York, in 2009, to see Galloway at his fighting best. (A must see, to appreciate his skill)

Even Lenin and Hitler required parties to back them.  Galloway is a lone ranger and prospers by it.  This is a quality rarely seen in a politican.

But something happened last week.  It should not be ignored. It may be the one chance to stop Galloway.

Galloway went to a debate set up by Muslim students, against a Jewish defender of Israel.  When he showed up, and found out that the student was not merely Jewish, but also Israeli, he walked out, refusing to debate.  The video was shocking to watch; and the audience was stunned.   Even the Muslim organizer of the event was sharply critical of Galloway's behavior.

Some Jewish advocates have said Galloway was afraid of being defeated.  Hardly!

Galloway knows how to play an audience, and he had a sympathetic crowd. If he could not have won by force of intellect, he would have prevailed by technique, emotion, humor, or charm.  I doubt he was anticipating a defeat.  One has to applaud the Jewish student for even attempting to debate an opponent whose victory was all but assured.

Galloway walked out because, as he said,  "I don't recognize Israel."

He defiantly boasted of his departure the next day on his COMMENT TV show, saying it was a principled decision.  He is not anti-Semitic, but merely anti-Israel.  He later on attacked the Muslim organizer of the event for misleading him.

The British press is horrified,  but admits that it may not hurt Galloway with his Islamic constituency. It might raise his standing.

Worse than that, if the callers on the TV show are any indicator, it will enhance his following among many Westerners, including Jews.  The Canadian "Gary in Halifax" called in.  And Lever, a Jewish Briton, called in to defend him.

Galloway refuses to recognize Israel at all.

Galloway may be worst of all opponents.  A extraordinarily skilled, reasonably honest, true-believer.  However, this should not dissuade Western Media from isolating him.  I am not calling for censorship - I am opposed to that; and think Canada's ban was wrong, and counter-productive - but no self-respecting media outlet should give Galloway a platform to speak.  No TV show, no radio network. No newspaper.   He should be contained within, as the French used to say, a Cordon Sanitaire.

Banish him to the internet, where he has already proven capable at causing enough substantial damage; but don't let him rise any higher.   We shouldn't censor him; but neither should he be given a platform

The man has denied the right of a  people to exist.  He has refused to back down; and has defiantly boasted of it.  It matters not that he is skilled orator ... so was Hitler.

There is a biblical prophecy that in the last days a boastful, ruby-throated dictator, the anti-Christ, will entrance the planet,  and bring the world to destruction.   Now that Malachy's last pope seems upon us, and the Jews have been in the land for a generation, that day may be soon coming.  Very soon!

Rev 13:5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies  ...

He will probably be like George Galloway.

What should scare us is that we cannot rule George Galloway out.

Mike Konrad is the pen name of an American who is not Jewish, Latin, or Arab. He runs a website, http://latinarabia.com where he discusses the subculture of Arabs in Latin America. He wishes his Spanish were better.