Anti-Zionism is not anti-semitic
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Mention of it doesn’t come to mind, but I suppose the existence of this site must have been noted?
http://www.labouragainstthewitchhunt.org
Though it is understandable why, in terms of dirty politics, both the pro-Israel lobby and the anti-Corbynites in the Labour Party should, independently, have thought it was a good idea to play the anti-Semite card against Corbyn, it is not clear that it is proving effective outside the media itself.
They may well have overplayed their hand, as it doesn’t seem to be having any effect on votes for the Labour Party. This will be due to a combination of people dismissing the claim that Corbyn is an anti-Semite as untrue (as it manifestly is) or because people don’t care or don’t think it important. Melanie Phillips, one of the traducers, drew attention to this last point in an article about the result of the Peterborough by-election in June where the Labour candidate, despite being targeted by the campaign, won with an increased majority:
“the by-election result shows that the stench of antisemitism is failing to repel the voters. Either they don’t care or, worse, they may actually be sympathetic – perhaps because they don’t like what they perceive as people ganging up on someone.”
Another set of accusations, same story, nothing new, but repetition
“…The very fact that Labour is, like the BNP before it, being statutorily investigated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission for racism is not a matter of housekeeping but a taint of international, historic shame,” the letter reads. “It is clear this is not just about Jeremy Corbyn, but the pernicious world view of a faction that has – temporarily we hope – taken control of Labour. Trust between Corbyn’s Labour and most Jews in Britain appears to be fractured beyond repair…”
I cannot be surprised that trust has been broken if the media constantly highlights supposed anti-Semitism where it is very questionable that it exists any more than in the Tories or any other large organization.
“…Concern about the far right was greatest among communities who feel under threat from such organisations, with 57 per cent of Jewish respondents and 62 per cent of Muslims naming them as the biggest worry…”
“…Home Office data from this year shows there were more convictions of white people for terrorism-related offences than any other ethnicity…”
Iran’s Jewish community
https://www.dw.com/en/celebrating-sabbath-with-irans-jewish-minority/a-49543137
“…In contrast to the situation in German-speaking countries, Jewish institutions in Iran do not require any security arrangements. Iran has not seen a single attack on a Jewish building…”
“After several major waves of emigration, the number of Jews living in the country has now stabilized. According to Israeli statistics, only 1,100 Jews migrated to Israel from Iran between 2002 and 2010. For those who remain, prospects are surprisingly positive. They have been granted official minority status, a permanent seat in parliament and freedom to practice their religion. They have their own butchers’ shops, their rabbis are permitted to conduct weddings, and the community can produce and drink its own wine for the Sabbath — and that, even though alcohol is otherwise subject to strict prohibition in Iran…and for some years now, Jews have had the right to take off from work on the Sabbath…”
“As Jews we have the opportunity of emigrating to Israel, and even receiving around $15,000 (€13,300) from the Israeli government for going. But if we went there, we would have to speak Hebrew, something we only ever do in religious contexts. That would be very strange for us and I would not feel at home there. Iran is our home.”
But as always and as in many parts of the world, regardless of religion, economic aspirations spur emigration, not discrimination.
Similar:
Further on the BBC program:
An Israeli official accused Corbyn of Jew-hatred on Tuesday.
“I think Corbyn has proven himself, more than once or twice, to be a figure who quite hates the State of Israel and hates the Jewish people,” Zeev Elkin, a member of Netanyahu’s security cabinet and Likud party, told Israel’s Army Radio in an interview. “People often try to hide behind this anti-Israeli mantle and say, ‘We are not anti-Semitic, we’re only criticising the State of Israel and its policy’. And the example of what’s happening in the Labour Party under Corbyn shows the extent to which this cover is no true cover.”
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said, “There is no doubt that Labour, in Corbyn’s image, is a very big problem for Israel’s foreign relations,” she told Israel’s Reshet 13 TV.
Israeli Labour leader Amir Peretz signalled his party would now consider all of the British counterpart off-limits.
“As far as I’m concerned, I have no intention of generating contacts with (Britain’s) Labour as long as Corbyn is there. I do not intend to allow anyone from among us to have contacts of that kind,” Peretz told Army Radio. “I think he has crossed all the red lines.”A bit more here on various sorts of anti-zionism among Jews:
https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/a-partial-history-of-jewish-alternatives/
This group — Jewish Voice for Peace — identifies itself as anti-zionist and pro-BDS.
There is a reasonably balanced article in the June issue of History Today on antisemitism, “Antisemitism: the Socialism of Fools”, from which I learnt a couple of things I don’t know before:
- That it was not August Bebel, the pre-WW1 leader of the German Social Democrats, who coined the phrase “antisemitism is the socialism of fools” but a certain Austrian Liberal politician called Ferdinand Kronawetter.
- That J. A. Hobson, author of a 1902 book Imperialism, was a bit of antisemite. It doesn’t surprise me as a lot of people were those days. What is surprising (though perhaps not) is that Corbyn should be accused of antisemitism for not mentioning this in an introduction to a new edition of the book. Lenin’s 1916 pamphlet Imperialism. The Highest Stage of Capitalism on imperialism relied in large part on Hobson’s book but he didn’t mention this either, but nobody has accused him of being antisemitic for not doing so. I daresay I have written about Hobson’s book without mentioning it either. But where does this absurd sort of deduction stop? Churchill is on record as making antisemitic remarks at the time of the Russian Revolution. Does this mean that anybody who writes about Churchill (Boris Johnson for instance) but doesn’t mention this is an antisemite?
Here is the “educational material” on antisemitism that the Labour Party has just put out. Not bad, to tell the truth (though it still supports the “right” of mythical “nations” to so-called “self-determination”):
http://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/No-Place-for-Antisemitism.pdf
Nice one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n5YiCRIujo
Dr. Gabor Maté: Antisemitism Allegations Against Jeremy Corbyn ‘COMPLETE AND UTTER NONSENSE!’
A charity event in aid of Palestinian children was cancelled because fears their criticism of Israel could breach antisemitism guidelines.
Tower Hamlets council staff said there was a “real risk” that the event and its organisers could be seen to have breached the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism because of references on their website to apartheid and ethnic cleansing. One official said there were concerns “not least because of the recent furour [sic] within the Labour party over Anti Semitism [sic]”.
So the those who said the guidelines would be used against critics of Israeli policy despite assurances have been vindicated but of course the pro-Zionists will never admit it and nor did the council insisting the reasons for their cancellation be kept secret. Why are all those organisations condemning the Labour Party anti-Semitism now silent? The application of IHRA guidelines have now shown their real purpose and exposes the hypocrisy of its proponents.
‘State Dept updates antisemitism definition to include comparisons of Israel to Nazi Germany’:
State Dept updates antisemitism definition to include comparisons of Israel to Nazi Germany
And the children placed in cages at the US borders the places can not be called concentration camps
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