It’s also deeply unfortunate that the actions of some result in counter-actions against others. This seems a normal, common trait among humans.
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I can’t help thinking that unfortunate RW Jewish pressure in the UK (Jewish Chronicle, Board of Deputies of British Jews etc.) attempting to conflate anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism has been a factor in the increase in the latter.
Despite an innate sympathy for the Jewish people, it’s becoming increasingly evident that Israel has become a rogue state untrammelled by international laws and conventions (more than a bit like the USA and Russia)
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I think you’re probably right. Even if the conflation was driven by Netanyahu and his cabal, it was unfortunate it was promoted in the UK.
With the local elections coming up on Thursday here in the UK I’m now struggling with who to vote for.
The Green Party have been working hard to wrest control from Labour who’ve been in control of the city council for most of the last 50 years and local polls suggest they will succeed this time and until this week I was happy to give them my vote as I know at ward level the Green councillors have helped make improvements to the area. Their party leader’s knee jerk reaction about the police treatment of the Golders Green attacker has made me have a rethink however, do I really want to vote for a party that has a problem with antisemitism or should I just ignore that and vote for people that are trying to make a difference where I live?
Answers on a postcard please (before Thursday).
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It’s a local election, so vote for the person who will best represent you locally.
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I once heard Leon Panetta, the distinguished former CIA and US Defence Secretary explain that, when he was formerly a congressman facing a voting dilemma, he would ask himself what choice would have the greatest positive (or least negative) impact on a “typical” voter in his constituency/district..On that basis,if you think the Greens locally will most benefit you and the area, vote for them.
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In government, I’d say the Greens would be as awful as Reform, though obviously in different ways. Polanski isn’t even bright enough for us to call his posturing “student politics”.
Like o some have said, I vote for the candidate(s) who will be best for the country/area. Voting is just damage limitation anyway.
If you know and trust your Green candidate, and are happy with him/her as a person, the horror of Green Party policies and their leaders wouldn’t put me off.
I couldn’t ever envisage voting for them in a parliamentary election, though. Polanski seems to me a dangerous man.
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Seems a good thread to post this…
The Prime Minister saying he wants “tougher policing of language” is not something I expected to hear from a Labour government.
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I think that a lot of the UK public has been unconsciously radicalised and now thinks - in a “four legs good, two legs bad” way, that Palestine is unquestionably good and Israel equally bad. Nuance and judgment has been abandoned.
It’s also clear that the left - Labour, the Greens, and the rest - have courted the Muslim vote.
Once there is that sort of (unconscious, for most people) sectarian atmosphere, it’s unsurprising that the minority is attacked.
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Please don’t make the error of assuming those born of jewish lineage are of the jewish faith or supporters of Israel (another British error, Balfour Declaration). I was baptised into the c of e and apparently I made my feelings very clear at the time. Bee Bee, Hegseth and many more are using religion as an excuse for hatred and violence.
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You missed out control of oil.
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If only Moses turned left instead of right, the Arabs would have had all the oranges.
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Here’s Sir Mark Rowley’s view:
British Jews are facing their “greatest-ever threat”, driven by overlapping extremism, online radicalisation and hate crime,
“Jews are on everybody’s list, all of those hateful groups.
“Whether you’re extreme right, whether you’re extreme left, whether you’re Islamist terrorist, whether you’re right-wing terrorist, and some hostile states as well now with some sort of Iranian-related threats. There’s a ghastly Venn diagram that they’re at the middle of.”
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That’s really not true, although some are certainly presenting the matter like that. I talk with a variety of British people online, and there are a wide range of views from rabid pro-Israeli to a much more nuanced recognition of faults on both sides. I’m seeing some of Jewish origins shouting about antisemitism, but they are a minority.
I’m not sure that online is always representative. I hope SF isn’t!
I’m thinking more about what I see reported in newspapers of various stripes. It certainly seems to be the case in the major conurbations. What the Commissioner of the Met said was confirmation of that.
I would vote for the greens as they so far are not bought by rich men, so far as least. However just as they look possible dear young Zack goes and opens his mouth again. Our council is labour and have been for too long and spend our money on vanity projects. Also in the borough of Croydon Starmer has parachuted his daughter in to stand as the candidate pushing asside the person who has done the job for years. Nepotism so sod labour. Reform, not a chance, however several people locally say they are so fed up with Starmer, they dont rate labour and want Starmer out, they are all going to vote reform. Tried talking with them but no good. Farage gets another £5 million from his donor, nothing really in the press or tv, now consider Angela Rainer, misses a relatively small tax payment and every news paper and TV chanel call for her to go. Will it be the Lib dems?
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Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren’t lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.
—- Dorothy Parker, Resumé
As someone brought up within a non-practising Jewish household close to Golders Green, I’m with Susannah on this (although she’s wrong about the surname Green which, in my family circle was often assumed to be Jewish). Golders Green is in a very wealthy part of London bordering Hampstead Heath with a large Jewish community. Nearby is Cricklewood with a large Catholic community. And, not far away, is Harrow, with a large Hindu community. For the most part, the men of each community don’t go around their daily routines wearing items that immediately signal their religion although I’m sure that over the years, the Hindus in Harrow have suffered far more harassment than either of the other two groups because they usually have brown skin …..
Like Susannah’s friends, my family members who still live in the area acknowledge that no-one would know their religion unless they chose to broadcast it and they are not fearful about going out. Nevertheless, in the same way as I believe women should be allowed to walk the streets dressed in whatever manner they choose to without fear of assault, that holds true for everyone, male or female.
However, I don’t understand why the UK government refuses to condemn the actions of Israel when they have been deemed unlawful by the UN. Nor do I understand the UK Government’s directive to the police that speaking out against Israel is antisemitic when thousands of British Jews and Israelis support the UN and believe Netanyahu’s regime is criminal.
We should also remember that Netanyahu and Smotrich have openly called for a Greater Israel and for the global Jewish diaspora to return to the land of their ancestors to help populate it. So maybe they see antisemitism elsewhere as an encouragement for inward migration.
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What connection between racial hatred in the 70’s and Palestine action? Lots of white pensioners being carried off. Also Jews were targeted then,not just Asians and blacks. Enoch Powell and THE speech is endlessly mentioned. I doubt that many have actually read it. Nor know much about the man himself. Do you? I recommend his appearance on the Dick Cavett show,who asked him directly if he was a racist. The man’s intellect puts most politicians nowadays to shame.