I have trouble believing the pie chart which shows that 30% of the British population hold mild anti-Semitic views. I've only met one person in my whole life who was anti-Semitic, and he was a raging right-winger. Anyway, the British Labour Party has hardly any.
Anti-Capitalism is NOT Anti-Semitism
The media are trying to turn the 1% into a protected minority
Kit Knightly
A political cartoon from 1883, depecting four notable Robber Barons being supported by their workers. Is this image a hate crime? Will it be described as such soon?
Rhetoric about the 1 per cent and economic inequality has the same underlying theme – anti-capitalism masks and normalises anti-Semitism.
Rhetoric about the 1 per cent and economic inequality has the same underlying theme – anti-capitalism masks and normalises anti-Semitism.
The above quote appeared in the Financial Times over the weekend. It is a piece of twisted logic, designed to demonise an entire political movement. And it is a lie, BUT it does tell an important truth, it just does it by accident.
Namely – that “antisemitism” in Labour is a political invention, used to curb a popular movement against corruption, austerity and growing inequality.
Labour doesn’t have an antisemitism crisis. It doesn’t need to “listen more” or “try harder”. It isn’t toxic. Or racist. Or full of bullies. None of that is true.
Nobody is denying antisemites exists. There’s a small minority of people who hate Jews just for being Jews. This is unfortunate, but also true of every race, sexual orientation and religion. Everybody, somewhere, has someone who hates them for what they are. The problem is relatively small, and in the Labour party, it’s even smaller than in the general public. This graph was brought to our attention on twitter:
Study it. Memorise the statistic. 0.08%. Less than one in 10,000 – and even that is a generous estimation. It could easily be far, far lower. That’s not a problem. It’s not even a taint. It is a problem so small that making it a priority is absurd. The statistics prove it.
The counter to these statistics? Nothing. Those who claim Labour is “institutionally antisemitic” present no evidence but anecdote. Apparently, Luciana Berger had people abuse her on twitter – not one of them is proven to have any link to the Labour party. Journalists say “a Jewish friend told me X”, a lot. A poll comes out that “British Jews might leave” if Corbyn were PM. None of that is evidence of anything.
The Off-Guardian
The “anti-Semitic” label is a fabulous weapon. No other term has anywhere near its power.
ReplyDeleteThe #MeToo harpies can destroy any man by accusing him of sexual misconduct (no proof or evidence needed) but even #MeToo harpies can be destroyed by an accusation of “anti-Semitism.”
No one dares displease gay or trans-sexual activists, but even they are helpless before “anti-Semitism.”
Jussie Smollett, whose father was Jewish, could have gotten away with his hoax if he had claimed that the “attack” was motivated by “anti-Semitism.”
Any questioning of the narrative about World War II (including the “holocaust”) is “anti-Semitic.” To question the narrative about Imperial Japan is “anti-Semitic,” since Japan was allied with Germany.
Still, the “anti-Semite!” label must be used carefully, lest it backfire. Purdue Pharma is exploring bankruptcy as a way to cope with over 2,000 lawsuits connected with opioid addiction. Purdue’s owners and CEO are all Jewish. If they blame the lawsuits on “anti-Semitism,” and the accusation backfires, the “anti-Semite” weapon could be defused everywhere.
In France, Macron has tried calling the yellow jacket protesters “anti-Semites,” but the international media is not hammering on this, since it could backfire, and thereby diffuse the weapon. However if MMT continues to spread, then the oligarchs will have to label MMT “anti-Semitic.”
Absurd? Yes, but if you call it absurd, you are “anti-Semitic.” If you ask for logic, proof, or evidence, you are “anti-Semitic.”
Jewish and non-Jewish oligarchs use this weapon all the time. If you question bankers, financiers, globalists, or greedy money-grubbers, you are “anti-Semitic,” since these are (supposedly) code words for Jews. To question a banker’s crimes is to be “anti-Semitic," whether or not the banker is Jewish.
If you do not care for the excesses of capitalism, then you are a communist. If that doesn’t silence you, then you are an “anti-Semite.” End of discussion. Everyone scrambles for cover.
Do you think the AIPAC lobby is a lobby? Anti-Semite. Do you think Palestinians are humans? Anti-Semite. Do you not care for Ayn Rand? Anti-Semite. Don’t like Israeli atrocities? Anti-Semite.
Most people (Jews and non-Jews alike) keep this weapon in their arsenal because they know it is so powerful. And it is powerful because most people pretend that it isn’t.
“Antisemitism” in Labour is a political invention, used to curb a popular movement against corruption, austerity and growing inequality.”
Exactly. It is used because it works. And it works because most people are selfish cowards. If anyone accuses you of “anti-Semitism,” your boss will terminate you. There is no solidarity. No mutual compassion. The herd will stand and watch as you are devoured by the lion.
“Those who claim that Labour is “institutionally antisemitic” present no evidence but anecdote.”
They don’t even present that. They don’t need to. Any call for evidence is “anti-Semitic.”
From my own experience:
ReplyDeleteAnti-government privileges for banks supposedly EQUALS anti-capitalism and anti-banks.
Anti-banks EQUALS anti-bankers.
Anti-bankers EQUALS anti-Jewish.
Anti-Jewish EQUALS antisemitic.
So to be anti-government privileges for banks is to be both anti-capitalism AND antisemitic!
Who knew being anti-fascist was such a sin!
Elections for the European Parliament will be Thursday May 23, 2019 through Sunday, May 26, 2019.
ReplyDeleteThis will be a contest between…
[1] Populists (e.g. the League movement in Italy, and the yellow vest protesters in France)
Versus
[2] Neoliberal bankers and their puppet politicians, who condemn populists as “nationalists” and “Nazis.”
Macron is worried about the nationalists, and he is calling for a “European Renaissance” to counter them. His “renaissance” will consist of calling nationalists “Nazis” so that bankers can continue to rule. Macron sees nationalists as a “threat to EU stability” (i.e. as a threat to banker tyranny).
In the USA, corporate media outlets are screaming about the populist threat to Wall Street. MSNBC, the Washington Post, etc are screaming that if neoliberal Democrats (Pelosi, Schumer, Hoyer, etc) don’t crush the masses’ growing interest in MMT, and destroy the growing call for Universal Medicare, then Trump will be re-elected.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) must be stopped at all costs.
Jews are demanding that the US House expel Rep. Ilhan Omar for calling the AIPAC lobby a lobby. They also want Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich) purged for being a Palestinian and pro-BDS.
AOC is defending both women, and asking why it is “evil” to question U.S. Foreign Policy when it is acceptable for Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) to have vowed that he would “send Obama home to Kenya.” During the temporary US government shutdown, one Republican shouted at AOC on the House floor, “Go back to Puerto Rico!” Last week Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) repeatedly called Rep. Ilhan Omar ”filth” for questioning Israeli atrocities.
Tomorrow (6 March 2019) the US House will flush out its "anti-Semites" by voting on a resolution that condemns any questioning of Israeli evil. All who fail to vote for it will be targeted for removal in the next election cycle.
On both sides of the Atlantic, everyone who questions the establishment narrative is being condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Yellow vests? Anti-Semitic. Leave means leave? Anti-Semitic. Russia? Anti-Semitic.
Maduro is also “anti-Semitic,” since Venezuela is supposedly the headquarters of Hezbollah.
Brussels and its puppet (Macron) want Marine Le Pen destroyed as soon as possible, before the European Parliament elections in May.
ReplyDeleteTherefore prosecutors have called for Ms. Le Pen to be tried for having tweeted pictures of ISIS in Dec 2015.
(Meanwhile the British, French, and Canadian governments are “resettling” ISIS members and giving them free houses.)
If an investigative magistrate puts Le Pen on trial, then Macron could imprison her for three years, and fine her £65,000.
He has only 78 days left to get rid of her.
I suspect that as the workers of the world get poorer and poorer and the financiers get richer and richer people will catch on to what is happening and the backlash will grow.
ReplyDeleteThere is an exception to Konrad's claim that "no one dares displease gay....activists": as far as lefties are concerned it's more or less OK for anyone with non-white skin to be anti-gay. In contrast, if a white is anti-gay, that's a crime against humanity apparently.
ReplyDeleteMuslim parents have been demonstrating outside a school in Birmingham in England against the lessons given there on matters gay. See:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/mar/04/birmingham-school-stops-lgbt-lessons-after-parent-protests
The above blatant racial discrimination by lefties is a bit of a joke given that lefties spend half their time flaunting their anti-racist credentials.
It’s more than unclear if Ralf supports the Muslims demonstration or not. And it’s also unclear how Ralf as a right winger can be so sure of what “lefties” think about that specific demonstration.
ReplyDelete