Here begins a thread on Labour and anti-Semitism. /1
In this mess, more than one thing can be true and more than one thing can be happening at the same time.
1. The far left and the far right are unified in their crackpot beliefs that a cabal of Jews run the world. Classically expressed by the Rothschilds conspiracy theories.
2. Expanding the membership of Labour has allowed a lot more of these crackpots back in the tent, without proper vetting.
3. Are these people representative of the Labour membership as a whole? No.
4. However, outside of true believer racists, there is the next tier of idiots...
...I like to call the Ignorant Gobshites. Frequently these are people who have latched on to the legitimate struggles of the Palestinians, but have yet to do anything as difficult as read a reasonably authoritative history book on the region.
The Ignorant Gobshites like to use Jews, Zionism, Israel etc as interchangeable synonyms when discussing the occupation. None of these terms are actually synonymous, and none of these terms represent monolithic identities or beliefs.
There are many different types of Judaism, there are different schools of thought within Judaism of what the idea of Zionism actually represents, and the state of Israel has a population of 7m people who don't all think and vote the same way - see the current hung parliament.
The Ignorant Gobshites can become True Believer Racists, but are not inherently racist. In the same way people can believe that immigrants are stealing their jobs, not because of inherent sense of superiority, but that's what they've been told.
Labour has a minority of hardcore anti-semities in the membership who should be shown zero tolerance. The bigger problem is with the Ignorant Gobshites, because they often refuse to acknowledge their ignorance, because they are also gobshites who think they're right all the time.
In his lifelong quest to show solidarity with oppressed people, Jeremy Corbyn (IMHO) has fallen in with the Ignorant Gobshites. I do not think he has a copy of Mein Kampf or the Protocols of the Elders of Zion hidden under his bed.
There are parallels with his support of Sinn Fein and IRA sympathising in the 1980s. The Thatcher government and all organs of the British state became synonymous and interchangeable in the eyes of the hard left. An attack on one part of it was seen as an attack on Thatcher.
There is no evidence Corbyn has actively condoned or encouraged violence. However, in the scope of "My Enemy's Enemy is My Friend", he has associated himself with people who have been indirectly or directly supportive of violence, and that alone in worthy of a giant mea culpa
But as with Northern Ireland, Corbyn's stubbornness is his weakness. Instead of rationally addressing both the True Believer Racists and the Ignorant Gobshite problem, he and his inner circle have developed a siege mentality in which all criticism is received in bad faith.
Now, there are definitely a lot of bad faith attacks going about. The same types of people who bemoan Cultural Marxism (another A-S conspiracy theory), have somehow become concerned all of a sudden with the plight of Jews under a potential Corbyn government.
The Conservatives, and their support across the tabloid and broadsheet press, have become rather adept in using this issue to hit Labour. To say this is the pot calling the kettle black is somewhat of an understatement.
The tabloid press indulges in casual xenophobia, in particular against illegal immigrants and Muslims. Katie Hopkins was employed by two major tabloids, right up to the point she became so racist, it was impossible to defend as contrarianism.
The broadsheets and magazines of record on the right employee professional offence merchants like Rod Liddle, and insidious intellectual types like Douglas Murray, to spread the idea that European civilisation is on the verge of collapse because of the influx of the "other"
So forgive me if I don't buy the crocodile tears of the Tory party or the right wing press, who have an agenda to defend the economic status quo against Corbyn's populist democratic socialism.
I've rambled on too much - apologies. In summary
- Jewish people have legitimate and well grounded concerns
- Corbyn's stubbornness and victim mentality is a real fucking problem in resolving this
- The vast majority of Labour is not racist.
- The Tories are bad faith actors
You can follow @mickeyhynes.
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