I had a difficult day on Tuesday. One of those days were I see the poison spread on London’s streets. I was at the Corbyn antisemitism demo /counter demo, that took place as the NEC discussed the adoption of the IHRA definition.
There are plenty of political commentaries on the event (1,2,3,4) and I have never been one just to parrot what is said elsewhere. All of us, regardless of where we stand politically, are being carried by tides. Shining a light on the dangerous societal dynamics at work remains my central task.
The NEC event saw the ‘pro-racist’ demonstration that came to voice opposition to the adoption of the IHRA definition of Antisemitism. A small contingent of Jewish people came to counter demonstrate. I did what I always do and walked around, trying to learn from what was taking place.
Outside the demonstration
As I stood and watched these events, several pro-Corbyn demonstrators came to talk to me. Five different people asked me if I was Jewish. It felt as if they were asking me ‘what side I am on’. Something I have never experienced before in the UK.
With big JVL (Jewish Voice for Labour) banners on one side and a small contingent waving the Israeli flag on the other, the sight was deceptive. One man stood on the side and said it was fun “watching an internal Jewish disagreement”. This the result of a gross exaggeration of the size of the Jewish anti-Zionist voice. A strategy tragically supported by a media that thrives on click-bait.
Another demonstrator tried to engage me several times. He kept gloating about the ‘superior numbers’ of the pro-Corbyn protest. I tried pointing out the disturbing undercurrent to his message. ‘When was racism against a minority group about numbers’, I asked. There was no coherent response. I spoke with him for a while. He had little but empty one-liners and distortions. Conversations with activists who think they are informed are nothing but frustrating
A pro Corbyn demonstrator with a JVL badge came over to talk. He spent the whole conversation trying to convince me of his ‘Jewishness’. He told me to join ‘Jewish Voice for Labour’ because ‘they’re great’ and he said it didn’t matter if I was Jewish or not.
Spreading poison 1
As you watch people like this operate, you see how the poison is spread. This JVL member did not take part in the demo itself, but rather looked for ‘non-combatants’ he could engage. He walked around behind the pen with the Jewish contingent and spent his time smearing them to bystanders. He carried only two messages. The first was about how Jewish he was. The second was to suggest that those with the Israeli flag were fascists rather than Jews.
Not everyone is a clueless as these propagandists would like however, and at some point he stumbled onto someone who was knowledgeable enough to fight back. The conversation swiftly turned:
Spreading poison 2
This JVL activist wasn’t the only one walking around behind the Jewish protest looking to spread poison. There was a woman engaged in the same task.
I saw one truly heartbreaking incident. The woman targeted a small group of young adults who had wandered into the demo area. She initially brought up that most of them should ‘understand racism’ and then she tried feeding them lies about Israel and Apartheid. Finally, as none of this seemed to have the desired effect, she suggested the Jewish protestors were actually fascists out to divide the community. The group were visibly shocked – the association had been made – the job was done.
Where are these people now? How about the dozens, if not hundreds of others who drank from the poison well that day?
On the one side is a massive mob spreading distortions and lies and on the other a tiny minority group defending itself against a torrent of false accusations. It isn’t difficult to recognise these signs. Nor is it difficult to understand which way the tide is going.
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To the guy not shown in the first video: You were great. Kol Hakavod, fantastic.
It’s Lee Harpin, he has said so on Twitter
Counter chant this…
From the River to the Sea,
Pal-e-STINE Will NEVER BE!
Victory to the Nakba!
(The “Nakba” being the FAILURE of 5 attacking Arab Armies (NONE of which was the army of a pre-existing “Pal-e-STINE”) to overrun, decimate, destroy and enslave the Jews of Israel).
800,000 Jews from surrounding Arab countries were displaced, fled for their lives under mortal threat, lost all their possessions and property.
BTW, to all those lovey dovey, regressive “progressive”, Ultra Left-Wing, FAKE “anti-war” activists, Israel is NOT murdering people in Londonistan (7/7, Manchester, Lee Rigby, London and Westminster bridges). It’s the Ultra Conservative, Ultra Right-Wing, homophobic, oxymoron calling itself “The Religion of Peace”
Keffiyeh. Say no more.
Aka, already dipped in poison.
Thanks for always going David; your commentary is invaluable
I find it extremely problematic that at a demonstration on/about Antisemitism, our message is diluted by making the argument about Israel.
The argument is about Antisemitism.
The Jew haters have equated Antisemitism with anti-Zionism in many cases (though not all) to conceal their anti-Jewish Antisemitism.
Instead of calling these Antisemites out on their Jew hate, the waving of Israeli flags just confirms in their minds that we are trying to use, and confuse the issue of Antisemitism as a cover to shield Israel.
I recently overheard a non-Jew discussing the first ‘enough is enough’ demo in Parliament square as quite a revelation, as there were only one or two Israeli flags, and he suddenly had realised that it was affecting Jews; not just Zionist Jews. It was an overheard conversation, so I can only comment about the conversation I personally heard, It is an argument that resonates with me from the time of the Trycle Theatre and before
It most certainly is about antisemitism Richard, although there is obviously a connect with Israel as ‘the global Jew’. I think much of it comes down to numbers. The vast majority of Jewish people think these counter demos are pointless. Only a small few do not. I also know of some who do not go because of the inevitable ‘guilt by association’ trap that lays in wait for them. Those people believe these counter-demos can turn into a self-harming event.
I personally don’t do the demonstrations for various reasons.
Do you, or have you ever, called Israel a racist endeavour ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrU-Sv3kpdI&feature=youtu.be
Corbyn’s potential for electability may be totally unconnected to his antisemitic views. It seems clear that he can be the vilest Jew hater in the UK and be on the receiving end of any number of brutal exposes but none of this may touch him. His support for terror groups, members of whom have prosecuted murder on the UK mainland may even be treasonous but none of this seems to matter. As long as the targets are only Jews, as long as the reasonable voices in his party stay silent to it and as long as the Tory government continues to adhere to the Hilary Clinton rules of self destruction this guy could conceivably get rumbled for far worse and still get in.
For UK Jews and many UK non-Jews this will be catastrophic. The good news for the former is that they will have an alternative, however unpalatable that may currently seem to them. For Bellers, Gabriel and all of the other cunts that are willing this to happen they’ll have to invent another reason to hate the few Jews that are left. No doubt they’ll come up with something.
For UK Jews and many UK non-Jews this will be catastrophic. The good news for the former is that they will have an alternative, however unpalatable that may currently seem to them.
Thats a bit racist/discriminatory isn’t it ? Why can’t Catholic Quakers have have the alternative too ? Is it because they are not Jewish ?
Best if you leave the attempts at clever points to those more capable Bellers. This is not really your strong suit is it?
You’re right. And plus, what about the Roma & Sinti people, those who Italy’s interior minister declared “unwanted”? And what about African migrants, who are sent back into Lybian concentration camps? And what about Black people in the US, African-Americans who have been enslaved and then discriminated against for 300 years?
And what about the poors?
There are a lot of people who are weaker and treated unfarily, and the only way forward is to push for a more just society, one more protective of the weak.
This means, people need to be protected and favoured as weak and vulnerable, not as belonging to some group or sharing some identity.
To have an identity cannot be a source of rights or prerogatives – as much as it cannot be a motive for discrimination.
Catholic Quakers are not an ethnic group, you sad waste of space, Bellend.
Leah Ian made no reference ethnic groups
I don’t hate anyone because they are Jews; I don’t hate any person as belonging to any racial or identitarian group.
I will always defend all minorities against discrimination within my own society.
I also won’t let any political authority or state to speak in the name or be identified with any religion or identity.
“I also won’t let any political authority or state to speak in the name or be identified with any religion or identity…” If it happens to be Jewish. In all other cases, it shall be ignored.
There. I fixed it so there will be no confusion as to what is really meant by such drivel.
No, it goes for everyone. It would be the same if the USA declared themselves a “white state” and demanded a legitimization from someone else.
Other type of examples.
The Catholic Church used to claim they could speak as the only Christians. But others who called themselves Christian or Catholics did not recognize a Pope’s legitimacy to speak in the name of Christianity.
The Church State was overturned and obliterated by secularist forces who did not accept the legitimacy of a state who identified itself on ground of religious authority.
Islamists (Salafi, Whahabi and Shia sectarians) claim they are Islam. But other who call themselves Muslims reject the idea that they should be bond to a political ideology as Islamism.
Islamists maintain that some states shouild be legitimately ruled based on Sharia law, a supposedly divine law. But secularsist, as I am. will never accept that someone speaks in the name of God, or that a state authority be identified with a religion or founded on a religious tradition.
The Serbs of Krajina did not recognize a legitimacy of Croatia’s decision to advance a “national law” where the republic was defined as “the state of Croatians”.
Denials of legitimacy and rejection of the “speaking in the name of…” are common events, they are the essence of dissidence and heresy.
Zionism is not Judaism, and Zionists are not Jews – as much as Islamists are not Muslims. Zionists are only *some* Jews and Islamists are only *some* Muslims. Zionism and Islamism are political ideologies, and everybody is politically free to fight ideologies. Zionism is not Judaism – it is only an intermpretation of Judaism – like Islamism is an interpretation of Islam. Those are political interpretations, and therefore they are subject to antagonizing of opposed political ideologies and rejection.
Your rejection of The Jewish State and of the right of Jews to self determination in their own homeland with secure borders is noted.
I’m guessing you’re not a fan of The Donald; recognising Jerusalem as our capital, indicating that you can’t be a refugee in a place if you were born there and now getting Arab countries to agree to naturalise the civilians that went to their countries when they lost their wars against us.
The Donald may be many things but he’s not a man that likes to reward failure.
Of course, he’s a fascist
I see. Not rewarding failure is fascist. Rewarding failure is whatever the opposite of fascists is.. Funny way of looking at it.
Gabby YOU are a fascist/socialist.
You are a pathetic idiot, Gabriel. But that’s hardly news.
Once again Ian demonstrates he doesn’t have the remotest fucking clue what is going on.
But anyway you couldn’t make this up.. GnasherJew is complaining that Press TV’s alleged presence at the Ryan thing is an unwarranted interference in UK politics. Obviously Corbyn was right. Zionists don’t get irony o:)
Sorry Bellers are you saying you are one of the cunts or you aren’t? The slogan doesn’t make this clear.
Ian if the Jewish population of the UK were a food label those that will leave because of this “increase in antisemitism” batshit would appear as ” trace”.
” are you saying you are one of the cunts or you aren’t? “. You decide. I haven’t given it any thought, and nor do I intend to.
Dumb Bellamy, If the background of the people who murder, rape, throw acid, kidnap, bomb, stab, threaten with 9/11 scale attacks, run over, behead people in the UK were a food label, those that are Muslim would appear at the top as the majority ingredient.
I see. That would be the ” I know ’cause I know Jews better than their own wives.” slogan.
As for Cuntgate, I am less interested in you than you are so we’ll let Mrs S be the final arbiter of cuntery. She may be more qualified to judge, poor dear.
Further, most of them would be Maureen Lipman and Mandy Blumenthal’s muliple leavings
Mandy: That’s it I’m leaving again
Maureen : Me too
Mandy : You first
Maureen : No you first
Mandy : Toss you for it, best of three
For whom the Bellers toils. Episode 5779
Mrs Stephen; “’bout time love. You’ve been down your shed all morning and the phone’s been ringing off the hook.”
Mr. Stephen; “I’ve told you a million times. I’m doing vital work for the cause. Only I know what it is and I’m not telling you, so stop asking. Who called?”
Mrs. Stephen; (Browsing Post-It notes); “Let’s see…there was Denzel your old lecturer from poly. He said ‘Ste, gotta get this off my chest lad. All that Arab stuff I spouted was bollocks to get me the book deal. Sorry if it left the wrong impression. Hope you’ve not spent too long dwelling on it. No need to call back. I’m lecturing at Hebrew Uni now. Love to all. D ’ Ah, that’s nice!
Mr. Stephen; “WANKER!!!!!”
Mrs. Stephen; “Now now love. Here’s one from Ahmed, that nice Israeli you helped out on your gap year…”
Mr. Stephen; “Bedouin, you Batshit barmy woman…Bedouin!!”
Mrs Stephen; “Anyway, he says ‘Just moved into the new bungalow. Any chance you can help out with the brickwork around the pool area? Same terms as last time; bed and board? ‘
Mr. Stephen; “Fookin’ Mossad stooge. Just wait. I’m gonna write him up on my blog. Then they’ll see. They’ll all see.”
Mrs Stephen; “Oh yes. There’s one here from Dr. Goldstein. He says can you call him back about the results of your colonoscopy. He’d like you to pop in Wednesday week. I’d take you myself but It’s Yom Kippur and as usual I’m doing the repenting for both of us. Now be a good lad and take the dog out for a wee and I’ll put the kettle on.”
Mr. Stephen; “Aaarrghhh. It’s a cat, woman……a cat!!!”
Fair to miserable
Thanks for reading Bellers.
Prego.
Leggo of my Prego.
Bellend is even more of a sick lunatic tosser than usual on this thread.
Leah how does that compare with being a cunt on the scale of things ?
Happy Nakba!
Is that possible?
Well it’s bad enough when you experience Antisemitism, but I have been totally blanked By David Collier when I contacted him regarding a recent incident. No reason given, could not even reply to my emails. Feeling sick to my stomach. Guess this blog will be removed