Fortsätt till huvudinnehåll

What is behind Labour antisemitism wave?

Disraeli notwithstanding, Jews in Britain have traditionally supported the Labour party since its formation at the beginning of the twentieth century. This was to be expected, as most of the first and second generations of children of Jewish immigrants were working class, or in middle-class occupations such as teachers and in the public services. Although British Jews have assimilated, in many cases to the point of disappearance, and they have moved up in the economic hierarchy, their loyalty to Labour has continued. So what is behind the current wave of antisemitism in the Labour party?

In part it is due to Israel's perceived mistreatment of the Palestinians, who are now seen as the underdogs and victims of Zionist oppression. Whilst the Israeli government has often made the wrong decisions and continues to do so, there is not a government in the world which would act very differently in the same situation; even so, it should not be beyond criticism. The supporter of the underdogs have also been duped by a very effective Arab PR machine.

Is criticism of Israel antisemitic? It depends on the track record of the people doing the criticism. If they have never spoken out against, for example, the actions of the Chinese government in Tibet, or Indonesia in Papua New Guinea, then their motives must be suspect. Since it is indeed the case that many of the critics have their focus firmly on Israel, then they can be judged antisemitic.

But what is the driving force behind this? It is necessary only to look at the list of names of the people who have had to be suspended from office. Thus does Islam corrupt the political process. The damage is probably irreversible. This is the end of a century-long relationship.

Kommentarer

Skicka en kommentar

Populära inlägg i den här bloggen

Importing people to sustain demand

I got involved in a discussion with a Youtuber called “Philosophy all along”. This was in connection with criticism of Trump’s policy of deporting illegal migrants, which he argued would be bad for the economy as it would reduce demand. This implies that there is a need to import people to sustain demand. There is no obvious reason why a population should not be able to consume everything that the same population produces. If it can not, then something else is going on. It is a basic principle that wages are the least that workers will accept to do a job. Wages are a share of the value added by workers through their wages. The remainder is distributed as economic rent, after government has taken its cut in taxes. Monopoly profit is a temporary surplus that after a delay gets absorbed into economic rent. Land values in Silicon Valley are an example of this; it's like a gold rush. The miners get little out of it. Rent and tax syphon purchasing power away from those who produce the g...
Skicka en kommentar
Läs mer

The Zombie Train that refuses to die

The Guardian has published a couple more articles against HS2, one by specialist rail commentator Christian Wolmar, and another today by journalist Simon Jenkins. The main arguments in favour will doubtless be wheeled out by the commentators: the need for capacity and the disruption caused by upgrading existing routes. HST itself will severely disrupt services to Euston during the construction period. Capacity can be increased at a fraction of the cost by a variety of measures, provided that it is accepted that the additional traffic will run at existing speeds. It is not generally known that the Midland main line is, or was, four track all the way from London to Trent Junction, between Nottingham and Derby. This is because the additional tracks are separate, having been added for coal trains which trundled down to Brent sidings, on the edge of London, from a collection point at Toton in Nottinghamshire, where the Midland Railway build a huge marshalling yard. Beyond Derby, the main l...
Skicka en kommentar
Läs mer

How much more will the British tolerate?

The British are phlegmatic, tolerant and slow to rouse. Thus there was no great reaction after the terrorist attack in July 2005. The murder of Lee Rigby created a sense of outrage, but nothing more, since it appeared to be an isolated incident. Two serious incidents within a fortnight are another matter. Since the first major terrorist incident in 2001, authority has tried to persuade the public that Islam is a religion of peace, that these were isolated events, or the actions of deranged "lone wolves", having nothing to do with Islam, or to reassure that the chances of being killed in a terrorist attack were infinitesimally small. These assurances are are beginning to wear thin. They no longer convince. If government does not act effectively, people will take the law into their own hands. What, however, would effective action look like? What sort of effective action would not amount to rough justice for a lot of innocent people? Given the difficulties of keeping large n...
Skicka en kommentar
Läs mer