Is British antisemitism in danger of getting out of control?

Israelinurse
100%. Any ideas who?

Tom Wonacott
Honest Reporting in its literature picture Ayman Al Zawari (spelling?), bin Laden’s deputy, saying that the war would be fought through the media, and he’s right.

Israel has to wake up to this for its own sake and for the sake of world Jewry, who without doubt, are affected by what Israel does and what it says.

When making these points to Regev as I wrote above, I pointed out to him that his words and actions affected Jews not just in Tel Aviv, but in London and Manchester too. He (in a fit of temper) replied that he couldn’t worry about people in London and Manchester – his concern was for people in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The magnificent Joy Wolfe (Manchester Zionist Federation) did not let him get away with that.

Israelinurse – perhaps Joy Wolfe is the answer!

The National Council of Churches is the parent group of several “progressive” sects of North American Potestantism. They have annually called for boycotts of Israeli businesses etc. They recently lost a vote in Canada among their members but it was a close call and they promise to try again. The fundamentalist Protestants have been stalwart supporters of Israel and have consistently fought efforts to use the church as a weapon against Israel. The fundamentalists have been shunned by the National Council of Churches and there are elements of the National Council who want a boycott of the fundamentalist Christians as well as a boycott of Jewish business, scholars etc.

cityca – ‘I should also make clear that among our strongest supporters are Christians who take extraordinary trouble to support us – last night, in London there was a group who had travelled up from Wales and a chap from Basingstoke, and he had to be at work at 7 this morning. My thanks to them for their constant support and friendship.’

That is astounding.

But Christians should turn out as this church is promoting an extreme political position.

Leni/Irish, I don’t think you have fully grasped what Hawkeye has argued above, that each antisemitic incitatory comment makes it easier for subsequent ones to become acceptable, particularly when they fall on fertile ground.

Given that, it matters little whether the incidence of antisemitism is increasing or not (and I wonder how many antisemitic incidents are missed from the statistics because they are not reported officially), rather what matters is the climate which makes such hatred easy – a climate which CiF and its fellow travellers consciously promote.

This is not made any betterby the supine attitude towards this growing threat on the part of official Jewish bodies as well as successive governments which continue to bend themselves out of shape to to appease easily-offended Muslim sensitivities and to whore what passes for their principles in pursuance of Muslim votes.

I agree with you that much of this is about the language used, but we should never forget that certain groups have a vested interest in blurring the boundaries between, say, Zionism and Jews.

Jerusalem Mite
It’s always the same. Christian Friends of Israel turn out in good numbers, often having travelled for miles.

It is the Jews that oppose Israel that actually make the most noise and are most vociferous in their condemnation. I suppose they can’t do enough to show their friends how ‘onside’ they are. One woman with a megaphone spent the evening ‘singing’ reworded carols at us all evening. If she’s reading this, she really should be ashamed of herself. I hope she never has need to run to Israel as a haven.

The same goes for two other women, holding a banner calling for a boycott of Israeli goods. No amount of debate would make these idiots deviate from their set piece slogans.

Snigger, if you’re not trolling, do you want to explain your obscure post?

JM
The circumstances didn’t allow but I was dying to ask these two if they would also forego Israeli advancements in medicine should they need them. No doubt they’d have some weasel logic to justify use for themselves or their families.

And by the same token, if things really did go pear shaped in the UK or Europe for Jews, they’d be the first ones to claim right of return, again by some twisted logic of their own.

pretzelberg

That little corner of London was not so pleasant last night though. Lots of poison being spewed. I think Mr John Sullivan is soon gonna wish he stayed at home last night. Talk about 15 minutes of fame.

@ cityca

I was obviously thinking exactly that, i.e. not so pleasant last night.
(hence the “normally …”)

But will he regret it? Even without YouTube, he was perfectly at ease talking to a camera.

People who know him and see this footage, however, may well be having second thoughts about him.

Please don’t tell us he’s a GP …

Israelinurse

I think there is a real need inside Israel for ideally, a Brit, to deal with pr for Israel. Why a Brit? Because Brits can bring a sublety to argument that may be missing among other nations. Also, Brits would have more of an understanding of the European view.

Its not just the ability to speak English. Its very much the mindset that matters and that mindset is nurtured through experience of a culture. I cannot emphasise enough that for all its military ability which TG we have, Israel is overwhelmingly losing hearts and minds across the globe because it is not telling its story well enough. Arafat was a genius at conveying the Palestinian story, and he won for the Palestinians, the sympathy of the world.

The Palestinian leadership didn’t care how many lies they told – in fact they created an industry, Pallywood, that much of the world has bought into.

I’m sure it can be done but it will take an enormous effort to even begin to start the fightback for global hearts and minds, but if we don’t, anti-Semitism, fuelled by events in the region, global recession and unemployment, will give a boost to those who always look to put their hatred into action.

AKUS
You are probably right about John Sullivan and his friends, even if ‘some of them are Jewish’. Don’t you think some churches have always legitimised views like his? Being a clergyman or woman doesn’t necessarily mean you are intelligent or without prejudice. Concur entirely about the idiot Jews aiding people who support regimes calling for the killing of Jews. Hardly credible.

pretzelberg
Will he regret it? Don’t know. If it has awkward repercussions, then yes. If not and he’s feted by his friends, then no, his moment of glory has come, but as others have said, it provides a useful illustration to the world of just what is going on in some people’s heads and that when some of us cry anti-Semitism, we have good reason. Perhaps we should adopt the euphimism ‘Sullivaned’ in future.

IsraeliNurse and Cityca There is no need to travel to the UK to experience the ugliness you describe.

It was taking part in Talkbacks on Haaretz that showed me the depths of anti-Semitism against Israel. Haaretz has no pretensions to organised moderation – it just prints the postings that arrive when they feel like having them and junks the rest. You will see the vilest anti-Semitism there following lyrical love for Israel and Judaism.

IsraeliNurse, Cityca

Cityca – I have been lamenting our poor PR skills for years. At every opportunity I try to explain that the aleph-bet is to have native speakers of english, and in my opinion, preferably women, as spokespeople for interviews with foreign TV stations. Until Mark Regev it was always native Israelis with awful accents in english, and sometimes still is, but most Israelis are not capable of understanding what a bad impression that gives.

That won’t work – those paranoics who hate Jews and Israelis (and most assuredl don’t love the Palestinians) will “sniff” this as dastardly plot. Here’s what Tim Llewellyn, the BBC’s former Middle East editor had to say on the subject of Israelis speaking good English (and as an aside he also has LaRit’s problems with Jews having names which are not on his approved list):

Mr Llewellyn declared: “The Israelis appear in studios wearing suits. They’ve learned all sorts of tricks. They are wizards at communication; they speak 10 different sorts of English, from American to South African to Canadian.” Good English, he suggested, played better with the presenters than “a Palestinian speaking down a crackly phone-line from dusty Ramallah.” He added that the tone of complaints against those giving the Palestinian viewpoint was “vituperative, pestering and controlling.”

He also denounced broadcasters who invited the “insidious” former US ambassador to the Middle East Denis Ross, without fully identifying him.

Mr Llewellyn said: “What a lovely Anglo-Saxon name! But Denis Ross is not just a Jew, he is a Zionist, a long-time Zionist… and now directs an Israeli-funded think tank in Washington. He is a Zionist propagandist.”

The whole article on the CST site deserves to be read – you don’t know whether to laugh or cry:
http://thecst.org.uk/blog/?p=625