Corbynista Antisemitism: Ray's beams of light

Antisemitic trash spruiked on Facebook today by Tony Gratrex

Although I've always considered him to the political left of myself, I've a soft spot for British blogger Ray Cook.

Despite probably considering me to the political right of himself, Ray, who's Jewish,  was the person who, in 2010, suggested that I start a blog of my own, and persuaded my hesitant self to do so.

Ray's is a calm, rational voice in the pro-Israel blogosphere, and on the subject of Corbynista antisemitism he is all the more effective because of that.  His literary skills are evident in the following sardonic commentary, posted to Facebook last week, and reproduced here with his permission

The accompanying images have been gathered by me, and those from the 'secret' Facebook group known as 'Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party Forum' come from the collection of Gillian Lazarus, who explains, inter alia:

Well, with friends like Gratrex Sizer should be an expert!

 '.... There is an almost obsessive antagonism to Israel and to Jews, making an exception for Jews who actively denounce Israel; Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein and the late Hajo Meyer being much cited. 

These views do not usually get challenged by other members. 

They are permitted by the administrators. Calling the Talmud Satanic is not reasoned criticism of Israel. 

The administrators post articles and videos, usually from Mint Press, Russia Today, Palestinian news channels, Evolve, Mondoweiss and Skwawkbox which are universally hostile to Israel.

Within a short space of time, these posts attract comments denigrating Jews in general.

 If anyone disagrees, they are abused by other members of the group.

 On the few occasions when I have posted something questioning the totally negative coverage of Israel, my comments were deleted by administrators.

The Al-Jazeera film ‘the Lobby’ is posted most days as an educational resource.

The literacy of forum members is diverse. I find it hard to imagine that Tories and Zionists would infiltrate these forums and employ so many different levels of orthographic competence.

It is argued every day on the forums that Israel is murderous, sadistic, criminal and internationally puissant. The videos are not usually clear and one cannot see what is happening in them, so a member will insert a tagline, explaining that the video depicts some monstrous behaviour inflicted on Palestinians by Israelis. I’m not saying that this never happens but that, in the videos shown, anything could be happening. It is like looking at an abstract painting.  The explanatory text next to it tells you that the painting shows the artist’s inner turmoil when choosing between a tuna baguette and an avocado wrap. Without the text, one would not know....'

 Over to Ray Cook: 

'It seems the more we Jews complain about antisemitism the more people reveal their distaste for Jews and make every excuse to pooh-pooh, dismiss, ridicule and trash our fears.

If you are Muslim, gay, black, trans, disabled, the same people are tripping over themselves to stand with you to signal their virtue. All the more reason to cherish those who are not Jews yet stand with us in these troubled times.

Geoffrey Robertson, for the Palestine Return Centre!Click here

Of course, we must understand that were it not for the existence of Israel there would be no antisemitism. It's Israel's existence that is the problem because it has to compete for virtue with one of the groups so beloved by the not-antisemitic, anti-Zionists. Anyone who can claim to be a) a victim b) oppressed c) not white d) not colonialist e) not European f) all of the above but with a propensity for murder and/or religious/political fanaticism, misogyny, homophobia or Holocaust denial is embraced and welcomed to the fold of the International Socialist Solidarity Movement. But not ISIS - ooh no. They are too clearly worse even than the Zios - therefore they must be covert Zios!! So you mustn't like them, but it is also ok to explain their existence as a reaction to the imperialism of the West which was/is financed by Jews. Nothing to do with religion.

A reference to Margaret Hodge, MP

You cannot be an antisemite, anyway, because not all Semites are Jews. The word was coined to include the ancient Egyptians and Hittites, of course

To qualify as a full member of the Righteous against Zion you must also understand Jews better than Jews themselves. You understand their thinking and their psychosis. You understand their motivation. You are far better placed to define who is a Jew than Jews. Judaism is purely a religion, not a people or a nation. What do we know, eh?

And, if it happens, you can claim to be a Jew, even if you don't practise Judaism and, therefore, are not a Jew by your own definition, you are, however über-qualified to pontificate about Judaism, Zionism and Jewish history, even if you have not the slimmest connection to the Jewish community. And not only that, If you can claim to be an anti-Zionist Jew you are guaranteed a place in the pantheon of the Virtuous.

You have to support murder or, preferably, genocide to get full approval as a victim. Do not subscribe any moral agency to those you support - they are immune and have no responsibility for their actions. This is why Maoris, Aboriginals, Native Americans, Tibetans, Crimeans, Rohingya, Kurds are not on the radar. But above all, don't defend Israel - at all. Physically, in writing, politically.

You have to regularly compare Israel to Nazis and claim they are committing genocide against the 'Palestinians'. This reinforces your Group credentials. It's purely a coincidence that this is deliberately offensive to all Jews. These lies are necessary because facts are fluid when it comes to class war.

It has nothing to do with Jews. It's that terrible idea - Zionism - that is the problem. Zionism, the movement which became necessary due to unhinged, illogical hatred against Jews so that they sought to find peace and self-determination away from antisemites, is now used as an excuse to attempt to deprive them of the refuge which they made Jews need in the first place. After all, we were so safe in Europe, weren't we? We were so safe in the Arab world, weren't we?

So we should just shut up, leave the Middle East, stop being successful, stop being too clever for our own good, stop slaughtering animals, stop circumcision, stop wearing funny clothes, stop being too white and, well, stop being Jewish, I guess; then we'll be safe. Sounds like a good deal to me. Any takers?

Disclaimer: this post does not contain any irony because, as a British Zionist, I cannot fathom its intellectual nuances.'

 Futhermore:

'My response to a Times comment on an article about Corbyn's leading the party into a nightmare of its own making.

The comment in question ran as follows:

 "A balanced article, but with a flaw. It is rather dodgy about Hayo Meijer. It says that Meyer “likened the Israeli government to the Nazis” without further comment. The meeting where this picture was taking is one in the sequence of international meetings organised by IJAN (International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network). IJAN condemns the misuse of the Holocaust by the Israeli government to abstain the Palestinian population of its legal rights. Meyer always started his lectures by explicit pointing out that you can’t compare the fate of the Palestinians with the ‘endlösung’. A lot of Jews who survived the concentration camps have later declared that the period before the ‘kristallnacht’ was the most severe, because of the enormous uncertainty about what was going to happen. After the ‘kristallnacht’ everything was clear. The issue is loss of identity. Secular Jews saw themselves not as Jew, but as German. Suddenly this identity was taken away from them. Soon after that they even lost their human identity and they were classifies as ‘untermensch’. This process of dehumanisation was Hago Meijer’s subject. A famous quote of him is: “before you can dehumanise someone else, you first have to dehumanise yourself”. And it is exactly this process of dehumanising the Palestinians of which he was afraid would damage the Jewish community on the long term."

My response:

"The idea Israel 'dehumanises' Palestinians is at best an exaggeration, at worst a libel. The opposite is definitely true, in fact; you only have to pay close attention to the filth spewed out by the PA media and Hamas and the brainwashing of children to see it is the Jewish Israelis who are dehumanised and this aids the ease with which Palestinians can be persuaded to stab, run over, blow up and shoot Jews.

Whereas it is true that restrictions on movement, being at the mercy of soldiers etc. has a demoralising effect, the response is not a desperate push for negotiation about borders and settlements, but a murderous rampage.

Prior to the First Intifada there was no security fence, no checkpoints and free movement. That Intifada came after agreement on final borders and other issues was so close that Arafat had to do something to change the status quo or he would have to agree to a state. Since then, at least 3 more offers have been rejected because no offer would ever be enough for those who dehumanise Jews daily and seek their destruction.

The idea that the State of Israel uses the Holocaust to justify its 'treatment' of Palestinians is pure antisemitic hate. 20% of the population of Israel is Arab Muslim and they have the highest standard of living and the most freedom of any Arabs anywhere (and yes, there is prejudice and, yes, there are problems, but these can be politically resolved over time). The only reason the Arabs of the territories don't have the same freedom is because they refuse to accept the existence of a Jewish State and are brainwashed into believing such historically illiterate lies that the Israelis only arrived after '48 and that they are all Europeans or Khazars and they have no connection to the land etc. etc. and it's all the result of the Holocaust (Tel Aviv was founded in 1909, for example under the Muslim Ottoman Turks). A Holocaust many of them, including Abbas, either deny or belittle.

If you want to negotiate a State and you really want a 2 state solution then you don't go about it by seeking the destruction of the other side. Corbyn supports these views, whatever he says, and he is especially keen to embrace Jews who share these egregious views because it gives cover to his own prejudices. [Emphasis added]

This is not to say Israel is completely innocent, but the rhetoric against it from the Muslim world and the far Left in this country and outside is so shrill and disproportionate, not to say frequently mendacious, that reasoned and honest discussion of a very complex historical and legal problem is virtually impossible in the media and online.

Corbyn aligns himself with, and is the cheerleader for the politics of the bully and the antisemite who broach no discussion or questioning because they might be confronted with the truth. This is why so many of the meetings he has are behind closed doors or exclude 'Zionists' who might challenge lies and exaggeration or half-truths and conspiracy theories as well as blatant antisemitic tropes.

Former PM Gordon Brown attempts damage control

Corbyn is a vicarious 'insurgent'. He goes around appropriating international conflicts in Israel, Ireland, Iraq, Syria etc. and local politics to his own internationalist, anti-capitalist anti-colonialist, anti-West world view. He then tells us with delusional hubris he does it in the pursuit of peace without a scintilla of evidence to support that statement.

All that would be acceptable in terms of free speech, but the problem is that in so doing he befriends murderers and terrorists and enemies of this country and sanitises them.

He may soon be Prime Minister of this country. Alarmingly, there appear to be millions that don't see him for what he is, or worse, do see it and don't care or actually agree with him. For Jews, perhaps more than most people, that is a scenario that is burned into their psyche and that is why their response is so anguished."'

The BBC helps to reinvent "Palestinian" History by Fiddling a Scratchy Tune



Leonard Bernstein conducting the Palestine Symphony Orchestra in 1948

The despicable, incorrigible anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian bias of the BBC has hit a low note with its report of 31 December headed “Palestinian Orchestra to hold debut concert in Ramallah”.  Slyly disregarding the fact that the Palestine Symphony Orchestra of the Mandate period was founded by and consisted of Jews (in 1936, it being the brainchild of the great Polish-born violinist Bronislaw Huberman), the report begins: “The first Palestinian orchestra of professional classical musicians since 1948 is due to perform its debut concert in Ramallah in the West Bank.”

The inestimable Ray Cook, not one in his blogs to fume lightly, is fuming over the report, which, he notes,

“is saying that those who call themselves Palestinians today are somehow connected with the Palestinians of 1948 and before. It suggests that this orchestra is a reincarnation of that pre-1948 Jewish orchestra. Of course, it is not. It is a new thing. The old Palestine Orchestra still exists, it was just renamed.”

Continues Mr Cook:

“Does the writer know this? Surely he/she must. Does the editor who let it published know all this? Surely he/she does.

It’s as if Israel has been airbrushed out. It’s as if in the minds of the BBC news editors this version of Palestine, the one that wishes to destroy Israel, is somehow a legitimate heir to the one which ‘disappeared’ in 1948. It’s as if this new orchestra replaces that old one.

This whole article is a subtle example of the way Israel is delegitimised and how the putative ‘Palestine’ is legitimised.

It’s a kind of coup de theatre. It’s historical illiteracy.

But that’s not all.”

Read the whole of Ray Cook’s hard-hitting post here:

http://www.raymondcook.net/blog/index.php/2011/01/04/palestinian-national-orchestra-and-bbcs-historical-illiteracy/

Eye-witness in Gaza, The Christian pogrom in Bethlehem and other matters

Blogger Ray Cook has written an absolutely stunning two-part series about British journalist Peter Hitchens’s recent visit to the Disputed Territories, which begins: “I’m not a great fan of Peter Hitchens but he has provided what is probably the most balanced view of the realities of life in Gaza.” Both parts are must-reads.

Part One, which is replete with Ray’s satirical asides, can be accessed here: http://www.raymondcook.net/blog/index.php/2010/11/18/eye-witness-in-gaza/

Below I give the beginning of Part Two – a most important and illuminating post which in its entirety should be required reading for Methodists and others who seek to apply BDS to the little Jewish State. I recommend it, too, to those Christians and "peace activists" who are planning, this Christmas, to sing the carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem" with Dr Stephen Leah's "alternative" lyrics that demonise Israel and the IDF.

Yesterday I wrote in (mostly) praise of Peter Hitchen’s recent MailOnline article about his visit to Gaza and the West Bank.

I covered his Gaza experiences but his West Bank one is equally as enlightening.

Hitchens begins describing Arab hospitality but soon we find:

once again I saw the outline of a society, slowly forming amid the wreckage, in which a decent person might live, work, raise children and attempt to live a good life. But I also saw and heard distressing things

‘Wreckage’? Not sure what he means here. The last war here was 37 years ago. Many Arab towns in the West Bank look like anywhere else in the Middle East. Presumably this is a psychological wreckage in terms of almost 40 years of direct conflict with Israel.

At least we see civil society beginning to form, and about time too.

Hitchens is quick to see the plight of Christians under Palestinian Authority rule:

I feel all of us should be aware of … the plight of Christian Arabs under the rule of the Palestinian Authority. More than once I heard them say: ‘Life was better for us under Israeli rule.’

Ah! Interesting.

One young man, lamenting the refusal of the Muslim-dominated courts to help him in a property dispute with squatters, burst out: ‘We are so alone! All of us Christians feel so lonely in this country.’ Substitute ‘lonely’ with ‘hounded’ and persecuted’.

It appears it isn’t just Jews some Muslims are uncomfortable with. Whilst denying any Jewish connection to the Land of Israel, they now want to end 2,000 years of continuous Christian presence in the West Bank it appears. Will it be that a future Palestine is not just judenrein but christenrein as well.

This conversation took place about a mile from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where tourists are given the impression that the Christian religion is respected. Not really.

I was told, in whispers, of the unprintable desecration of this shrine by Palestinian gunmen when they seized the church in 2002 – ‘world opinion’ was exclusively directed against Israel. I will not name the people who told me these things.

I have also decided not to name another leading Christian Arab who told me of how his efforts to maintain Christian culture in the West Bank had met with official thuggery and intimidation.

There is no unsubstantial Christian presence in Bethlehem, as you might imagine. Hitchens tells us that it’s about 30,000 in the area but between 2001 and 2004 2,000 emigrated and if we assume that this migration will continue there may be no Christians at all in 10 to 15 years.

Arabs can oppress each other, without any help from outside. Because the Palestinian cause is a favourite among Western Leftists, they prefer not to notice that it is largely an aggressive Islamic cause.

Spot on, my man. This guy isn’t afraid to tell the truth.

Let’s digress here and look at the evidence for Christian persecution over many years. Let’s start with the Methodists current policy of a boycott of Israeli goods manufactured in the West Bank and their reason for it.

On their Conference website the most salient point for me is this:

The decision is a response to a call from a group of Palestinian Christians, a growing number of Jewish organisations, both inside Israel and worldwide, and the World Council of Churches. A majority of governments recognise the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories as illegitimate under international law.

I’m not going to get into the argument that the settlements are or are not illegal, what strikes me is ‘a call from a group of Palestinian Christians’. The fact that there are Israeli groups which favour boycotts is none of the Methodists business, but the Christians are.

Yet the Methodists are fixated on what Jews are purported to be doing to Christians but makes no equivalent criticism or boycott of many egregious Muslim activities where Christians are being murdered or expelled or persecuted.

Read the rest here: http://www.raymondcook.net/blog/index.php/2010/11/19/eye-witness-in-gaza-2-the-christian-pogrom-in-bethlehem-and-other-matters/

A Ray of Light on Jews who are “ashamed” of Israel

In his delicious prize-winning novel The Finkler Question the Anglo-Jewish novelist Howard Jacobson has an anti-Zionist group called ASHamed Jews:

 “The logic that made it impossible for those who had never been Zionists to call themselves ASHamed Zionists did not extend to Jews who had never been Jews. To be an ASHamed Jew did not require that you had been knowingly Jewish all your life. Indeed, one among them only found out he was Jewish at all in the course of making a television programme in which he was confronted on camera with who he really was. In the final frame of the film he was disclosed weeping before a memorial in Auschwitz to dead ancestors who until that moment he had never known he’d had. ‘It could explain where I get my comic genius from,’ he told an interviewer for a newspaper, though by then he had renegotiated his new allegiance. Born a Jew on Monday, he had signed up to be an ASHamed Jew by Wednesday and was seen chanting ‘We are all Hezbollah’ outside the Israeli Embassy on the following Saturday.”

The group is fictional, but it’s got its real-life counterparts, and not only, alas, in Britain. Such Jews – who of course make demonising Israel a central part of their agenda if not their raison d’être  –  are often dubbed “self-hating Jews”. But as Adam Levick observed not so long ago in an essay on the phenomenon:

 ‘To be fair, I always found the term “self-hating Jew” to be at best misleading, at worst a complete misnomer. First, because we typically have no way of knowing these writers‘ inner-thoughts. But, more importantly, I never thought that it was an apt description of the anti-Zionist Jews I’ve met over the years. If anything, most seem to possess a belief that they are indeed “better Jews” for being hyper-critical of Israel, opposing their own community, and rejecting the very idea of a Jewish nation-state.

Many seem singularly focused on being seen as a “progressive”. And, as the progressive movement has moved further and further away from identification with Israel – and, to some degree, further away from identification with Jews as such – the need to be seen as progressive (“righteous”) in the eyes of others, has taken precedence over the seemingly parochial desire to identify with, and defend, their own community.’ (cifwatch.com/.../the-guardians-anti-israel-jews-and-a-letter-to-my-teenage-nephew/)

As well as being models of lucidity and literary merit, British blogger Ray Cook’s posts are always thoughtful and measured. Not for him launching personal attacks, or making extravagant claims or wild accusations. All of which lends his opinions a quiet authority. His latest post is a masterpiece. I’d like to share some of it with you:


Why I’m an ashamed Jew

Yep, you read right.

I’ve had to admit it.

I can’t live a lie any longer.

I’m deeply, deeply ashamed.

Ashamed of being Jewish? No way. I’m very proud to be Jewish and a member of the Jewish people.

Ashamed of Israel? Wrong again. I’m proud of Israel’s achievements. I worry about its policies, sometimes; I’m concerned, sometimes about some of its actions and those of some of its citizens, but I could say the same for Britain and I’m still proud to be British.

So why am I ashamed?

I’ll tell you. I’m ashamed of Jews who say they are ashamed to be Jews or Jewish.

I don’t hear Palestinians coming out to declare they are ashamed to be Palestinian and denounce suicide bombs or missiles.

I don’t hear Arabs writing they are ashamed to be Arabs because of Al Qaeda or Sudan or Yemen.

I don’t hear Muslims forming groups of shame because of what Sunni does to Shia, or 9/11, or 7/7, or Madrid, or Mumbai.

I don’t know of any Ashamed Catholic groups forming because of the paedophilia apparently rife in Catholic clergy.

In fact I know of no other group of people who so often announce their ashamedness to be who they are as Jews do.

And you know what? It makes me ashamed. I’m an ashamed Jew who is ashamed of ashamed Jews. If that’s a paradox, so be it.

And I’m not ashamed to declare my shame.

Shame on me!

I don’t see why Arabs or Muslims or Palestinians or Brits or Americans or Chinese or anyone else should be ashamed of what they are because of the actions of a few.

If I’m ashamed to be a Jew because I don’t like what Israel does that is a form of self-hating, it’s bigotry – by golly, it’s anti-Semitic. If I hate all of a group because of the actions of some, then I am a bigot. And if I am the target of my own bigotry then I’m a pretty sick bigot.

Read the rest http://www.raymondcook.net/blog/index.php/2010/10/31/why-im-an-ashamed-j...