- As regards Howard Jacobson’s title, it’s my experience as a septuagenarian gentile that for liberal progressives the default position was one of sympathy for Israel on account of the Holocaust and, on shakier grounds, admiration for ‘making the desert bloom’ and a military derring-do showcased as David prevailing over Goliath. That tide of pro-Israeli sentiment began to turn in the 80s: its signature event the 1982 massacre at Shatila and Sabra.
- Since writing this post a reader has sent me a Scott Ritter piece – longer than any other I’ve read by him – of extraordinary compassion, depth and view-from-the-trenches detail. At 8,500 words it’s no five minute read but I cannot recommend it highly enough.
The public grief of Howard Jacobson
15
Oct
To my fellow Israelis: We can stop this Jonathan Ofir on February 8, 2016 An open letter to my fellow Israelis:
Israeli Official Calls for Razing Palestinian Town of Huwara. March 3, 2023
Jonathan Ofir has it exactly right. But the Jewish community is just like other communities – there are a few like him who put truth before anything else, but most are content just to follow the line of least resistance and revert to tribal solidarity thinking regardless of inconvenient facts, plus there is always a pathological minority whose only desire is conquest and domination irrespective of how many lives are lost on either side.
Hi Phil,
this from Vox Political(Mike Sivier)
Sat 14/10/2023 13:06
Vox Political
New comment!
James just commented on Crackdown on support for Palestine as Western ‘democracies’ ban free speech.
“What happens when your government supports a genocidal, far-right-wing foreign regime, demands that you support its actions in spite of the transparent lies it and its client media are feeding you… and you refuse to comply? This: France & Germany have made it illegal to show public support for Palestine. “— Tory Fibs (@ToryFibs) October… Continue reading Untitled
4 DEC 1948: The New York Times published a letter by a group of Jewish dignitaries, including Albert Einstein and political theorist Hannah Arendt, protesting a visit to the United States by Menachem Begin and denouncing his Herut (Freedom) party on the grounds that it was, as they wrote, “a political party closely akin in its organization, methods, political philosophy and social appeal to the Nazi and Fascist parties.” Was Einstein ‘the wrong sort of Jew’?
Read this: the 1948 letter to the New York Times from Albert Einstein and 20+ other Jewish intellectuals, and more: http://www.thehypertexts.com/Albert Einstein 1948 Letter New York Times Nakba.htm
My own thoughts are that instead of rowing back on the prospect of becoming irrelevant with BRICS + proceeding at pace, we are in fact cutting our noses off to spite our faces in our complete denial of all that is actually happening by “standing by” our “good friends” the Israelis because to do otherwise would be admitting that Israel always has been and still is a disgraceful betrayal of the Palestinian peoples and dreadful mistake in supporting the Israeli terrorist state.
I have to wonder are we really that vain and egotistical that we would rather be on the wrong side of humanity and so ignorant and bigoted we see ourselves superior than Arabs, negroes, Asians and all the other supposedly(according to Churchill) “inferior races”?
That takes our view of entitlement and arrogance way beyond the pale.
We are literally pulling the rug out from under our own feet by making more enemies (Moslems, Africans, various S. American countries) whilst losing even more friends(the aforesaid to include also the US and EU). BoJo goes to Washington and a Biden spokesman tells the press “Britain has neither anything we need nor want” and on another occasion in March “The special relationship between the US & UK is over” being just 2 examples of what the US really thinks of the UK, because we have become “an insignificant little island off the West Coast of Europe”
I’m finding all this sympathy for Israelis and antipathy for Palestinians just a little depressing, surely we’re not that far removed from reality, or maybe we are.
Antisemitism is real, but Israel’s behaviour towards the Palestinians is the real cause of it, too many people conflate Jewishness with Israeli bigotry and cruelty and it is taking us in all directions of wrong think. I wonder if we are heading towards civil violence against the establishment and each other.
Did I mention that I was depressed?
Regards,
Susan:)
That goes without saying Susan. We all are.
Excellent piece Phil. I have to admit thatI couldn’t bring myself to read Jacobcon’s article
I know what you mean!
Jacobson:
“And these are Gazans I am weeping for. For all I know, they were dancing in these now ruined streets when pictures of butchered Israelis went around the world.”
It’s interesting phrasing. The “for all I know” bit i.e. the bit that conveys doubt refers to the Gazans dancing, NOT to the pictures of butchered Israelis. Now I don’t want to be impetuous here, for there may be pictures I haven’t seen, but the fact remains that this part of Jacobson’s text (which is emphasised by “pictures” that “went round the world”) is one I HAVEN’T seen! And, bearing in mind how those beheaded babies turned out to be a lie, I am certainly not going to place my faith in the kind of claims that Jacobson is making here.
And it’s a very devious device i.e. to direct doubt to the lesser part of the claim whilst surreptitiously passing off the major part as beyond dispute.
Good point
Not sure if this will get through as the link is not very reliable here in the Valadera resort in Cuba.(back in Manchester early Tuesday am).
The clampdown on dissent from TON – which includes not only the Jacobson piece but scores of other so called media sites including Unherd and others which are openly putting out hit pieces othering and attacking anyone in the UK and the collective West who do not unconditionally accept this criminal and fascist narrative – needs to be both documented and called out for what it is. Which is a deliberate attempt on the part of both the media outlet and the individual “journalist” to further a war crime and legitimise it.
This is now, as Craig Murray suggests, fascism in action across the entire Western world. Skwawkbox reports that the Loyal Opposition is banning members and MPs, on threat of expulsion from the LP, from deviating from the narrative. It is also reporting that Scotland Yard War Crimes Units seeking any evidence of war crimes in a context in which Tory MP Crispen Blunt has warned ToryMinisters they could face prosecution for assisting War Crimes.
Such aiding and abetting is certainly not limited to Government Ministers or opposition figures of any Political party -Starmer and his entire front bench along with GS David Evans and others in the Party or employed by it who are enforcing this – but also all those involved from whatever media outlet to individual “journalists” Jacobson included. As a result it is an incumbent responsibility to document and record such instances of aiding and abetting these War Crimes and those agencies and individuals involved to submit that evidence – multiple times if necessary -to any and all relevant agencies in order to properly prosecute all those at every level who are involved in any current or future War Crimes investigations.
I submitted an internal LP complaints procedure last night against the Party leadership and bureaucracy. When I’ve finally abandoned this scorching hot, but albeit extremely tozzin’ stretch of 12.5 km Caribbean beach and had a bit of kip on Tuesday I’ll be catching up and looking to submit something to relevant agencies like the Scotland Yard unit etc.
Any help or similar initiatives would not go amis. After all, we all of us have a responsibility which it would be unreasonable to shirk
I just hope last Saturday’s events didn’t totally trash your well earned break!
“The clampdown on dissent from TON ”
What is TON?
Apologies George. I’ve used the long and abbreviated versions that many times on this site I got lazy.
TON: The Official Narrative.
In a voyeuristic society habituated to TV and cinema, the most potent propaganda comes from blending entertainment with politics. Thus the rulers have long made it a priority to coerce “the stars”:
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/12/entertainment/entertainment-leaders-support-israel/
“CNN — More than 700 entertainment industry professionals have signed an open letter voicing their support for Israel and condemning Hamas as fighting continues in the Middle East…..
The letter calls on leaders of the entertainment industry to “speak out forcefully against Hamas and do whatever is in their power to urge the terrorist organization to return the innocent hostages to their families.”
“This is terrorism. This is evil. There is no justification or rationalization for Hamas’ actions,” the letter continued.”
After which, this:
“The letter also included a warning urging public figures in the entertainment industry to “to refrain from sharing misinformation about the war,” and to avoid amplifying any “propaganda.””
This leads to this link:
https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/10/12/exp-israel-hamas-war-social-media-disinformation-layla-mashkoor-intv-101203aseg1-cnni-world.cnn
And a lot of non-committal waffle about “being robust” and giving and air of objectivity.
And there is a bit of general stuff about finding peace etc. In short, the necessary liberal disclaimers which fool no-one since the villains and victims have already been assigned.
Behind the weaselly posturing, this is clearly coercion. The proverbial “offer they can’t refuse”.