Thursday 5 February 2015

Antisemitic incidents on the rise


Pro Palestinians often protest that the Arabs are being made to suffer for wrongs done, not by them, but by the Nazis. No doubt the original ‘suffering’ was the insult of having Jews as next door neighbours.
Lyn Julius writes about the Middle East’s forgotten Jewish refugees from Arab and Muslim countries.  If anyone ever tries to tell you that the Palestinians are paying the price  for the crimes of others, they’re mistaken. Hitler and the Arabs worked closely. They were buddies. Maybe not a lot of people know that.




From the BBC’s report of the CST’s findings: “antisemitic incidents 2014”.

The BBC, as is its wont, illustrates its article with a picture of two eccentric-looking orthodox Jewish students (they look like students) apparently causing mild amusement to a couple of passing police officers.

Much antisemitism emanates from Islam. Many Muslims admit this. However, “reaction to the conflict in Gaza” is not the whole story.
“Reaction to the media’s reporting of the conflict in Gaza” would be nearer to the truth. 

If the media took as much trouble to cover, or dispatch as many reporters, or highlight the personalities of individuals affected by any of the world’s other conflicts in the same manner and with the same intensity as they cover matters concerning Israel, surely fewer ordinary (non Muslim) British people would be swept away in the downdraught. 

Many other wars and conflicts have resulted in equal (and more) death and destruction, and it’s not the only time the media has turned a blind eye to the transgressions of one side alone, but the Israel / Palestinian conflict is given extra special treatment. The Goebbels treatment.

By bombarding British viewers with such biased one-sided reporting it’s as if the BBC and much of the MSM have given the green light to the Muslim community to freely express its hatred of Jews and Israel, encouraged and egged on by the liberal left.  What else did the BBC expect?

I notice they’ve given prominence to a translation from Arabic, of a sort of ISIL manifesto aimed at female Jihadi recruitment. It’s the first time they seem to have realised that Arabic is translatable.

What about the translations from thousands of Arabic language videos  of the outrageous vilification of Jews and Israel that is rife throughout the Arab world? 
Not interested, apparently. They should be, though, It’s all there for those who care to look, and perhaps not a lot of people know that.
Last year saw a record number of anti-Semitic hate incidents in the UK, according to figures released by the Community Security Trust, a charity which provides security for synagogues, Jewish schools, buildings and community events. We speak to reporter Sanchia Berg and Rabbi Arnold Saunders, Rabbi of Higher Crumpsall and High Broughton Synagogue in Salford.

This morning on the Today programme Rabbi Saunders from Salford told Mishal Husain that the best way of dealing with antisemitic incidents is to ‘ignore them’. We must assume he was applying that philosophy to the individual rather than the government.
Although he recounted some unpleasant incidents, he stressed that Britain was a ‘good place for Jews to live.’  He may not have wished to appear alarmist, or he may simply be deluded.


6 comments:

  1. That's a strange comment from the rabbi in light of what he said last year.

    http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/ive-been-punched-threatened-pelted-8100672

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  2. I'm sorry, I just don't believe any of this.

    No less a respected authority than BBC R4's very own "More Or Less" programme have run at least two items in the past year or so showing that anti-Semitic incidents are actually on the decline (I think your blog has even mentioned them).

    If it's a choice between the CST and the BBC there should be no question of which authority you turn to.

    Hector Plasm

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  3. "By bombarding British viewers with such biased one-sided reporting it’s as if the BBC and much of the MSM have given the green light to the Muslim community to freely express its hatred of Jews and Israel, encouraged and egged on by the liberal left."

    Couldn't agree more. We don't hear people saying "It is important to draw a distinction between Indians and Hindus over their outrageous occupation of Kashmiri lands. Criticism of Indian policy in Kashmir is not anti-Hinduism."

    We don't hear that sort of thing because(a) although far more people have died in the Kashmiri dispute over land, the media don't focus on it and (b) for people other than Muslims, anti-Hinduism is not really in their bones.

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  4. Dear Hector Plasm

    Well, “More or Less” is one of Craig’s favourites. 12 posts are tagged as such.

    The episode on antisemitism was broadcast in August. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p024dzqm
    ‘Fluctuating and trending upwards’ seemed to be the conclusion they came to, more or less.. They did mention, in particular, ‘France’, and this was before Charlie Hebdo.

    As with the fuss over some dodgy claims of Islamophobia made by the organisation ‘Tell Mama’, perception of what legitimately constitutes antisemitism is quite subjective.
    Trivial things can add up. Some people would only count physical assaults.

    Virulent anti-Zionism, for example, is something that some argue is ‘nothing to do with’ antisemitism.

    A poll found that the (British) general attitude towards Israel for instance was overwhelmingly negative. (perhaps largely due to the BBC’s biased coverage combined with pro-Palestinian activism)

    Not everyone reports every instance, especially of ‘low level’ antisemitism.

    However, my article came from the premise that the CST’s findings were significant, so quibbling over whether there’s a quantifiable ‘rise’ is neither here nor there. I don’t even accept that the BBC has argued strongly against the CST’s findings, but if it came to a choice between the authority of the CST and the BBC obviously I’d pick the CST every time. Mark Gardner is reliable.

    The BBC’s bias is what this blog is here to examine, just in case you haven’t noticed.

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  5. Hi Sue,

    Thanks for your reply, and my apologies: I was trying to sarcastically suggest that anything the BBC says about anti-Semitism or modern Jewry is anything but reliable, but I fear my little jest backfired.

    Your and Craig's work is of the highest value, and required reading - eg your Islamosemitisophobia entry, which perfectly articulates so much of my own thinking on the subject.

    Apologies again, and Very Best Wishes -
    HP

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  6. I have always believed that the BBC's shallow coverage of world events is positively correlated with the incidence of 5-star hotels and restaurants together guarantees of Beeboids' personal safety.

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