So sad

I’m so sad!

Further to Craig”s piece:

“I’m so sad about this,” said John McDonnell to Andrew Marr, when confronted with the headlines in three of the most prominent Jewish newspapers.

And you know what? I almost believe him. And I’m not even saying that his sadness is due to any possible loss of support from anti-racism purists, though I’m sure there are people who’d prefer to vote for an anti-racist party that isn’t actually racist.

He might be genuinely sad, not just because he’s uncomfortable about straddling the irreconcilable culture-clash between 4 million-odd culturally anti-Zionist Labour voters and the Zionists amongst a measly 250,000 British Jews, many of whom are ideologically left-wing and (used to be) natural Labour Party supporters. OK, even that sounds flippant and cynical. But “It’s not just me who’s saying it” as everyone keeps saying. Do the maths. 

If pandering to the anti-Israel community is what it takes to put you in the driving seat, why not go along with it? It seems like a no-brainer. The downside is that it tarnishes your reputation as *the* anti-racist party, despite the fact that using dissident anti-Israel Jewish lefties as a fig-leaf isn’t fooling very many people. I think what makes John McDonnell “so sad” is that he realises antisemitism is pure racism, and he wishes it weren’t. It’s not a matter of antisemitism and all forms of racism. Antisemitism. Is. Racism.

If it comes to pass that Labour is in a position to carry out the punitive anti-Israel policies it has floated, and if and when the antisemitic atmosphere in Britain reaches some kind of crescendo, we’re in 1930s Germany territory. Then I wonder if Shami Chakrabarti’s little eyes would still be so shiny and her beaming smile be quite so broad?  Would John McDonnell be even sadder? 

Would it even matter if he were? I don’t think enough people realise the significance of this. I don’t think Andrew Marr does. They’re all ‘present but not involved’.  People don’t even know history so how can they learn from it? David Collier has persuaded Pearson to look again at its textbooks, but people tell lies because they can, and come what may, people believe what they want to believe.