"The UK Zionist Party"

“The Jew Lewis ought to rot … it gives me great pleasure to see him sometimes in a wheelchair.”

Lawyer Mark Lewis says he and his wife are leaving the UK because they no longer feel safe on account of anti-Semitism.#VictoriaLIVE pic.twitter.com/tXFJjKE8yh

— Victoria Derbyshire (@VictoriaLIVE) August 15, 2018

I don’t normally watch the Victoria Derbyshire show because the ‘Guardianista agony-aunt genre’ isn’t to my liking. Victoria Derbyshire personifies empathy. Victoria Derbyshire = Empathy on a stick. As a TV host, she specialises in listening sympathetically, head slightly bent to one side, as her guests recount tales of misfortune and abuse. She listens to ill people, hard-done-by people and those who suffer from all forms of victimhood. When I say ‘all forms’ I should have added ‘apart from antisemitism’. That’s one form of empathy I haven’t yet seen from Victoria Derbyshire.

Someone suggested I turn on the TV this morning to see Derbyshire interrogating two Zionists. I say interrogating, merely because she played devil’s advocate so utterly convincingly that she came across as less of an advocate and more of a devil. In fact, I’ve never seen her so hostile. But I rarely watch the show, so maybe she’s just as hostile with all forms of guests that are not to her liking

Being a Zionist is not illegal by the way. 

“Zionism is the national movement of the Jewish people that support the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in the territory defined as the historic Land of Israel

You’re still allowed to be a Zionist in this country (for the moment) - someone might advise Victoria Derbyshire of the fact. It’s perfectly legal and above board.

There is a team of ‘people’ working for Ms. Derbyshire. She’s not the only brains behind the operation. The BBC has researchers and so on. They come up with ‘facts’ so that Victoria Derbyshire and her ilk are well briefed and equipped so that they can play devil’s advocate without making fools of themselves.

At first, I thought it was a false flag incident; maybe Mossad infiltrated the BBC research department masquerading as a researcher intent on undermining Victoria Derbyshire’s authority by deliberately feeding her with fake news. Then I thought maybe it was simpler than that, and a genuine BBC researcher had assumed that the two hapless Zionist apologists would be floored by the accusation that they were members of “The UK Zionist Party”.

Victoria Derbyshire announced this ‘fact’ with a flourish, as if its revelation amounted to ‘game, set and match.’  However, the pair weren’t exactly floored. They didn’t say “It’s a fair cop” or anything to that effect. Instead, they reacted with astonishment. “What is that?” they queried. “What party is the UK Zionist Party?” Their apparent bafflement was clear, even to Derbyshire, who quickly said she must have been misinformed, and changed tack.

I have to say, again, that being a Zionist is not the crime it’s cracked up to be. Some Zionists are not even shy about it. Accusing anyone of ‘Zionism’ is not the insult Derbyshire and her cack-handed researchers seem to think it is; it’s not incriminating in any way shape or form.

However, the researcher who came up with that ‘ace’ - that gem of a check-mate that wasn’t, that triumphant “You are members of the UK Zionist Party”   - was not ‘making it up’. Not exactly.

A quick Google  shows what must have led to this misunderstanding (for that’s what it was.)  There was a strange headline in an edition of “Jewish News”, (which several angry Corbynistas have tweeted triumphantly) 

The researchers can’t have been familiar with the way headlines work - and didn’t bother to pursue the research any further, following this lucky ‘find’. Here you go. More than 70 attend re-launch of UK Zionist group. What’s this? I was quite sure it originally said “Party” rather than 'group', but look here. At the bottom.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was previously headlined ‘More than 70 attend re-launch of UK Zionist party’. This is incorrect. Herut UK is a political group in the UK, not a political party.

To reiterate. The original headline did say ‘More than 70 attend re-launch of UK Zionist party.’ But it’s a headline. Headlines usually omit the definite or indefinite article.  It’s telegram speak. It never meant that there’s a proper, official political party named The UK Zionist Party. Just that the group (Herut UK) is ideologically pro-Zionist. 

It. Is. Not. And. Never. Was. The UK Zionist Party. It’s rather like a headline saying ‘Jeremy Corbyn leads UK Antisemitic Party.'

See? Labour is an antisemitic party, but that’s not its official title.

Anyway, it all goes to show that the hoards of Corbynites who were busily tweeting the Jewish News page to prove that the two evil Zionists were ‘liars’ in their attempts to defend Jeremy Corbyn merely exposed just how rife and rabid the antisemitism now is amongst Jeremy Corbyn’s fan club, which is surely as ironic as it gets.

Stand up For Racism

The Labour Party! What is it like? 

Did you hear that hilarious debate between a lesbian woman and a transgender wo/man about ‘all women’ shortlists. Well, I say hilarious, but one (wo)man’s hilarious is another (wo)man’s dystopian. If you missed it ….

The first thought that struck me was that, like Sunni and Shia Moslems, they could simply unite by collectively directing their ire against the Zionists.

Forget jokers who train their dogs to impersonate Hitler. Forget stupid remarks about big noses. What we need to worry about is the “new’ antisemitism.

David Friedman

“It is the irrational, deceitful, and insidious vilification of Israel and its supporters under the guise of political commentary. It is just a cleverly repackaged form of hatred against the Jewish people.”

Many people regard Zionism itself as a racist concept, a belief that stems from a mixture of wilful ignorance and disinformation, principally from the BBC. How has the BBC choreographed such a thing?  Simply by regurgitating unadulterated Palestinian grievance-mongering over at least the last half century.  By partial ‘half the story’ reporting, which is effectively counter-factual, one-sided and cynically but subtly anti-Israel, from top to bottom.

Unfortunately a great many people believe that opposing Zionism is righteous and they sincerely see themselves as anti-racist.  They care about this so much that they only look at the speck in their brother’s eye while failing to notice the log in their own that prevents them from acknowledging that whole countries are positively riven with Jew-hate and the beam that blinds them to the racism in their support of a future Palestinian state that proudly and loudly boasts that it will be Jew-free. 

This half-baked anti-Zionist principle seems to satisfy the anti-Zionists enough to convince a group called “Stand up to Racism” that they were acting “against” racism when they went on the march in Glasgow where “balaclava-clad members of the Red Front Republic (RFR) group – which claims to be a community-based organisation fighting far-right bigotry– were involved in a stand-off with pro-Zionist supporters.” 

The same principle lies behind Jeremy Corbyn’s apparently sincere belief that the Labour Party is against all forms of racism. How often do you hear your friends saying sorrowfully, “You’d think the Jews of all people would have learnt their lesson. They are doing to the Palestinians what Hitler did to them.”

Firstly the latter sentence is obvious nonsense, and secondly the pathetic “Jews of all people” meme is a non sequitur. If there is a lesson from the past, the most obvious one is - and should be - never again; that acquiescence is fatal / self-defence is vital. The next obvious lesson is that the world stood idly by while Hitler was prosecuting his deadly work. 

We used to ask ourselves, in sheer bafflement, how the hell did the ordinary German in the street allow Hitler to orchestrate the industrial extermination of millions of European Jews?  

That this happened, not in medieval times, not during the Reformation, not in days of old when knights were bold and ladies weren’t invented, but less than a century ago, when there was Swing, there was Jazz, the Lindy Hop and the Jitterbug. 

Unbelievably, the storm clouds are gathering again. Throughout Europe and here in the UK, where we queue up in an orderly fashion and apologise if we bump into things, Jeremy Corbyn and his acolytes have hoodwinked Generation Ignorant, and the oldest hatred is back. A tipping point has been reached and we are, evidently, paralysed. 

The BBC is uninterested in reversing this. Jeremy Corbyn’s antisemitic connections have been noted but it makes no difference. The topic has been tentatively broached by the BBC but Corbyn’s followers call it a smear, announce that “Labour is against all forms of racism” and we move on. Nothing to see here at the BBC.

Jeremy Corbyn’s association with the antisemitic group Palestine Live has been casually brushed aside. Stephen Pollard says: 

If that isn’t front page news, what is? 

And yet it’s barely been noticed other than in the Sunday Times, which reported it, and the JC, which picked it up yesterday. 

I don’t criticise anyone for that, because you could argue it’s not even the biggest ‘Labour and the Jews’ news of the past 24 hours. 

This morning it has emerged that Jeremy Corbyn was far more than a mere acquaintance of Elleanne Green, the founder of the Palestine Live Facebook group. The Daily Mail reveals today that they enjoyed a “warm friendship” and that Mr Corbyn organised events with her, that they discussed poetry online and that she referred to having had conversations in person with him.

Several incidents and events have occurred recently, which should be of interest  - if not actually worrying -  to the BBC,  but apparently they aren’t.

The Times reports (£) “Brighton Labour leader Warren Morgan forced out after ‘upsetting abuse’". Does the BBC know? Not a sausage.

Upsetting abuse

What about "Haringey councillors say it is now "impossible" to be a Jewish Labour councillor? Who cares?

It’s not only omitting relevant news. It’s actual bias. BBC Watch has raised countless examples. Here’s one about Mosque loudspeakers. See how the BBC treats the same issue when it arises in Israel and Rwanda with their outrage over Israel’s ‘unnecessarily divisive’ proposed draft “muezzin bill” to limit the use of “Call to Prayer” loudspeakers, compared with their relative acceptance of Rwanda’s ban on loudspeakers from mosques in Kigali.

What about the way the BBC reports the deportation of illegal immigrants? The BBC website has featured several emotive, negatively phrased reports on this topic, with the implication that for some reason Israel  (of all people) should have ‘open borders’  

Israel is far from being the only democracy that sends back illegal immigrants. The United States expels 400,000 illegal immigrants every year. Germany has been sending back illegal immigrants to Afghanistan, and Italy to Sudan. In 2017, Germany expelled 80,000 illegal immigrants. . . .

Israel is a safe haven to all Jews, as well as to non-Jewish asylum seekers who meet the criteria of the Refugee Convention—which most illegal immigrants don’t. Israel’s policy is consistent with international law and with the practice of other democracies, and it should not be judged by higher standards.

While I might have found the debate between Emily Brothers  and Lucy Masoud totally ludicrous, largely because of the former’s impenetrable newspeak, I can at least see the funny side of it. (sorry but I’m still, stuck in the days when Les Dawson in a dress was mildly comical) but I can’t quite raise a smile at a group calling itself ‘Stand Up To Racism’ whose slogan is “Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here” and whose members are pro-Palestinian Muslims and......

 Scottish Trades Union Congress, Unison Scotland, Unite the Union Scotland, Educational Institute of Scotland, University and College Union Scotland, Scottish Labour Party, Church of Scotland, Justice and Peace Scotland, Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, Scottish Refugee Council, Scottish Faiths Action For Refugees, Show Racism The Red Card, Positive Action in Housing, City of Edinburgh Unison, Glasgow City Unison, Unison South Lanarkshire, Edinburgh College EIS-Fela, Unite Scottish Housing Associations branch, Unite NHS Ayrshire & Arran, Unite GPM and IT Branch, Unite Glasgow retired members, MEND, Afghan Human Rights Foundation, Social Work Action Network, The People’s Assembly Scotland, Govanhill Baths Community Trust, Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees, Govanhill Against Racism, Maryhill Integration Network, Perth Against Racism, Women for Independence Glasgow, Scottish Jews For A Just Peace, PCS Scotland, RMT Scotland, FBU Scotland, Interfaith Glasgow, Glasgow Unite Community Branch, Scottish Women’s Convention.

when it objects to a few pro-Israel Zionists marching alongside them.

Raising awareness

When the BBC doesn’t report a story that other news outlets do, it forces ‘bias bloggers’ into negative territory. Why are you commenting on non-BBC stuff which is none of your business? people might ask. "It’s technically called ‘bias  by omission’ "  one might reply.

I don’t think the BBC reported anything about the latest insult that the controversial NUS president Malia Bouattia handed out to Jewish students the other day. She had the casting vote on whether Jewish Students should be allowed to select their own rep. on a racism committee. 

Needless to say she voted no.

"Chilling environment"

I don’t think it would interest the BBC that Michael Gove made an oblique reference to this from the back benches, so I haven’t bothered to tackle the BBC’s unresponsive search engine to find out.  

“Speaking at the second reading of the Higher Education and Research bill in parliament, the former education secretary said “at the moment there are voices and individuals within the NUS who have not upheld the best traditions of academic freedom and who have created in some respects a chilling environment and a cold home for students, particularly those who are Jewish.”

You can read the transcript of the whole speech here.

I caught a glimpse of Sarah Champion speaking on the Victoria Derbyshire show yesterday  about online bullying and sexual grooming. She has set up a campaign especially to “raise awareness” of it. 

I have no first-hand knowledge of the actions Sarah Champion MP actually took when she discovered that sexual exploitation had been going on under her nose - not online, but in real, non virtual life. So if I assume she’s ‘deflecting’ by initiating these other campaigns I might be all wrong, and I’d be quite pleased to be, but it seems odd that under the circumstances, when she is not obsessing about Palestinians, she is warning children about online sexual grooming. 

We’ve blogged about this before, but here she is in July 2014 sitting at a table amongst a committee of male Muslim councillors, obsessing about Israel. (The YouTube version has attracted a number of strongly-worded comments) 

A month later this excoriating report came out.  

Although the article says the council commissioned the report on Rotherham’s grooming gangs, it also says:

“It lays out how Rotherham Council and the police knew about the level of child sexual exploitation in the town, but didn't do anything about it.

They either didn't believe what they were being told, played it down, or were too nervous to act. The failures, the report says, are blatant.

The report estimates 1,400 children were sexually exploited over 16 years, with one young person telling the report's author that gang rape was a usual part of growing up in Rotherham.”

So I don’t know whether I am being harsh in criticising Ms Champion, or for criticising the BBC for letting her publicise her campaign on TV. I just thought it was worth raising awareness of it

Sarah Champion had quite a lot to say about child cruelty when she was shadow minister (Home Office) The children in question weren’t Rotherhamians, but Palestinians. 

She brought this debate to Westminster Hall in Jan 2016. It was about child prisoners in the occupied Palestinian territories. The usual Palestinian obsessed MPs were there including the late Jo Cox.

Also present, and with plenty to say, was one Nassm (Naz) Shah, the young lady who didn’t know that antisemitism was racism. However, she did seem to know quite a bit about Mahmoud Abbas, for example that he was promoting peace and not encouraging terror. She said Palestinian children were being blindfolded and tortured - and that Israel hasn’t provided any evidence of a stone throwing incident causing death. Perhaps she expected Israel to prove it to her, personally, before believing it?

Palestine: Children

This topic is extremely popular with British MPs. Another debate on the subject took place the other day, in the Lords this time. (Yesterday to be precise) They really love this topic. “Palestine: Children.”

The usual Palestine obsessed Lords were there, including Baroness Tonge. One noble Lord after another produced context-free anecdotes of suffering and depravation in the occupied territories, having been entertained by CAABU in the customary manner, until all of a sudden no less than four, yes four, noble Lords spoke up for Israel.

 Lord Hamilton of Epsom

Lord Polak (con)

 Lord Turnberg (lab)

Baroness Deech

If that’s the kind of thing that interests you, do click and have a read. 

Interestingly, several of the speakers spoke admiringly of the Palestine Youth Orchestra, which is presently touring the UK.

I don’t suppose there will be any mobs out on the streets outside their concert venues with leaflets or inside with banners and loud-hailers disrupting their concerts. 

Apologies and Reinstatements

I suspect the Chakrabarti inquiry satisfied the Labour Party that the allegations about antisemitism had been dealt with. They’re reinstating their discredited  councillors and MPs as fast as they can. Gerry Downing, Naz Shah, Jackie Walker, Terry Kelly - forgive me if I have left anyone out.

One Labour member, however, the leader of Brent Council, has offended his co-religionists by apologising to the Jewish community. 

Of course, there are Jewish residents amongst his constituency, so there’s an element of expediency in his apology, but it looks pretty fulsome as apologies go, (as did Naz Shah’s)

Muhammed Butt

What is Zionism? 

I wouldn’t normally link to this website, but the bitesize definition of ‘Zionism’ at the foot of this article is almost amusing in the child-like imbecility of its one-sided, counter-factual explanation.

Israel was created in 1948 after Zionist settlers colonized Palestinian land and expelled around 750,000 people though a campaign of ethnic cleansing. 

In 1967 Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip during the 6-day war with Egypt, bringing all of historical Palestine under its rule. 

Israel has launched brutal wars on Lebanon twice – in 1982 and 2006; it continues to occupy the West Bank and Jerusalem, implementing harsh security measures against its Palestinian residents; it keeps Gaza under military and economic siege; and within Israel itself, Palestinians live as second-class citizens.

 I wonder if the BBC has taken that into consideration, because their mini definitions aren't much more informative, (or impartial) than the 5Pillarz version.  

After the Holocaust, Jewish people were allocated land to settle on. 

They considered the region of Israel their homeland. However, many of the Arab people who were already living in Palestine and the surrounding areas found it unfair. 

Typically those who identify as part of the Zionist movement believe in the protection and development of Israel as the Jewish nation. 

Not all Jewish people agree with Zionism.

 Not all non-Jewish people agree with Zionism, either. Malia Bouattia and assorted Corbynistas use "Zio" as a term of abuse.

Was it cos he’s a Jew?

I’ve been looking at Twitter, just to see what people have been Tweeting to Ivan Lewis, because rumour has it that the antisemites are out. 

I don’t much like Twitter because of the way it makes everything so rude. Benign words nearly always turn all confrontational and insulting by the time they reach their destination. Something dark happens twixt keyboard and Twittersphere. You should be able to see the transition taking place before your very eyes as the message flies through space. But you can’t. Maybe if you looked through a powerful telescope? (from NASA?)

Not that there were many benign words on Ivan Lewis’s Twitter feed when I looked at it yesterday - or maybe it was the day before.

The antisemites are out, as the man said.

See below Craig’s post on this topic, someone has commented:

“Oh please! This is complete supposition, and you claim that the BBC biased.”

More of a Tweet than a comment, perhaps, because it’s very brief and because it implies something and says nothing at the same time. 

Craig's article was concise too, but it was factual, not suppositional at all. Admittedly the sentiment had an implication. If I really need to spell it out, the speculation was about the reason Jeremy Corbyn sacked Ivan Lewis, who is Jewish. Was it because  he had queried Corbyn’s record on antisemitism, or that he was sacked simply because Corbyn did not want a Jew on his team? (He has one now of course. Luciana Berger, a woman.  Two birds with one stone if you like.)

The speculation about all that, which others have articulated much more explicitly than Craig, is certainly justified because of the nature of several of Corbyn’s notorious activities and affiliations.  There is very good reason to speculate, and that’s all it is. Just look at the Tweets, and the comments on pro-Palestinian websites, organisations that Jeremy Corbyn supports. Antisemitism is alive and flourishing in PSC world.

A few of Corbyn’s followers did say “There is no place for antisemitism in Labour”, but that is wishful thinking rather than fact. Unfortunately there is a place for antisemitism - in Labour, Lib Dem, Conservative, Ukip and all other parties in between. Oh yes, and the Greens.

Let’s zoom in on some familiar Jew-bashing themes. The faux pedants who keep saying “Arabs are semites too.” By deconstructing the meaning of ‘antisemitism’, and querying the accepted usage of that word, they’re trying to nullify its racist meaning and avoid publicly owning up to their own hatred. 

The other word that has fallen victim of toxification by Jew-bashers is the term ‘Zionism’. That word also has a definition:

“a movement for  the re-establishment and the development and protection of a Jewish nation in what is now Israel. It was established as a political organisation in 1897 under Theodor Herzl, and was later led by Chaim Weizmann.” 

Only antisemites and fanatical internationalists oppose the principle of a Jewish homeland. A place of safety for Jews; how ironic that antisemitism is ultimately what makes Israel necessary. 

The other Jew-bashing theme is “Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism”. Yes it is. Criticism of the Israeli government or specific criticism of Israel’s policies is not the same as anti-Zionism. Israelis do it all the time.

Anti-Zionism is denouncing Israel as illegitimate, accusing it of being a racist state, a terrorist state, an apartheid state and insisting it has no business calling itself a Jewish state. People from Islamic states are the most insistent on that point. All that is antisemitic. Make no mistake, as auctioneers say. 

Of course there are plenty of people who hate Israel because they’ve been seduced by a distorted version of history. They have chosen to believe the myths and fancies based on antisemitic Arab propaganda. They know there’s another version of ‘truth’ out there, but they’re not interested in finding out what it is.

Jeremy Corbyn is an internationalist according to Frank Field, so presumably he would like all borders to be torn down. He is also a pacifist, therefore he advocates non-retaliation.  No wonder he doesn’t support Israel.  If he opposes the existence of the state of Israel and doesn’t believe in the need for a Jewish homeland, even  in the light of the antisemitism he witnesses, much of it from his own supporters, then is it surprising that there was speculation about the dismissal of a Jewish MP, particularly when the choice of experienced ministers willing to serve under his leadership had shrunk from small to negligible?