Naz Shah MP for
Bradford West has been publicly disgraced and humiliated. She was forced to make a grovelling apology for
her terrible anti-Semitism. She is
expected as Norman Finkelstein says below, to combat the ‘inner anti-Semitism’
in her because of a map that she displayed on her website/facebook page.
Bradford West has been publicly disgraced and humiliated. She was forced to make a grovelling apology for
her terrible anti-Semitism. She is
expected as Norman Finkelstein says below, to combat the ‘inner anti-Semitism’
in her because of a map that she displayed on her website/facebook page.
The subtext of her
apology was that she had to promise never, ever again to upset the Israel lobby.
apology was that she had to promise never, ever again to upset the Israel lobby.
I have just one
question. Where did that map of the
United States with Israel in it come from?
Assuredly some fascist site, perhaps the British National Party? No they are pro-Israel. How about Hungary’s Jobbik? No they are too stupid.
question. Where did that map of the
United States with Israel in it come from?
Assuredly some fascist site, perhaps the British National Party? No they are pro-Israel. How about Hungary’s Jobbik? No they are too stupid.
Ah yes, I’ve found it
at last. The site? The Jewish Virtual Library, a recognised site
for anyone wanting to know anything about Jewish people, Judaism etc. A site which is part of the American-Israeli Cooperative
Institute. How anti-Semitic of
them!
at last. The site? The Jewish Virtual Library, a recognised site
for anyone wanting to know anything about Jewish people, Judaism etc. A site which is part of the American-Israeli Cooperative
Institute. How anti-Semitic of
them!
Norman Finkelstein and Jamie Stern-Weiner 3 May 2016
Norman
G. Finkelstein talks Naz Shah MP, Ken Livingstone, and the Labour
‘antisemitism’ controversy.
G. Finkelstein talks Naz Shah MP, Ken Livingstone, and the Labour
‘antisemitism’ controversy.
 |
| Norman Finkelstein, (image: Youtube) |
Norman
Finkelstein is no stranger to controversy. The American Jewish scholar is one
of the world’s leading experts on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the
political legacy of the Nazi holocaust. Apart from his parents, every member of
Finkelstein’s family, on both sides, was exterminated in the Nazi holocaust.
His 2000 book The Holocaust Industry, which was serialised in the Guardian, became
an international best-seller and touched off a firestorm of debate. But
Finkelstein’s most recent political intervention came about by accident.
Finkelstein is no stranger to controversy. The American Jewish scholar is one
of the world’s leading experts on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the
political legacy of the Nazi holocaust. Apart from his parents, every member of
Finkelstein’s family, on both sides, was exterminated in the Nazi holocaust.
His 2000 book The Holocaust Industry, which was serialised in the Guardian, became
an international best-seller and touched off a firestorm of debate. But
Finkelstein’s most recent political intervention came about by accident.
Last
month, Naz Shah MP became one of the most high-profile cases to date in the
‘antisemitism’ scandal still shaking the Labour leadership. Shah was suspended from the Labour party for, among other things,
reposting an image on Facebook that was alleged to be antisemitic. The
image depicted a map of the United States with Israel superimposed, and
suggested resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict by relocating Israel into the
United States. It has been reported that Shah got the image from Finkelstein’s
website. I spoke with Finkelstein about why he posted the image, and what he
thinks of allegations that the Labour party has a ‘Jewish problem’.
month, Naz Shah MP became one of the most high-profile cases to date in the
‘antisemitism’ scandal still shaking the Labour leadership. Shah was suspended from the Labour party for, among other things,
reposting an image on Facebook that was alleged to be antisemitic. The
image depicted a map of the United States with Israel superimposed, and
suggested resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict by relocating Israel into the
United States. It has been reported that Shah got the image from Finkelstein’s
website. I spoke with Finkelstein about why he posted the image, and what he
thinks of allegations that the Labour party has a ‘Jewish problem’.
Did
you create the controversial image that Naz Shah reposted?
you create the controversial image that Naz Shah reposted?
I’m
not adept enough with computers to compose any image. But I did post the map on
my website in 2014. An email correspondent must have sent it. It was, and still
is, funny. Were it not for the current political context, nobody would have
noticed Shah’s reposting of it either. Otherwise, you’d have to be humourless.
These sorts of jokes are a commonplace in the U.S. So, we have this joke: Why
doesn’t Israel become the 51st state? Answer: Because then, it would only have two
senators. As crazy as the discourse on Israel is in America, at least we still
have a sense of humour. It’s inconceivable that any politician in the U.S.
would be crucified for posting such a map.
not adept enough with computers to compose any image. But I did post the map on
my website in 2014. An email correspondent must have sent it. It was, and still
is, funny. Were it not for the current political context, nobody would have
noticed Shah’s reposting of it either. Otherwise, you’d have to be humourless.
These sorts of jokes are a commonplace in the U.S. So, we have this joke: Why
doesn’t Israel become the 51st state? Answer: Because then, it would only have two
senators. As crazy as the discourse on Israel is in America, at least we still
have a sense of humour. It’s inconceivable that any politician in the U.S.
would be crucified for posting such a map.
Shah’s
posting of that image has been presented as an endorsement by her of a ‘chilling “transportation”
policy’, while John Mann MP has compared her to Eichmann.
posting of that image has been presented as an endorsement by her of a ‘chilling “transportation”
policy’, while John Mann MP has compared her to Eichmann.
Frankly,
I find that obscene. It’s doubtful these Holocaust-mongers have a clue what the
deportations were, or of the horrors that attended them. I remember my late
mother describing her deportation. She was in the Warsaw Ghetto. The survivors
of the Ghetto Uprising, about 30,000 Jews, were deported to Maijdanek
concentration camp. They were herded into railroad cars. My mother was sitting
in the railroad car next to a woman who had her child. And the woman – I know
it will shock you – the woman suffocated her infant child to death in front of
my mother. She suffocated her child, rather than take her to where they were
going. That’s what it meant to be deported. To compare that to someone posting
a light-hearted, innocuous cartoon making a little joke about how Israel is in
thrall to the U.S., or vice versa…it’s sick. What are they doing? Don’t they
have any respect for the dead? All these desiccated Labour apparatchiks,
dragging the Nazi holocaust through the mud for the sake of their petty
jostling for power and position. Have they no shame?
I find that obscene. It’s doubtful these Holocaust-mongers have a clue what the
deportations were, or of the horrors that attended them. I remember my late
mother describing her deportation. She was in the Warsaw Ghetto. The survivors
of the Ghetto Uprising, about 30,000 Jews, were deported to Maijdanek
concentration camp. They were herded into railroad cars. My mother was sitting
in the railroad car next to a woman who had her child. And the woman – I know
it will shock you – the woman suffocated her infant child to death in front of
my mother. She suffocated her child, rather than take her to where they were
going. That’s what it meant to be deported. To compare that to someone posting
a light-hearted, innocuous cartoon making a little joke about how Israel is in
thrall to the U.S., or vice versa…it’s sick. What are they doing? Don’t they
have any respect for the dead? All these desiccated Labour apparatchiks,
dragging the Nazi holocaust through the mud for the sake of their petty
jostling for power and position. Have they no shame?
What
about when people use Nazi analogies to criticise the policies of the State of
Israel? Isn’t that also a political abuse of the Nazi holocaust?
about when people use Nazi analogies to criticise the policies of the State of
Israel? Isn’t that also a political abuse of the Nazi holocaust?
It’s
not a simple question. First, if you’re Jewish, the instinctive analogy to
reach for, when it comes to hate or hunger, war or genocide, is the Nazi
holocaust, because we see it as the ultimate horror. In my home growing up,
whenever an incident involving racial discrimination or bigotry was in the
news, my mother would compare it to her experience before or during the Nazi
holocaust.
not a simple question. First, if you’re Jewish, the instinctive analogy to
reach for, when it comes to hate or hunger, war or genocide, is the Nazi
holocaust, because we see it as the ultimate horror. In my home growing up,
whenever an incident involving racial discrimination or bigotry was in the
news, my mother would compare it to her experience before or during the Nazi
holocaust.
My mother had been enrolled in the Mathematics faculty of Warsaw University, I
guess in 1937-38. Jews were forced to stand in a segregated section of the
lecture hall, and the antisemites would physically attack them. (You might
recall the scene in Julia, when Vanessa Redgrave loses her leg trying to
defend Jews under assault in the university.) I remember once asking my mother,
‘How did you do in your studies?’ She replied, ‘What are you talking about? How
could you study under those conditions?’.
When
she saw the segregation of African-Americans, whether at a lunch counter or in
the school system, that was, for her, like the prologue to the Nazi holocaust.
Whereas many Jews now say, Never compare (Elie Wiesel’s refrain, ‘It’s
bad, but it’s not The Holocaust’), my mother’s credo was, Always compare.
She gladly and generously made the imaginative leap to those who were
suffering, wrapping and shielding them in the embrace of her own suffering.
she saw the segregation of African-Americans, whether at a lunch counter or in
the school system, that was, for her, like the prologue to the Nazi holocaust.
Whereas many Jews now say, Never compare (Elie Wiesel’s refrain, ‘It’s
bad, but it’s not The Holocaust’), my mother’s credo was, Always compare.
She gladly and generously made the imaginative leap to those who were
suffering, wrapping and shielding them in the embrace of her own suffering.
For
my mother, the Nazi holocaust was a chapter in the long history of the horror
of war. It was not itself a war – she was emphatic that it was an
extermination, not a war – but it was a unique chapter within the war. So for
her, war was the ultimate horror. When she saw Vietnamese being bombed during
the Vietnam War, it was the Nazi holocaust. It was the bombing, the death, the
horror, the terror, that she herself had passed through. When she saw the
distended bellies of starving children in Biafra, it was also the Nazi
holocaust, because she remembered her own pangs of hunger in the Warsaw Ghetto.
my mother, the Nazi holocaust was a chapter in the long history of the horror
of war. It was not itself a war – she was emphatic that it was an
extermination, not a war – but it was a unique chapter within the war. So for
her, war was the ultimate horror. When she saw Vietnamese being bombed during
the Vietnam War, it was the Nazi holocaust. It was the bombing, the death, the
horror, the terror, that she herself had passed through. When she saw the
distended bellies of starving children in Biafra, it was also the Nazi
holocaust, because she remembered her own pangs of hunger in the Warsaw Ghetto.
If
you’re Jewish, it’s just normal that the Nazi holocaust is a ubiquitous,
instinctual touchstone. Some Jews say this or that horror is not the Nazi
holocaust, others say it is. But the reference point of the Nazi holocaust is a
constant.
you’re Jewish, it’s just normal that the Nazi holocaust is a ubiquitous,
instinctual touchstone. Some Jews say this or that horror is not the Nazi
holocaust, others say it is. But the reference point of the Nazi holocaust is a
constant.
What
about when people who aren’t Jewish invoke the analogy?
about when people who aren’t Jewish invoke the analogy?
Once
the Nazi holocaust became the cultural referent, then, if you wanted to touch a
nerve regarding Palestinian suffering, you had to make the analogy with the
Nazis, because that was the only thing that resonated for Jews. If you compared
the Palestinians to Native Americans, nobody would give a darn. In 1982, when I
and a handful of other Jews took to the streets of New York to protest Israel’s
invasion of Lebanon (up to 18,000 Lebanese and Palestinians were killed,
overwhelmingly civilians), I held a sign saying, ‘This son of survivors of the
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Auschwitz, Maijdenek will not be silent: Israeli Nazis
– Stop the Holocaust in Lebanon!’. (After my mother died, I found a picture of me holding that sign in a drawer among her
keepsakes). I remember, as the cars drove past, one of the guys protesting with
me kept saying, ‘hold the sign higher!’ (And I kept replying, ‘easy for you to
say!’).
the Nazi holocaust became the cultural referent, then, if you wanted to touch a
nerve regarding Palestinian suffering, you had to make the analogy with the
Nazis, because that was the only thing that resonated for Jews. If you compared
the Palestinians to Native Americans, nobody would give a darn. In 1982, when I
and a handful of other Jews took to the streets of New York to protest Israel’s
invasion of Lebanon (up to 18,000 Lebanese and Palestinians were killed,
overwhelmingly civilians), I held a sign saying, ‘This son of survivors of the
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Auschwitz, Maijdenek will not be silent: Israeli Nazis
– Stop the Holocaust in Lebanon!’. (After my mother died, I found a picture of me holding that sign in a drawer among her
keepsakes). I remember, as the cars drove past, one of the guys protesting with
me kept saying, ‘hold the sign higher!’ (And I kept replying, ‘easy for you to
say!’).
If
you invoked that analogy, it shook Jews, it jolted them enough, that at least
you got their attention. I don’t think it’s necessary anymore, because Israel’s
crimes against the Palestinians now have an integrity of their own. They no
longer have to be juxtaposed to, or against, the Nazi holocaust. Today, the
Nazi analogy is gratuitous and a distraction.
you invoked that analogy, it shook Jews, it jolted them enough, that at least
you got their attention. I don’t think it’s necessary anymore, because Israel’s
crimes against the Palestinians now have an integrity of their own. They no
longer have to be juxtaposed to, or against, the Nazi holocaust. Today, the
Nazi analogy is gratuitous and a distraction.
Is
it antisemitic?
it antisemitic?
No,
it’s just a weak historical analogy – but, if coming from a Jew, a generous
moral one.
it’s just a weak historical analogy – but, if coming from a Jew, a generous
moral one.
Last
week, Ken Livingstone took to the
airwaves to defend Naz Shah,
but what he said wound up getting him suspended from the Labour
party. His most incendiary remark contended that
Hitler at one point supported Zionism. This was condemned as antisemitic, and
Labour MP John Mann accused Livingstone of being a ‘Nazi apologist’. What do you make of these accusations?
week, Ken Livingstone took to the
airwaves to defend Naz Shah,
but what he said wound up getting him suspended from the Labour
party. His most incendiary remark contended that
Hitler at one point supported Zionism. This was condemned as antisemitic, and
Labour MP John Mann accused Livingstone of being a ‘Nazi apologist’. What do you make of these accusations?
Livingstone
maybe wasn’t precise enough, and lacked nuance. But he does know something
about that dark chapter in history. It has been speculated that Hitler’s
thinking on how to solve the ‘Jewish Question’ (as it was called back then)
evolved, as circumstances changed and new possibilities opened up. Hitler
wasn’t wholly hostile to the Zionist project at the outset. That’s why so many
German Jews managed to survive after Hitler came to power by emigrating to
Palestine. But, then, Hitler came to fear that a Jewish state might strengthen
the hand of ‘international Jewry’, so he suspended contact with the Zionists.
Later, Hitler perhaps contemplated a ‘territorial solution’ for the Jews. The
Nazis considered many ‘resettlement’ schemes – the Jews wouldn’t have
physically survived most of them in the long run – before they embarked on an
outright exterminatory process. Livingstone is more or less accurate about this
– or, as accurate as might be expected from a politician speaking off the cuff.
maybe wasn’t precise enough, and lacked nuance. But he does know something
about that dark chapter in history. It has been speculated that Hitler’s
thinking on how to solve the ‘Jewish Question’ (as it was called back then)
evolved, as circumstances changed and new possibilities opened up. Hitler
wasn’t wholly hostile to the Zionist project at the outset. That’s why so many
German Jews managed to survive after Hitler came to power by emigrating to
Palestine. But, then, Hitler came to fear that a Jewish state might strengthen
the hand of ‘international Jewry’, so he suspended contact with the Zionists.
Later, Hitler perhaps contemplated a ‘territorial solution’ for the Jews. The
Nazis considered many ‘resettlement’ schemes – the Jews wouldn’t have
physically survived most of them in the long run – before they embarked on an
outright exterminatory process. Livingstone is more or less accurate about this
– or, as accurate as might be expected from a politician speaking off the cuff.
He’s
also accurate that a degree of ideological affinity existed between the Nazis
and Zionists. On one critical question, which raged in the U.K. during the
period when the Balfour Declaration (1917) was being cobbled together,
antisemites and Zionists agreed: could a Jew be an Englishman? Ironically, in
light of the current hysteria in the UK, the most vociferous and vehement
opponents of the Balfour Declaration were not the Arabs, about whom almost
nobody gave a darn, but the upper reaches of British Jewry.
also accurate that a degree of ideological affinity existed between the Nazis
and Zionists. On one critical question, which raged in the U.K. during the
period when the Balfour Declaration (1917) was being cobbled together,
antisemites and Zionists agreed: could a Jew be an Englishman? Ironically, in
light of the current hysteria in the UK, the most vociferous and vehement
opponents of the Balfour Declaration were not the Arabs, about whom almost
nobody gave a darn, but the upper reaches of British Jewry.
Eminent
British Jews published open letters to newspapers like the Times opposing
British backing for a Jewish home in Palestine. They understood such a
declaration – and Zionism – as implying that a Jew belonged to a distinct
nation, and that the Jewish nation should have its own separate state, which
they feared would effectively disqualify Jews from bona fide membership in the
British nation. What distinguished the Zionists from the liberal Jewish
aristocracy was their point of departure: as Theodor Herzl put it at the
beginning of The Jewish State, ‘the Jewish question is no more a social
than a religious one . . . It is a national question’. Whereas the Anglo-Jewish
aristocracy insisted Judaism was merely a religion, the Zionists were emphatic
that the Jews constituted a nation. And on this – back then, salient – point,
the Zionists and Nazis agreed.
British Jews published open letters to newspapers like the Times opposing
British backing for a Jewish home in Palestine. They understood such a
declaration – and Zionism – as implying that a Jew belonged to a distinct
nation, and that the Jewish nation should have its own separate state, which
they feared would effectively disqualify Jews from bona fide membership in the
British nation. What distinguished the Zionists from the liberal Jewish
aristocracy was their point of departure: as Theodor Herzl put it at the
beginning of The Jewish State, ‘the Jewish question is no more a social
than a religious one . . . It is a national question’. Whereas the Anglo-Jewish
aristocracy insisted Judaism was merely a religion, the Zionists were emphatic
that the Jews constituted a nation. And on this – back then, salient – point,
the Zionists and Nazis agreed.
John
Mann, when he accosted Livingstone in front of the cameras, asked rhetorically
whether Livingstone had read Mein Kampf. If you do read Mein Kampf,
which I suspect none of the interlocutors in this debate has done (I used to teach
it, before the ‘Zionists’ drove me out of academia – joke!), you see that
Hitler is emphatic that Jews are not a religion, but a nation. He says that the
big Jewish lie is that they claim to be a religion; whereas in fact, he says,
they’re a race (at that time, ‘race’ was used interchangeably with ‘nation’).
And on page 56 of the standard English edition of Mein Kampf, he says
that the only Jews honest enough to acknowledge this reality are the Zionists.
Now, to be clear, Hitler didn’t just think that Jews were a distinct race. He
also thought that they were a Satanic race, and ultimately, that they were a
Satanic race that had to be exterminated. Still, on the first, not trivial,
premise, he and the Zionists were in agreement.
Mann, when he accosted Livingstone in front of the cameras, asked rhetorically
whether Livingstone had read Mein Kampf. If you do read Mein Kampf,
which I suspect none of the interlocutors in this debate has done (I used to teach
it, before the ‘Zionists’ drove me out of academia – joke!), you see that
Hitler is emphatic that Jews are not a religion, but a nation. He says that the
big Jewish lie is that they claim to be a religion; whereas in fact, he says,
they’re a race (at that time, ‘race’ was used interchangeably with ‘nation’).
And on page 56 of the standard English edition of Mein Kampf, he says
that the only Jews honest enough to acknowledge this reality are the Zionists.
Now, to be clear, Hitler didn’t just think that Jews were a distinct race. He
also thought that they were a Satanic race, and ultimately, that they were a
Satanic race that had to be exterminated. Still, on the first, not trivial,
premise, he and the Zionists were in agreement.
As
a practical matter, the Zionists and Nazis could therefore find a degree of
common ground around the emigration/expulsion of Jews to Palestine. It was a
paradox that, against the emphatic protestations of liberal Jews, including
sections of the Anglo-Jewish establishment, antisemites and Zionists back then
effectively shared the same slogan: Jews to Palestine. It was why, for example,
the Nazis forbade German Jews to raise the swastika flag, but expressly
permitted them to hoist the Zionist flag. It was as if to say, the Zionists are
right: Jews can’t be Germans, they belong in Palestine. Hannah Arendt wrote
scathingly about this in Eichmann in Jerusalem, which is one of the
reasons she caught hell from the Jewish/Zionist establishment.
a practical matter, the Zionists and Nazis could therefore find a degree of
common ground around the emigration/expulsion of Jews to Palestine. It was a
paradox that, against the emphatic protestations of liberal Jews, including
sections of the Anglo-Jewish establishment, antisemites and Zionists back then
effectively shared the same slogan: Jews to Palestine. It was why, for example,
the Nazis forbade German Jews to raise the swastika flag, but expressly
permitted them to hoist the Zionist flag. It was as if to say, the Zionists are
right: Jews can’t be Germans, they belong in Palestine. Hannah Arendt wrote
scathingly about this in Eichmann in Jerusalem, which is one of the
reasons she caught hell from the Jewish/Zionist establishment.
Even
if there was a factual basis for Livingstone’s remarks, to bring the issue up
at that moment – wasn’t he just baiting Jews?
if there was a factual basis for Livingstone’s remarks, to bring the issue up
at that moment – wasn’t he just baiting Jews?
I
can understand his motivation, because I’m of roughly his generation. If he was
‘baiting’, it was a reflexive throwback to the factional polemics in the
1970s-80s. Israel marketed Zionists as the only Jews who had resisted the
Nazis. The propaganda image projected back then was, the only resistance to the
Nazis came from the Zionists, and the natural corollary was, the only force
protecting Jews now is Israel. Every other Jew was either a coward, ‘going like
sheep to slaughter’, or a collaborator. Those who dissented from Israeli policy
back then, in order to undercut this Zionist propaganda, and to strike a nerve
with them, would recall this unsavoury chapter in Zionism’s history. Some
pamphlets and books appeared – such as Lenni Brenner’s Zionism in the Age of
the Dictators (1983) – to document this ‘perfidious Zionist-Nazi
collaboration’. Livingstone’s recent comments were born of the same reflex that
motivated us back then. These certifiable creeps who went after Naz Shah got
under his skin, and so he wanted to get under their skin. That’s how we used to
fight this political battle: by dredging up those sordid chapters in Zionist
history.
can understand his motivation, because I’m of roughly his generation. If he was
‘baiting’, it was a reflexive throwback to the factional polemics in the
1970s-80s. Israel marketed Zionists as the only Jews who had resisted the
Nazis. The propaganda image projected back then was, the only resistance to the
Nazis came from the Zionists, and the natural corollary was, the only force
protecting Jews now is Israel. Every other Jew was either a coward, ‘going like
sheep to slaughter’, or a collaborator. Those who dissented from Israeli policy
back then, in order to undercut this Zionist propaganda, and to strike a nerve
with them, would recall this unsavoury chapter in Zionism’s history. Some
pamphlets and books appeared – such as Lenni Brenner’s Zionism in the Age of
the Dictators (1983) – to document this ‘perfidious Zionist-Nazi
collaboration’. Livingstone’s recent comments were born of the same reflex that
motivated us back then. These certifiable creeps who went after Naz Shah got
under his skin, and so he wanted to get under their skin. That’s how we used to
fight this political battle: by dredging up those sordid chapters in Zionist
history.
Livingstone
based himself on Brenner’s book. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that perhaps
Brenner’s book contains factual errors, it’s more of a party pamphlet than a
scholarly tome, and it’s not exactly weighed down with copious documentation.
Still, the fact of the matter is, when Brenner’s book was published, it
garnered positive reviews in the respectable British press. The Times,
which is today leading the charge against Livingstone and the elected
Labour leadership, back then published a review praising
Brenner’s book as ‘crisp and carefully documented’. The
reviewer, the eminent editorialist Edward Mortimer, observed that ‘Brenner is
able to cite numerous cases where Zionists collaborated with anti-Semitic
regimes, including Hitler’s’. So, it’s a tribute to Ken Livingstone that at age
70 he remembered a book he read more than 30 years ago, that got a good review
in the Times when it first appeared. If the Times is upset at
Livingstone’s remarks, it has only itself to blame. I myself only read
Brenner’s book after the Times review.
based himself on Brenner’s book. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that perhaps
Brenner’s book contains factual errors, it’s more of a party pamphlet than a
scholarly tome, and it’s not exactly weighed down with copious documentation.
Still, the fact of the matter is, when Brenner’s book was published, it
garnered positive reviews in the respectable British press. The Times,
which is today leading the charge against Livingstone and the elected
Labour leadership, back then published a review praising
Brenner’s book as ‘crisp and carefully documented’. The
reviewer, the eminent editorialist Edward Mortimer, observed that ‘Brenner is
able to cite numerous cases where Zionists collaborated with anti-Semitic
regimes, including Hitler’s’. So, it’s a tribute to Ken Livingstone that at age
70 he remembered a book he read more than 30 years ago, that got a good review
in the Times when it first appeared. If the Times is upset at
Livingstone’s remarks, it has only itself to blame. I myself only read
Brenner’s book after the Times review.
Let’s
zoom out a bit. You’ve written a great deal about how antisemitism accusations have been used to
discredit and distract from criticism of Israel. Should we see the current
campaign against Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Left more generally as the latest
episode in that history?
zoom out a bit. You’ve written a great deal about how antisemitism accusations have been used to
discredit and distract from criticism of Israel. Should we see the current
campaign against Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Left more generally as the latest
episode in that history?
These
campaigns occur at regular intervals, correlating with Israel’s periodic
massacres and consequent political isolation. If you search your nearest
library catalogue for ‘new antisemitism’, you’ll come up with titles from the
1970s proclaiming a ‘new antisemitism’, titles from the 1980s proclaiming a
‘new antisemitism’, titles from the 1990s proclaiming a ‘new antisemitism’, and
then a huge uptick, including from British writers, during the so-called Second
Intifada from 2001. Let’s not forget, just last year there was a hysteria in the UK over antisemitism. A couple of ridiculous polls
purported to find that nearly half of Britons held an antisemitic belief and
that most British Jews feared for their future in the UK. Although these polls
were dismissed by specialists, they triggered the usual media feeding frenzy,
as the Telegraph, the Guardian and the Independent
hyperventilated about this ‘rampant’ ‘new antisemitism’. It was exposed as complete nonsense when, in April
2015, a reputable poll by Pew found that the level of antisemitism in the UK had
remained stable, at an underwhelming seven percent.
campaigns occur at regular intervals, correlating with Israel’s periodic
massacres and consequent political isolation. If you search your nearest
library catalogue for ‘new antisemitism’, you’ll come up with titles from the
1970s proclaiming a ‘new antisemitism’, titles from the 1980s proclaiming a
‘new antisemitism’, titles from the 1990s proclaiming a ‘new antisemitism’, and
then a huge uptick, including from British writers, during the so-called Second
Intifada from 2001. Let’s not forget, just last year there was a hysteria in the UK over antisemitism. A couple of ridiculous polls
purported to find that nearly half of Britons held an antisemitic belief and
that most British Jews feared for their future in the UK. Although these polls
were dismissed by specialists, they triggered the usual media feeding frenzy,
as the Telegraph, the Guardian and the Independent
hyperventilated about this ‘rampant’ ‘new antisemitism’. It was exposed as complete nonsense when, in April
2015, a reputable poll by Pew found that the level of antisemitism in the UK had
remained stable, at an underwhelming seven percent.
This
farce happened only last year. One would have imagined that its mongers would
be hiding in shame, and that we would enjoy at least a brief respite from the
theatrics. But lo and behold, in the blink of an eye, right in the wake of the
Pew poll showing that antisemitism in the UK is marginal, the hysteria has
started up all over again. The reality is, there is probably more prejudice in
the UK against fat people than there is prejudice against Jews.
farce happened only last year. One would have imagined that its mongers would
be hiding in shame, and that we would enjoy at least a brief respite from the
theatrics. But lo and behold, in the blink of an eye, right in the wake of the
Pew poll showing that antisemitism in the UK is marginal, the hysteria has
started up all over again. The reality is, there is probably more prejudice in
the UK against fat people than there is prejudice against Jews.
Ask
yourself a simple, but serious, question. You go for a job interview. Which
trait is most likely to work against you: if you’re ugly, if you’re fat, if
you’re short, or if you’re Jewish? It’s perhaps a sad commentary on our
society’s values, but the trait most likely to elicit a rejection letter is if
you’re ugly. Then fat; then short. The factor least likely to work against you
is, if you’re Jewish. On the contrary, aren’t Jews smart and ambitious? Pew
found antisemitism levels at seven percent. Is that grounds for a national
hysteria? A May 2015 YouGov poll found that 40 percent of UK adults don’t like Muslims
and nearly 60 percent don’t like Roma. Imagine what it’s like to apply for a
job if you’re a Roma! So where is your order of moral priorities?
yourself a simple, but serious, question. You go for a job interview. Which
trait is most likely to work against you: if you’re ugly, if you’re fat, if
you’re short, or if you’re Jewish? It’s perhaps a sad commentary on our
society’s values, but the trait most likely to elicit a rejection letter is if
you’re ugly. Then fat; then short. The factor least likely to work against you
is, if you’re Jewish. On the contrary, aren’t Jews smart and ambitious? Pew
found antisemitism levels at seven percent. Is that grounds for a national
hysteria? A May 2015 YouGov poll found that 40 percent of UK adults don’t like Muslims
and nearly 60 percent don’t like Roma. Imagine what it’s like to apply for a
job if you’re a Roma! So where is your order of moral priorities?
Many
of those involved in last year’s ‘antisemitism’ hysterics are also participants
in the current campaign against Corbyn.
of those involved in last year’s ‘antisemitism’ hysterics are also participants
in the current campaign against Corbyn.
The
question you have to ask yourself is, why? Why has this issue been resurrected
with a vengeance, so soon after its previous outing was disposed of as a farce?
Is it because of a handful of allegedly
antisemitic social media postings
from Labour members? Is it because of the tongue-in-cheek map posted by Naz
Shah? That’s not believable. The only plausible answer is, it’s political. It
has nothing whatsoever to do with the factual situation; instead, a few suspect
cases of antisemitism – some real, some contrived – are being exploited for an
ulterior political motive. As one senior Labour MP said the other day, it’s transparently a smear campaign.
question you have to ask yourself is, why? Why has this issue been resurrected
with a vengeance, so soon after its previous outing was disposed of as a farce?
Is it because of a handful of allegedly
antisemitic social media postings
from Labour members? Is it because of the tongue-in-cheek map posted by Naz
Shah? That’s not believable. The only plausible answer is, it’s political. It
has nothing whatsoever to do with the factual situation; instead, a few suspect
cases of antisemitism – some real, some contrived – are being exploited for an
ulterior political motive. As one senior Labour MP said the other day, it’s transparently a smear campaign.
The
‘antisemitism’ accusations are being driven by the Conservatives ahead of the
local and Mayoral elections. But they’re also being exploited by the Labour
Right to undermine Corbyn’s leadership, and by pro-Israel groups to discredit
the Palestine solidarity movement.
‘antisemitism’ accusations are being driven by the Conservatives ahead of the
local and Mayoral elections. But they’re also being exploited by the Labour
Right to undermine Corbyn’s leadership, and by pro-Israel groups to discredit
the Palestine solidarity movement.
You
can see this overlap between the Labour Right and pro-Israel groups personified
in individuals like Jonathan Freedland, a Blairite hack who also regularly
plays the antisemitism card. He’s combined these two hobbies to attack Corbyn.
Incidentally, when my book, The Holocaust Industry, came out in 2000,
Freedland compared it to Mein Kampf. Although he appears to be, oh, so
politically correct now, he didn’t find it inappropriate to compare a book by
the son of Nazi holocaust survivors to Mein Kampf. We appeared on a
television program together. Before the program, he approached me to shake my
hand. When I refused, he reacted in stunned silence. Why wouldn’t I shake his
hand? He couldn’t comprehend it. It tells you something about these dull-witted
creeps. The smears, the slanders – for them, it’s all in a day’s work. Why
should anyone get agitated? Later, on the program, it was pointed out that the Guardian,
where he worked, had serialised The Holocaust Industry across two
issues. He was asked by the presenter, if my book was the equivalent of Mein
Kampf, would he resign from the paper? Of course not. Didn’t the presenter
get that it’s all a game?
can see this overlap between the Labour Right and pro-Israel groups personified
in individuals like Jonathan Freedland, a Blairite hack who also regularly
plays the antisemitism card. He’s combined these two hobbies to attack Corbyn.
Incidentally, when my book, The Holocaust Industry, came out in 2000,
Freedland compared it to Mein Kampf. Although he appears to be, oh, so
politically correct now, he didn’t find it inappropriate to compare a book by
the son of Nazi holocaust survivors to Mein Kampf. We appeared on a
television program together. Before the program, he approached me to shake my
hand. When I refused, he reacted in stunned silence. Why wouldn’t I shake his
hand? He couldn’t comprehend it. It tells you something about these dull-witted
creeps. The smears, the slanders – for them, it’s all in a day’s work. Why
should anyone get agitated? Later, on the program, it was pointed out that the Guardian,
where he worked, had serialised The Holocaust Industry across two
issues. He was asked by the presenter, if my book was the equivalent of Mein
Kampf, would he resign from the paper? Of course not. Didn’t the presenter
get that it’s all a game?
Compare
the American scene. Our Corbyn is Bernie Sanders. In all the primaries in the
US, Bernie has been sweeping the Arab and Muslim vote. It’s been a wondrous
moment: the first Jewish presidential candidate in American history has forged
a principled alliance with Arabs and Muslims. Meanwhile, what are the
Blairite-Israel lobby creeps up to in the UK? They’re fanning the embers of
hate and creating new discord between Jews and Muslims by going after Naz Shah,
a Muslim woman who has attained public office. They’re making her pass through
these rituals of public self-degradation, as she is forced to apologise once,
twice, three times over for a tongue-in-cheek cartoon reposted from my website.
And it’s not yet over! Because now they say she’s on a ‘journey’. Of course, what they mean is, ‘she’s on a journey
of self-revelation, and epiphany, to understanding the inner antisemite at the
core of her being’. But do you know on what journey she’s really on? She’s on a
journey to becoming an antisemite. Because of these people; because they fill
any sane, normal person with revulsion.
the American scene. Our Corbyn is Bernie Sanders. In all the primaries in the
US, Bernie has been sweeping the Arab and Muslim vote. It’s been a wondrous
moment: the first Jewish presidential candidate in American history has forged
a principled alliance with Arabs and Muslims. Meanwhile, what are the
Blairite-Israel lobby creeps up to in the UK? They’re fanning the embers of
hate and creating new discord between Jews and Muslims by going after Naz Shah,
a Muslim woman who has attained public office. They’re making her pass through
these rituals of public self-degradation, as she is forced to apologise once,
twice, three times over for a tongue-in-cheek cartoon reposted from my website.
And it’s not yet over! Because now they say she’s on a ‘journey’. Of course, what they mean is, ‘she’s on a journey
of self-revelation, and epiphany, to understanding the inner antisemite at the
core of her being’. But do you know on what journey she’s really on? She’s on a
journey to becoming an antisemite. Because of these people; because they fill
any sane, normal person with revulsion.
Here
is this Muslim woman MP who is trying to integrate Muslims into British
political life, and to set by her own person an example both to British society
at large and to the Muslim community writ small. She is, by all accounts from
her constituents, a respected and honourable person. You can only imagine how
proud her parents, her siblings, must be. How proud the Muslim community must
be. We’re always told how Muslim women are oppressed, repressed and depressed,
and now you have this Muslim woman who has attained office. But now she’s being
crucified, her career wrecked, her life ruined, her future in tatters, branded
an ‘antisemite’ and a closet Nazi, and inflicted with these rituals of
self-abasement. It’s not hard to imagine what her Muslim constituents must
think now about Jews. These power hungry creeps are creating new hate by their
petty machinations. As Donald Trump likes to say – it’s disgusting.
is this Muslim woman MP who is trying to integrate Muslims into British
political life, and to set by her own person an example both to British society
at large and to the Muslim community writ small. She is, by all accounts from
her constituents, a respected and honourable person. You can only imagine how
proud her parents, her siblings, must be. How proud the Muslim community must
be. We’re always told how Muslim women are oppressed, repressed and depressed,
and now you have this Muslim woman who has attained office. But now she’s being
crucified, her career wrecked, her life ruined, her future in tatters, branded
an ‘antisemite’ and a closet Nazi, and inflicted with these rituals of
self-abasement. It’s not hard to imagine what her Muslim constituents must
think now about Jews. These power hungry creeps are creating new hate by their
petty machinations. As Donald Trump likes to say – it’s disgusting.
Labour
has now set up an inquiry that is supposed to produce a workable definition of
‘antisemitism’ – which is to say, to achieve the impossible. It’s been tried
countless times before, and it’s always proven futile. The only beneficiaries
of such a mandate will be academic ‘specialists’ on antisemitism, who will
receive hefty consultancy fees (I can already see Richard Evans at the head of
the queue), and Israel, which will no longer be in the spotlight. I understand
the short-term political rationale. But at some point, you have to say, ‘enough
already’. Jews are prospering as never before in the UK. The polls show that
the number of, so to speak, hard-core antisemites is miniscule. It’s time to
put a stop to this periodic charade, because it ends up besmirching the victims
of the Nazi holocaust, diverting from the real suffering of the Palestinian
people, and poisoning relations between the Jewish and Muslim communities. You
just had an antisemitism hysteria last year, and it was a farce. And now again?
Another inquiry? Another investigation? No.
has now set up an inquiry that is supposed to produce a workable definition of
‘antisemitism’ – which is to say, to achieve the impossible. It’s been tried
countless times before, and it’s always proven futile. The only beneficiaries
of such a mandate will be academic ‘specialists’ on antisemitism, who will
receive hefty consultancy fees (I can already see Richard Evans at the head of
the queue), and Israel, which will no longer be in the spotlight. I understand
the short-term political rationale. But at some point, you have to say, ‘enough
already’. Jews are prospering as never before in the UK. The polls show that
the number of, so to speak, hard-core antisemites is miniscule. It’s time to
put a stop to this periodic charade, because it ends up besmirching the victims
of the Nazi holocaust, diverting from the real suffering of the Palestinian
people, and poisoning relations between the Jewish and Muslim communities. You
just had an antisemitism hysteria last year, and it was a farce. And now again?
Another inquiry? Another investigation? No.
In
order to put an end to this, there has to be a decisive repudiation of this
political blackmail. Bernie Sanders was brutally pressured to back down on his
claim that Israel had used disproportionate force during its 2014 assault on
Gaza. He wouldn’t budge, he wouldn’t retreat. He showed real backbone. Corbyn should
take heart and inspiration from Bernie’s example. He has to say: no more
reports, no more investigations, we’re not going there any more. The game is
up. It’s long past time that these antisemitism-mongers crawled back into their
sewer – but not before humbly apologising to Naz Shah, and begging her
forgiveness.
order to put an end to this, there has to be a decisive repudiation of this
political blackmail. Bernie Sanders was brutally pressured to back down on his
claim that Israel had used disproportionate force during its 2014 assault on
Gaza. He wouldn’t budge, he wouldn’t retreat. He showed real backbone. Corbyn should
take heart and inspiration from Bernie’s example. He has to say: no more
reports, no more investigations, we’re not going there any more. The game is
up. It’s long past time that these antisemitism-mongers crawled back into their
sewer – but not before humbly apologising to Naz Shah, and begging her
forgiveness.
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