Thread by @steveygAFC

A new thread about Left-Wing antisemitism.

@mishtal
@EuanPhilipps
@TracyAnnO
@Daniel_Sugarman
@andrewspoooner
@DanDiker84
@DPJHodges
@margarethodge
@LisaForbes_
@HillelNeuer
@leekern13
@RachelRileyRR
@LaughingDevil1
@nicolelampert
@PoliticsBloke
@Sara_Rose_G

We are all deeply troubled by the spectre of left-wing antisemitism. One aspect of it which is unique to the left, as opposed to the right, is the complete lack of awareness, or wilful ignorance of it, by those on and of the Far-left 1/

When Lisa Forbes won the Peterborough by-election, in an interview with @afneil she genuinely seemed to think she didn’t have an anti-Semitic bone in her body, despite comments about Zionists, ISIS & Mossad, & opposition to the IHRA definition of amtisemitism 2/

We’ve heard this ‘doesn’t have an AS bone in the body’ often from people on the far-left, particularly in relation to Corbyn. This stands in stark contrast to the far-right, which do not hide behind denials of AS, they virtually wear it as a badge of honour. 3/

It’s because the far-left don’t see it, feel it & believe it, one can easily see how they view accusations of it as a smear/witch-hunt. They also fail to see how calling out Israel is not AS, which by the way is what the IHRA definition says (But with exceptions) 4/

Those on the Far-Left argue that accusations of AS because of criticism of Israel are tools used to shutdown the criticism. The ‘but’ in the IHRA definition is however that standards of behaviour not expected or demanded of other nations applied to Israel are AS. 5/

Many on the farleft accuse ‘Israel of this, Israel of that, Israel as guilty’, without any balance, exploration of context, or checking of facts. These are unique standards applied to Israel. There is a continual acceptance of all accusations against Israel full-stop. 6/

I am minded of a famous comedy sketch from the 1980s in the satritical TV show, ‘Not The 9 O’clock News’.

It involved the questioning of a policeman called Constable Savage by a senior officer for a number of arrests he made on trumped up charges.7/

As the sketch unfolds it’s revealed these charges are all against one man. A black man.

PC Savage responds that ‘He is a villain, sir.’

The modern Far-left have become PC Savage & Israel the villain. A tiny country, whose population is roughly .1% of the world, whose land 8/

area is 0.015% of the world’s, & who’s neighbours seek its extermination. Yet is gets almost all of the Far-left’s condemnation and constantly. If you asked them why, they’d say ‘Israel are villains’. The defining aspect of PC savages victim was he was Black. The defining 9/

nature of Israel is ‘its Jewish’.

Satire, as comedy, makes explicit what is unsaid. The sketch highlighted the police as institutionally racist. 20 years later the McPherson report recognised this following police failures into Stephen Lawrence murder investigation. 10/

The UN Human Right Council are a perfect analogy of the Far Left. Since its inception in 2006 it’s passed more motions against Israel than all other nations on Earth combined.

I mentioned this on twitter to someone of the far-left, he said obviously Israel deserved it 11/

‘Israel are Villains Sir’ - Israel a tiny democratic liberal progressive nation which has faced numerous atttempts by larger enemies to exterminate it, and which tries to act morally (though sometimes it fails), is worse than Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Russia, Burma, 12/

than China, Egypt, Sudan, Nigeria + numerous other countries who have committed horrendous human rights abuses in the past decade, COMBINED.

The total deaths in Syria alone in recent years are over 30 times all those killed in the Israel Palestine conflict in 70yrs. 13/

That’s why we say the Far-left is Antisemitic. Yes criticism of Israel is allowed & sometimes just, Jews do it often. But when it’s only criticism of Israel, when it’s stripped of context, based on unchecked facts, when it’s held to standards no other country has to adhere to 14/

And when it’s constant. It‘s not criticism, it’s an agenda.

That Far-left & it’s entities and bodies are antisemitic. Not in the way the Far Right are overtly antisemitic, the left’s AS is insidious & poisonous.

Not worse then the Far-Rights, but as bad and as potent. 15/

The Far-left’s antisemitism leads to a toxic atmosphere which sees vile AS insults & tropes and is part of a growing and dangerous rise in violence towards Jews. It’s a threat to all Jews.

They say if you go round the far-left far enough you meet the Far-right. AS is it. 16/

So if you on the Far-left don’t think you have an antisemitic or racist bone in your body, THINK AGAIN, it’s just you haven’t recognised them, not that they don’t exist.

The PC Savage sketch:

17/17