Thread by @docrussjackson

I want to say something about #antisemtism within the two main UK political parties - @UKLabour & the @Conservatives - & the grotesque disparity in responses to each, from Jewish leaders & communities, the public, politicians, & especially the print & broadcast news media.

Any & all antisemitism is despicable, & has no place in contemporary society - & especially no place in political discourse.

Wherever it is found, it must ALWAYS be exposed & very robustly challenged, as we all know where the scapegoating & demonization of minorities can lead.

As a passionate anti-racist all my adult life, it was heartbreaking to find instances of #antisemitism within @UKLabour.

There are discussions around the point at which legitimate criticism of the Israeli Govt becomes antisemtism - but that is not what I want to address here.

Moral Panic theory is instructive. Contrary to popular usage, calling something a 'moral panic' does NOT deny the reality of the problem, but rather suggests distortions in representation of the true nature of the problem, which limit our ability to effectively tackle an issue.

Stan Cohen made a distinction between internal & external 'disproportionality': internal refers to the disjunction between the threat of a given behavior & the fervor or concern which that behavior generates. External refers to a comparison between other similar phenomena.

'Internal disproportionality' - the REAL extent of antisemitism within Labour, compared to the unprecedented news coverage, levels of public concern, & response from Jewish leaders, MPs, & communities - has been widely discussed.

Again, this is not what I want to address.

I want to discuss two forms of 'external disproportionality':

1) the comparison with other similar forms of bigoted speech & actions

2) (imho more significant & concerning), the differences in responses to @UKLabour's antisemitism, & the antisemitism of the @Conservatives.

In 2018, there was unprecedented print & broadcast news coverage of antisemitism, most of which focused either on Corbyn's perceived past misdemeanors, including the lamenting of the removal of a mural, or on social media posts by alleged Corbyn supporters considered antisemitic.

News became sensitised to the issue of #antisemitism to the extent that the broader issue of rising instances of bigotry & hate within the UK, in part triggered by Brexit & the rise in populist nationalist discourse, was surprisingly - relative to antisemitism - largely ignored.

While the news media focused almost daily & almost exclusively on antisemitism, it was reported that hate crimes in England & Wales had doubled since 2013, to 103,379 during 2018/19:

76% race-related

14,491 sexual orientation

8,256 disabled people

3,530 Muslims

1,326 Jews.

So this is my first point: that given the MASSIVE INCREASE in UK hate crimes - particularly around race, sexual orientation, Islamophobia, & against those with disabilities - why on earth would there be such a preposterously disproportionate focus on just ONE kind of bigotry?

My second, MAIN point, concerns the almost total absence of reaction within the UK press & broadcast news (& politics) media, to high profile, senior @Conservatives - including Boris Johnson - making clearly antisemitic statements & mobilising antisemitic conspiracy theories.

The THREAD that follows outlines some of the main cases of crystal clear #antisemitism from high profile, senior @Conservatives - almost all of which have been brushed under the carpet by the national news, & largely ignored by Jewish leaders, Jewish MPs, & Jewish communities.

Draw your own conclusions about the grotesque disparity in news coverage of antisemitism within @UKLabour & @Conservatives, but that the CRYSTAL CLEAR rise in dangerous populist nationalist rhetoric, unseen since the Nazis, is happening in the UK YET IS UNREPORTED, shames us all.

THREAD of some of the instances of #antisemitism from senior @Conservatives, which the news media have largely ignored.

If the "free press" is supposed to hold the powerful to account, then it is currently not fit for purpose, & voters are being conned.

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