Thread by @Finkley1

For a while now I have been (over) thinking about the news both here and elsewhere. From @simonmaginn's #ItWasAScam to Myanmar and the Ukraine, via drag queen story time and the terf wars, one thing has emerged that can truly be described as infesting, riddling, endemic.

That thing is hatred. Primarily hatred, but flavoured with suspicion, fear, ignorance, lies and inhumanity. Every quote, every finger pointing, every illiterate, bigoted, hysterical, racist, Nazi statement, poster, article, tattoo promotes hatred, fosters fear, division,

paranoia, rage. Ignorance is promoted as a virtue, fear and hatred of the 'other' is becoming normalised, violence against the person is being excused, explained, minimised. Institutionalised violence is whitewashed, and any questioning meets a barrage of indignation.

Marginalised groups in society are deemed legitimate targets and as the hatred gains momentum, its adherents find themselves in lockstep with others who, in more sane times, would be their sworn enemies, implacably opposed. The enemy of their enemy is not necessarily their friend

But is convenient for their mutual purpose. In this myopic, blinkered, hate driven (lack of) society, the appetite for hatred is growing. The propagators have continued to rise. This platform has become ground zero for racist white supremacist antisemites. As part of the promo,

victims are portrayed as the enemy, and a deliberate and insidious campaign of disinformation is well underway. Antifa (Literally Anti Fascist) scapegoated as extremists (by the real extremists), transgender people being scapegoated as rapists and murderers, non-white people

being scapegoated as 'grooming gangs'. And hand in hand with this fire sale of hatred is a complete, comprehensive dismissal of the facts that defy the smears, the munificent ignorance trumping the facts and trumpeting it's lies as the truth. This hatred has powerful allies.

Politicians both here and abroad are busily, gleefully encouraging hatred, fear, bigotry, violence. And the eager ignorant are buying into it. Heavily. The narrative is almost fully controlled and the weasel words (migrant, illegal, drag etc) are employed with great success

stoking hatred and encouraging violence. It is saddening to reflect that the people who are joining the ignorance, buying the hate, are also latent targets for the hate they subscribe to. Any member of the LGBTQ community who sees a fan of Trump as an ally. Any woman who sees

the likes of rowling, linehan as an ally needs to take a long, critical look at themselves, and ask the question, "who will they come for when they've finished with the transgender community?" Presently, anyone from any background who speaks for the victims in Palestine is

rounded on, dogpiled, inevitably accused of being antisemitic. Victims of Israeli violence are marginalised, dismissed, accused of spurious crimes. The perpetrators of the violence are excused by way of provocation, of 'defending'. Defenders of the murderous regimes peddle

Hatred with every tweet, with every newspaper article, with every interview. Murdered civilians are derided as 'Pallywood' (one of the most sickening pejoratives I have seen) and settler violence is whitewashed. Any Jew who takes issue with this is deemed 'self hating' or

described as a 'Kapo', one of the lowest worst possible insults in the lexicon. At the root of all this is the flavour of the decade, hatred. Hatred is popular, is easy, and for those inclined amounts to permission to commit the most horrific acts. We should all stand against it.

In the UK, hatred as a brand has penetrated deep into the psyche of a particular group of people. Encouraged by the gutter press and the political establishment, these people are deployed as useful idiots to do the politicians' dirty work for them, to act as deniability for the

politicians while advancing their agenda of hatred, fear and violence. As long as they have refugees to single out, to vilify, to inculcate fear and suspicion, the people will be kept off balance, distracted from the malfeasance being enacted by those elected to govern. Be in no

doubt that these politicians and the shadowy figures behind them are the real criminals, the real enemy. And anyone outside their tiny fortress is a target. Including their acolytes in hatred.