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Jewish – and Anti-Jewish – Action
I participated in a concert last week, in London. It was a powerful evening, with masterful performances, and a strong sense of solidarity in the face of hatred. (it was poorly recorded here, and reviewed here. The most fun piece is this one).
I was struck by the contrast. So-called “Pro Palestinian rallies” are collections of bile and anger, descending, if any Jews happen to be handy, into outright pogroms. There is no culture, no appeals to any positive attributes of the human soul whatsoever. Instead, there is the reflexive mob mentality of assaulting the outsider. Righteous indignation, armed with torches and pitchforks, can justify any crime under the sun.
Jews all over the world have engaged in rallies. These events have been unfailingly polite, thoughtful, nuanced. They have included calls for moderation and human rights, an awareness that nobody should seek the death of innocents, that war is the last resort, and should never be undertaken unless absolutely necessary for survival. There is an undercurrent of deep grief in all the Jewish/Israeli rallies, and indeed, in Jewish music itself. If you listen to the link given at the top, consider the words of Shostakovich (who was not Jewish): “The distinguishing feature of Jewish music is the ability to build a jolly melody on sad intonations. Why does a man strike up a jolly song? Because he is sad at heart.” No Jew/Israeli I know desires to take another’s life. To have to do so is a tragedy.
I am deeply heartened by the support received from so many non-Jews who truly appreciate that this war we are in is a war for the soul of the future. Woke/Green/Death-cult/antisemitism/Might-Makes-Right are all bound together in one ideology, an ideology that has declared morality and goodness and kindness and holiness to be sworn enemies, to be hunted down and destroyed.
We fight this war because we must. Because to do otherwise would be to betray everything and everyone we hold dear. Now is a time of choosing: what do we do with the time that is given us?
Either we stand, together, or we fall, apart.
Published in General
I, too, am heartened by the support of the non-Jew community. But I will be posting a piece that complements yours on the kinds of behaviors we’re seeing. It’s getting even uglier.
The position on my side of the Irish Sea is better in that the rallies have not been violent, apart from calls for “Intifada” and some chants in favour of Houthis. However, Jewish organisations and people have been advised to keep a low profile. Recently, the Israeli women’s basketball team were told that their safety could not be guaranteed, if they played in Ireland. A Jewish comedian was cancelled from a venue in Dublin this weekend. The wonderful Israeli ambassador, Dana Erlich faces constant calls for her expulsion and is subjected to unrestrained abuse on social media.
However, at the media/political level, the situation is horrific! Media coverage is utterly biased against Israel, and largely gives Hamas a free pass. Leaders and senior figures in our supposedly Centre/left government have thrown around words and phrases like. “rogue state”, “monster” and “genocide” with abandon. Ireland has joined Spain in seeking EU sanctions against Israel. It has talked about joining South Africa’s case before the ICJ, and it participated in another anti-Israel hearing there last week.
In my observation, there is reasonable support for Israel in the UK, and both sides of the argument are presented.
Charles, I always appreciate your perspective from “across the pond.” Even if the news is disappointing.
One of my kids–my daughter-the-veterinarian :)–was in Ireland on September 11, 2001. The day after the attack, she called home, in tears, to say that although the Irish–and in particular her new friends at the lab and in the home in which she was staying–felt sorry for the people who died that day, they said the United States deserved it. She was devastated.
I would say it is a war for the soul of the present.
Thanks Susan. You might be interested in my observation that the European countries that are most hostile to Israel are generally the furthest away- Ireland, Spain, Norway, Scotland and Iceland. Belgium bucks that trend, but has a huge Muslim population.
Sadly for me, it does seem that Israelis detest Ireland most of all.
There was a national day of mourning in Ireland three days after 9/11 and I believe that this reflected the sentiments of the vast majority at the time. I’m not sure it would happen now – please God, we won’t have reason to find out.
Mrs Rodin and I were in Rome in October 2000 and as we were walking along the Piazza de Colloseo toward our hotel after touring the Colosseum and the ruins of Ancient Rome, a Palestinian Intifada demonstration entered the roadway from the Via Cavour. There was a truck with loud speakers and a banner “Death to America, Death to Israel”. There were demonstrators walking beside and behind the truck. Someone from the truck bed with a megaphone was chanting the slogans. It was chilling there and then. And to think those demonstrations are here, in the same manner, is beyond chilling.
There are deep, longstanding ties between the IRA and various Palestinian terror groups.
See my comment #9.
Thanks.
The pro-Palestinians are essentially the left. They are pretty much indistinguishable from each other. The lack of civility of such people has been pointed out repeatedly over the years. When conservative groups meet or rally an air of dignity and environmental awareness pervades the meeting. When they leave they pick up their garbage and leave things pretty much as they were, or, perhaps, cleaner. The left on the other hand, for all their so-called environmental sensitivity invariably leaves a mess.
Conservatives generally tolerate the presence of alternative views. Trumpists are the exception to this, but that doesn’t surprise me since Trump himself is a product of the left.
The recent rise of open antisemitism represents a new phase in the cultural revolution being waged by the left. It replaces the previous BLM protests which seemed to have lost momentum over the last few months. The left always needs some new divisive movement to keep the kettle boiling. Ultimately, they are the vandals, the preservers of the worst elements of human nature, certainly not progressives seeking utopian societies they see themselves as being. They exist in a kind of perpetual adolescence, always in revolt, always questioning, never really happy, but satisfied to destroy the happiness of others as compensation.
Perhaps that is why they hate the Jews so much. Judaism has been since its inception a culture of stability and a civilizing influence. The entire Judao-Christian basis for western civilization, and, indeed, the Constitution comes from the respect for life which is inherent in the five books of Moses and the rest of what it referred to as the Old Testament. It is totally anathema to the goals of the left, always present, if seldom clearly stated. In the end, Judaism is the source of our belief in one God, the left and all in encompasses is chaos, atheism, and evil in the sense that it puts itself in opposition to God. It all sounds bit manichaean, but, in the end, there is just good and evil, and no matter how they see themselves, it is pretty obvious what they are.
As I recall, the IRA got weapons and access to training facilities not only from the Soviet bloc but also from Middle Eastern countries.
There is a very strong correlation between support for seemingly unrelated leftist causes: If someone supports “the Palestinians” it is virtually guaranteed that they also support DEI, BLM, Antifa, the pronoun Nazis, and so on.
Bearing in mind, of course, that Muslims are not all leftists.
They are strange bedfellows.
Radical Islamists are anti-Western.
Not to mention many so-called moderate Muslims.
You have hit the nail on the head. Sinn Féin – the political wing of the IRA – have quickly become the most popular Party in Ireland. They could be in Government this time next year, or sooner. They support the regimes in Cuba and Venezuela and are close to the PLO. They see themselves and Palestinian militants as fighting against. “settler colonialism”. In Northern Ireland, Unionists fly Israeli flags and Republicans fly Palestinian ones. The leader of Sinn Fein until very recently used a Palestinian flag as her avatar on social media. The rise of Sinn Fein has been accompanied by a growth in support for radical far left Parties, all of whom use extreme rhetoric against Israel, some of it crossing the line into antisemitism.
These changes have led to the current Government- who are utterly useless- to themselves take a very hard line against Israel, in order to complete with Sinn Fein.
Like many Irish people – not just supporters of Israel- I find myself with no Party to vote for in forthcoming elections.
I think that the claims in the OP are completely false.
There may have been some bad episodes. I haven’t heard of one incident in which a Jew was killed or seriously hurt at a pro-Palestinian rally. I have heard of multiple incidents in which Palestinians were seriously hurt, even killed. Not many, but some.
The Jews have a long history of false atrocity claims. This is bad enough.
It becomes outrageous and appalling when the Jews are slaughtering women and children by the thousands in Gaza, while pretending to be the victims.
Moderator Note:
We do not police opinions here, even if they are loathesome, but we will not tolerate personal attacks.Typical jewish kvetching nonsense.
I spend a lot of time in ( very ) central London, and what I’ve noticed in the last few months is that a large percentage of the people taking part in pro-Palestinian ( or perhaps you could call them anti zionist genocide ) demonstrations are quite respectable looking, middle class white people.
[redacted – personal insult]
Even evil people can dress up respectably.
Willful blindness and deafness.
As do I. Where I go dressed as a non-Jew because I don’t care for being spat upon, cursed, yelled at, and even – once – stones thrown at me.
Palestinians hold up signs that include “Kill the Jews.” I’d show you a picture, but you would claim it was photoshop.
Physical attacks in London on Jews are at a very high rate. I have friends who were permanently wounded by them.
Cops in London are too busy arresting women for praying silently across the street from abortion clinics.
The Nazi’s had a reputation for wearing snappy uniforms. Theirs was not an esthetic that I like, but that might be because I associate it with their cause.
Pro-Palestinian protestors disrupted a sitting of Parliament in Westminster very recently. A Motion was altered because of genuine fears that MPs voting in a particular way could be subject to violence from Pro-Palestinians. Some MPs have been provided with security because of the threat to them from Pro-Palestinians.
“F*** the Jews, rape their daughters” is one of many genocidal battle cries that TomRoberts never notices:
Jew-haters who approve of violence against Jews should remember that Christians are also targets. As the ancient Islamist slogan goes, “First we kill the Saturday people, then we kill the Sunday people”.
Typical jewish kvetching nonsense.
I spend a lot of time in ( very ) central London, and what I’ve noticed in the last few months is that a large percentage of the people taking part in pro-Palestinian ( or perhaps you could call them anti zionist genocide ) demonstrations are quite respectable looking, middle class white people.
Funny thing about Ricochet: it’s the last bastion of objectivity on the Internet and possibly in the world. Our noble intent is to put issues on the impersonal chalkboard, away from individuals, where those issues can be examined from all sides without the distractions of the physical characteristics of the people who hold those opinions.
Here, only the strength of your ideas and knowledge matters.
Here, it’s not about who you are but about what you think.
You seem to have wandered in here by mistake.