Posts
Who is allowed to make accusations of racism and who can be accused is not very logical but there can be draconian penalties if you transgress the obscure rules.
Calling Tory MPs Nazis is usually fine and dandy, but when rude men called Mrs Soubry one this was considered very wicked of them - reminiscent of the Nazis, in fact - because she is in favour of England being ruled by Germans.
It is fine to call Donald Trump, the most philo-semitic President the USA ever had, an antisemite and fine to call the far left racists, even though by definition communists believe race, ethnicity and nations are examples of false consciousness.
A hard left British Labour MP who said the Labour Party had always opposed racism and had been too apologetic in the face of accusations of anti-semitism was promptly suspended from the party for saying something unacceptable.
Mr Stephen Pollard, Editor of the Jewish Chronicle, retweeted a tweet from someone who said Hezbollah were not a threat to Britain, saying it was an appalling example of gutter anti-semitism.
When I told a left-wing Jewish friend on Facebook that I didn't think Iran was a threat to the West she said
But attitudes to Israel are by no means decisive. Populists are regularly compared to Nazis - AfD, Marine Le Pen, etc - even though all go to lengths to back Israel noisily, possibly to deflect accusations of Nazism.
Israelis are fairly often accused of being Nazis but this accusation, like all swords, is a double edged one. Accusing Israel of being Nazi is usually seen as being Nazi in itself.
Calling Tory MPs Nazis is usually fine and dandy, but when rude men called Mrs Soubry one this was considered very wicked of them - reminiscent of the Nazis, in fact - because she is in favour of England being ruled by Germans.
It is fine to call Donald Trump, the most philo-semitic President the USA ever had, an antisemite and fine to call the far left racists, even though by definition communists believe race, ethnicity and nations are examples of false consciousness.
A hard left British Labour MP who said the Labour Party had always opposed racism and had been too apologetic in the face of accusations of anti-semitism was promptly suspended from the party for saying something unacceptable.
Mr Stephen Pollard, Editor of the Jewish Chronicle, retweeted a tweet from someone who said Hezbollah were not a threat to Britain, saying it was an appalling example of gutter anti-semitism.
When I told a left-wing Jewish friend on Facebook that I didn't think Iran was a threat to the West she said
And you claim to be a patriotand blocked me. I puzzled over what my putative patriotism had to do with it.
But attitudes to Israel are by no means decisive. Populists are regularly compared to Nazis - AfD, Marine Le Pen, etc - even though all go to lengths to back Israel noisily, possibly to deflect accusations of Nazism.
Israelis are fairly often accused of being Nazis but this accusation, like all swords, is a double edged one. Accusing Israel of being Nazi is usually seen as being Nazi in itself.
Nigel Farage is called a fascist all the time. Anyone who does not like his country being invaded by or ruled by foreigners in fact must be a Nazi.
A black British friend said Nigel Farage didn't remind her of Hitler, but of the British fascist Sir Oswald Mosley. I hit that one out of the ground by pointing out that Mosley was the first British politician to argue for a united federal Europe.
But then no-one did more to create a united Europe than the Nazis, come to think of it. This remark is almost certainly unacceptable and at least borderline Nazi.
A black British friend said Nigel Farage didn't remind her of Hitler, but of the British fascist Sir Oswald Mosley. I hit that one out of the ground by pointing out that Mosley was the first British politician to argue for a united federal Europe.
But then no-one did more to create a united Europe than the Nazis, come to think of it. This remark is almost certainly unacceptable and at least borderline Nazi.
No comments:
Post a Comment