Indy’s Robert Fisk crosses the line to antisemitism
If populism, in both right-wing and left-wing manifestations, often promotes the idea that ‘the ‘system is rigged’ by the few to the detriment of…
dual loyalty
BBC R4 presenter floats ranking racism
Justin Webb ponders a scenario in which US Democrats declare antisemitism “not as important as some other forms of racism”.
Guardian headline obfuscates antisemitism
Whilst it’s true that Ilhan Omar has been the target of ugly abuse by some due to her ethnic and/or religious background, such completely unjustifiable bigotry doesn’t seem intellectually dissimilar to the liberal racism which rejects universal moral standards by minimising, obfuscating or justifying antisemitism due merely to the gender, race or religion of the perpetrator.
Robert Fisk promotes libel that Israel deliberately kills Palestinian journalists
Fisk falsely suggests that Israel intentionally murders Palestinian journalists to prevent them from reporting the truth about Gaza. In fact, the IDF operates with the knowledge that Palestinian terrorists have, at times, posed as journalists in order to attack Israelis, and that this tactic was used frequently by Hamas during Operation Protective Edge – an intentional blurring of civilians with combatants that Israeli soldiers protecting the border must carefully navigate during the weekly riots.
BDS is failing (Dec. 2018)
Here’s UK Media Watch’s latest post documenting the fact that (despite the disproportionate coverage given to BDS by the media) the campaign to economically and politically isolate Israel continues to fail miserably.
Weekend long read
Our weekly round-up of Middle East related background reading.
A problematic BBC Radio Manchester item on antisemitism
BBC Radio Manchester listeners hear an extremely problematic line of questioning.
Guardian fails to correct erroneous claim by J Street leader Jeremy Ben-Ami
Jeremy Ben-Ami, the founder and president of J Street, the far-left and self-proclaimed ‘pro-Israel’ US lobbying group, penned an attack piece in the Guardian on the US Ambassador to Israel which includes some of the favorite tropes of the pro-Palestinian commentariat.
Guardian appears to reject IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism
Contrary to the views of the Guardian Readers’ Editor, the ideological similarity between tropes concluding that “Zionists are our misfortune” and tropes concluding “Jews are our misfortune” is simply impossible to deny.
Guardian editorial on Corbyn antisemitism row omits their own use of toxic tropes about Jews
In fairness, the Guardian – over the last few years – has been a bit more vigilant in avoiding antisemitic language, and we’re certainly glad that their editorial position on the antisemitism scandal currently engulfing the Labour Party is morally clear. However, it would benefit their readers – and help contextualise the problem of antisemitism on the British Left – if senior editors would show a bit more self-reflection by acknowledging their own troubling history of sanctioning toxic rhetoric historically used by anti-Semites.