Another disinforming media hack to add to the anti-Corbyn bandwagon: Simon Hattenstone
Simon Hattenstone.
It is becoming too easy to expose these people now.
I don’t know whether Simon Hattenstone is a liar or truly believes what he has written (although if he believes it, this displays a lack of intelligence that should bar him from writing for newspapers).
Referring to the 2013 incident I recount in this article, he states:
It is unclear what the irony in question is. But it is irrelevant. To generalise about any race or religion is discriminatory. And if there were ever a clear example of somebody conflating Zionist with Jews, this appears to be it. Let’s play the traditional “swap the minority” game. Instead of “Zionists” let’s make it, say, Muslims or African-Caribbeans or Asians or Irish needing lessons in history or irony. Not nice, eh?
The irony is that of a person for whom English is a second language making himself perfectly clear, but having the meaning of his words mangled by those for whom it is their first language. That is clear.
No, this is not “a clear example of somebody conflating Zionist with Jews”. There is no evidence to suggest Mr Corbyn was covertly referring to Jews – and certainly none to say he meant all Jews.
And Zionism is a political doctrine, not an ethnic or racial minority, so it is inappropriate to suggest swapping a reference to Zionism for a reference to Islam, African-Caribbeans, Asians or the Irish.
Liar or fool, Mr Hattenstone has revealed his true colours.
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I have reported Hattenstone’s article to the IPSO. It is a flagrant conflation of Zionism with Judaism and utterly illogical. As it was an opinion piece I doubt the IPSO will feel there is any case. I’ve also written to the Guardian letters department registering my ire that at least tow articles either substantiated or didn’t challenge this dangerous conflation.
The fact the Nick Griffin has resurfaced is enough evidence that the conflation of Zionism with antisemitism only fuels the Right which is always happy to manipulate using misinformation.
The fact that, as you well point out, a Guardian journalist can make such a profoundly elementary mistake is quite shocking, to say the least.
By not clearing this up, Labour Friends of Israel and the Board of Deputies are unwittingly fueling antisemitism. Why can’t they see this?
Reading that dreadful OP, it struck me that I was reading a plea to stay in the club. It reeked of hypocrisy. It drowned in its own wallowing. It also failed to persuade me it was about AS, and was more a plea to TPTB not to punish him and keep his job at the MSM trough.
I watched a Jimmy Dore show today about internet, and especially FB, political censorship. They also felt as I do that we are teetering on the edge of full blown fascism, and the press are a big part of the problem. This OP epitomised this weeks capitulation by far too many.
Don’t expect evidential reason and logic from these creeps, there is none to be found. Expect emotive hysteria, dogmatic lies and above all false victimhood.
S.Hatt is just another useful idiot, a right wing creepy crawly wriggling out from under his rock to take a cynical, opportunistic swipe at JC.
That’s all any of this about anyway, attacking JC. It’s got nothing to do with defending ‘jews’ any more than the Zionist colonial imposters and their US sponsored cult fantasies, made real in Palestine, have anything to do with real Judaism.
More to the point, Zionism is not exclusive to Jews, nor it is the preserve of all Jews; many, many Jews are opposed to it, vehemently. I find this person’s use of African-Caribbean (although I am of African stock) immensely insulting. DO NOT use us in your dirty game!
I listened to the whole of Jeremy Corbyn’s speech (not just the 44 seconds that accompanied his [Hattenstone] article), which was about HISTORY and the people upon whom he poured scorn were the British! At no point and in no way did Mr. Corbyn “generalise,” he was specific; he referred to “the thankfully silent Zionists, who were in the audience on that occasion.” How is this generalisng? Where is the conflation? He [Hattenstone] goes on to say of British Zionists, “in other words, they are uneducated, they have failed to integrate or assimilate, they are outsiders, they don’t belong, they need to be taught a lesson.” That is some assumption! From failure of a particular group of Zionists to understand irony (I’m not sure if, perhaps, Mr. Corbyn may have meant sarcasm?), to all Jews failing to integrate, or assimilate, being outsiders and not belonging? What planet is he on? How many persons, for whom English is their first language, understand English irony? Does that make them uneducated, or need to be taught a lesson? Does it indicate a failure to integrate, or assimilate? Does it make them outsiders? This person [Hattenstone] is offensive and I wish that I could sit down and have a cup of tea with him and offer him a piece of my mind to go with the cake. This latest attack on Mr. Corbyn has made me very angry.
Ha! Ha! Ha! I don’t know whether, or not this is ironic but the speaker who followed Mr. Corbyn discussed… wait for it… Christian Zionism and it’s roots in the Balfour Declaration!
Again, here’s a link to the conference that contained Jeremy Corbyn’s “anti-Semitic” speech.
Where?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBouC-XpJx4
… or should that be Christian Zionism being the roots of the Balfour Declaration?
The Conference is about Britain’s £egacy In Palestine.