Support for Palestine is no excuse for anti-Semitism in the UK
Anti-Semitism posing as support for Palestine: it seems four people have already been arrested for the vile hatred they broadcast from these vehicles while pretending to be supporters of Palestine.
What a shame that racists in the UK are using Palestine’s struggle against the Israeli government’s persecution as an excuse to attack Jewish people in the UK who have nothing to do with it.
My Twitter feed is currently peppered with reports of incidents across the country. Jewish people here have no influence over what happens in the Middle East so it seems clear that anybody attacking them is opportunistically using the crisis of the moment to release their own filthy prejudice.
It is a bizarre fact of this shadowy and twisted hate campaign that the people responsible for these hate crimes are actually doing the work of the Israeli government. Benjamin Netanyahu and his people have long sought to confuse Israel with Judaism and anybody attacking Jews in the UK over the activities of his government in the Middle East has clearly bought into that fake narrative.
Those responsible have no place in decent society and should be exposed and confronted at every opportunity. Fortunately, the good people of Twitter have been working on it:
If anyone is using the tragedy in Gaza to fuel antisemitism here in the U.K., then you are no ally of the Palestinian cause and your racism is actually impeding the fight for Palestinian equality.
— Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (@DrRosena) May 16, 2021
If you're smearing 'Palestinians' as 'terrorists' you're a racist. If you're supporting Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians you're supporting a racist endeavour. If you're defending Israel bombing the Al Jazeera & AP building you're supporting a war crime#FreePalestine
— Mrs Gee #TransformPolitics 💚🇵🇸🍉 (@earthygirl011) May 16, 2021
You are either against all racism, discrimination & abuse or you are part of the problem!
— Andrew Feinstein (@andrewfeinstein) May 16, 2021
https://twitter.com/LeftWingSociety/status/1393952056810086401
People are happy to defend me when I'm grouped in with terrorists simply because I'm Muslim.
Jewish people facing abuse and threats because of the actions of the Israeli Government deserve that same defence.
— Alex Tiffin (@RespectIsVital) May 16, 2021
I understand that people have already been arrested after this shameful scene.
This is vile, it's anti-semitic, and it does not represent the Palestinian cause. It has no place in our society. https://t.co/Jv4zAVjEJt
— Imran Hussain MP (@Imran_HussainMP) May 16, 2021
And I certainly hope police in Norwich can find witnesses who saw this being done:
Antisemitism masquerading under the guise of Palestinian solidarity – whether it's shouting 'Free Palestine' at Jews or graffiti like this – must be condemned.
These attacks make Jews less safe while doing nothing to advance freedom and equality for Palestinians. https://t.co/BtPL19asDK
— Na'amod (@NaamodUK) May 14, 2021
It is entirely possible to show solidarity with Palestine without attacking Jews who have nothing to do with the actions of Israel, its government or military.
The people responsible for the activities in the immediately-preceding two tweets have committed hate crimes and deserve criminal convictions because of it.
We can be either on the side of those who punish their evil, or who are punished for it.
I know where I am. It must not be tolerated.
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Vile knuckle-dragging racists are helping support the hate and helping Israel, not the Palestinians!!!
Antisemitism is being used and this has no place in our society. Being anti-zionist is different and NOT anti-Semitic despite some to try and equate it as being the same.
Please understand the government of Israel views are not the same as every other Jewish persons. Innocent Jewish people here have no control over their government’s actions, so stop this BS!
The video of the convoy was actually an old video with audio added. It was shared on Twitter by Sussex Friends of Israel who are as bad or maybe worse than Gnasherjew. Simon Cobb and his mates are well known for false claims of antisemitism so please do not believe everything you see on Twitter. It is done deliberately to fuel the antisemitism debate and to cause trouble. Twitter is no place for racism but it is also no place for fake videos.
If it’s fake, how come four people have been arrested?
Have a look at this:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57137151
I had watched the video but could not made out what was said. However, having seen your report on it it certainly was disgusting and anti-Semitic. There is NO excuse for this.
And, likewise, I would never smear the Free Palestine movement with the actions of a handful of racists. Many thousands have marched and protested with dignity and kept the peace and shown no prejudices at all.
As previously said this is a gift to Israel’s Govt. A tiny number of vile racists are being used as ‘moral armour’ for how they have behaved. In fact I saw a comment to the effect of, ‘people like this is why Israel has to treat them that way’ Racism is just as bad whoever it is by and whoever it is against. There is NEVER justification for prejudice.
I do hope I’m not imagining it though but I think the reporting this time is SLIGHTLY less one sided than usual. That isn’t really saying much though.
I agree with your premise: attacking Jews in London isn’t a legitimate way to express anything other than your innate racism.
However, I strongly disagree with your characterisation of Hamas/Iran’s recent assault on Israel.
Describing it as “Palestine’s struggle against the Israeli government’s persecution” is to perpetuate a distorted narrative and misrepresent what actually happened here in Israel over the last two weeks.
To quote the Seattle Times:
“When President Abbas canceled the Palestinian elections slated for May 22, fearing Hamas might emerge victorious, Hamas saw an opportunity to challenge his leadership. It began to incessantly bombard Israel with rockets and mortars. Hamas’ assertions that it is defending the Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount, or opposing the possible eviction of six Palestinian families in east Jerusalem are diversions from its primary goal — the eradication of the Jewish state.”
The violence in May 2021 WAS a deadly, genocidal assault intent on murdering civilians. But a lot of people have confused who was targeting civilians vs who was defending them. Hamas’ own rockets often fell on – and killed – civilians within Gaza. But they view Palestinians in Gaza as expendable so they saw no great tragedy in that. I think that “Free Gaza” is a fine chant, as long as you understand that it’s Iran and their Hamas proxy that are occupying Gaza.
If you want a Gaza that doesn’t publicly torture gay people, that doesn’t execute women for the ‘crime’ of being raped, that could even contemplate freedom of religion, that spends its income on healthcare and schools rather than weaponry for killing Jews, then you really should stand against Hamas.
What recent assault on Israel by Hamas/Iran is this, that you’re mentioning here?
The recent conflict between Israel and people living in what remains of Palestine was entirely caused by Israeli military forces, who broke into people’s homes in East Jerusalem to forcibly evict them and who broke into the Al Aqsa Mosque to shoot worshippers there with rubber bullets and to shock them with stun grenades.
Your out-of-context quotation from the Seattle Times is meaningless. Who wrote/said those words? What was their motivation for doing so?
Where is the evidence to support your claim that Hamas even fire rockets, let alone that they landed on and killed civilians in Gaza? Palestine’s current rocket capabilities total a few fireworks, while Israel has billions of pounds worth of ordnance, donated by the US and UK, among others. It is also a rich country in its own right and therefore able to buy its own weaponry.
What makes you think anybody in Palestine views Palestinians as expendabl? That is the viewpoint of the Israeli government and military.
Your final paragraph contains even more anti-Palestine propaganda, without any evidence to support it.
Look at the number of casualties on either side and you will see that what happened last month amounts to a slaughter of Palestinians by the Israeli armed forces.
Please reconsider your ill-judged words.