It seems it was too much to ask that We Are British Jews could be a balanced documentary, but at least it has helped kill the vicious lie that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is a friend of terrorists.
The BBC promised us that the programme broadcast on BBC2 at 9pm (BST) yesterday (September 4) would document the genuine life experiences, attitudes and reactions of eight Jewish citizens of the UK at this time.
To This Writer’s jaundiced eye and ear, it seemed dangerously one-sided – against Mr Corbyn and the Labour Party, at a time when it is fighting off a manufactured “anti-Semitism” crisis.
You see, during the documentary, someone raised the claim that the Labour leader was a friend of people in the terrorist organisations Hamas and Hezbollah.
I was live-tweeting on Twitter at the time, so I broadcast the fact that the claim wasn’t true – and bedlam ensued.
Here's the anti-Corbyn trope (why not use the word?) of .@jeremycorbyn calling terrorists his friends. It's a myth, based on cordiality towards people he needed to negotiate with in order to get peace. #wearebritishjews
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) September 4, 2018
I had to clarify this, as I had intended to say that it was a myth that these people were his friends. He was using diplomatic – some say Parliamentary – language, and rightly so – you don’t get what you want from somebody by insulting them, after all.
You can draw your own conclusions about the people who responded from their words:
Hamas and Hezbollah are terrorist organisations, he praised the members of both as 'friends'. Q.E.D.
— Shane Nagle (@ShaneNagle) September 4, 2018
Pure sophistry. He wasn't in talks with them about anything. He was just an insignificant backbench MP with an obsession about Israel. And you don't have to call someone a 'friend' to treat them cordially in a public forum.
— Shane Nagle (@ShaneNagle) September 4, 2018
What sort of 'talks' were they? Your position is totally dishonest. Corbyn has never expressed the slightest interest in engaging with Israelis and you know it.
— Shane Nagle (@ShaneNagle) September 4, 2018
Sorry, but I think it's YOUR position that is dishonest. You haven't researched your claim that .@jeremycorbyn never talked with Jews/Israelis, you are pushing an untenable view.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) September 4, 2018
How do you know he only did? I don't know that.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) September 4, 2018
So it was the Israeli politician who walked out, not Mr Corbyn.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) September 4, 2018
Important point, there: The claim was that Mr Corbyn only spoke with terrorists from Hamas and Hezbollah but the fact was that he had spoken with the Israelis as well.
Did this revelation lead to more rational discussion? No.
Show us him in dialogue with the Israeli govt or the unionists in Ireland. How many funerals of terror attacks in the UK did he attend compared with members of the IRA or Islamic extremists? He is filth, and so are you for supporting him.
— MrCEssex (@MrCEssex1) September 4, 2018
This one shows the attitude of these people – even when a claim has been disproved, they keep pushing it. Because if you repeat a lie often enough, people start believing it again?
What a lot of bollocks – if Corbyn was “negotiating” for peace then when did he eve meet the other side? When did he eve meet with loyalist in Northern Ireland for that matter.
— Nick Millward (@NickMillward) September 4, 2018
How about this?
He was in no position to get peace, He wasnt in government.
— Scott Tracey (@Hammersfanno) September 4, 2018
He didn’t need to be in government to get peace. All he needed to do was try to bring people together.
https://twitter.com/stevencarrwork/status/1037091678102933504
https://twitter.com/Cotswold/status/1037103746269028352
Isn’t this a false equivalence? Mr Corbyn applauded the Good Friday Agreement which he supported to the hilt. But it is will known that he disagreed with Tony Blair on a huge number of issues over the nine years of Blair government that followed, so it is no wonder he did not share a platform with that gentleman in 2016. These issues are different.
And by the way (apologies for the profanity in this one):
https://twitter.com/HarryIsHome/status/1037102433254748160
Let’s get back to the abuse:
Bullshit, Has he ever made a comment about Israel that is not hate inspired. He has nothing to do with bringing peace to the region, Even the PA distances itself from him.
— nigellawrence (@mrnigellawrence) September 4, 2018
That is a pathetic excuse. He wasn't responsible for, and didn't achieve, peace. It is not a myth, it is documented fact and it's a bit early to start rewriting history.
— gilbert_d (@gilbert_d) September 4, 2018
The idea that Corbyn was ever in a position to have meaningfull peace negotiations is laughable. You need two sides to be involved in negotiations not one.
— Ray Thomas (@raycoedllai) September 4, 2018
https://twitter.com/Cotswold/status/1037103746269028352
Oh really?
If it's one side at a time, you do. And you don't know that such was not the plan. You meet representatives of one side, get their point of view, then go to the other side. You act as a go-between and see what result you can get.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) September 4, 2018
If you want to stop violence and killing, perhaps you need to talk to the people who are carrying it out. See also my tweet about visiting one side at a time. And what makes you say he hasn't been impartial?
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) September 4, 2018
Nobody has ever said he was responsible pic.twitter.com/j3mZAqErf1
— EvieB🌹#SocialistAlways (@queenEvieB) September 5, 2018
So it turns out that one peace negotiated by Mr Corbyn, “like the Good Friday Agreement”, was the Good Friday Agreement.
Mr Corbyn acted as a go-between – exactly as I had suggested – on behalf of the Labour government of the time, and sorted out details that made the Northern Irish peace process possible.
He did it by visiting just one side of the conflict – and you can be sure he used diplomatic language.
And I would not have been able to bring this to you without the help of all the haters whose words appear above – and many more who didn’t make the edit.
The conclusion is clear:
Jeremy Corbyn is not a friend of terrorism. He is a friend of peace. Ask yourself why anybody would want to deny that and you’ll be able to think of your own name for his critics.
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