Geoffrey Alderman, arch-Zionist, historian and Conservative, always struck me as a decent fellow, going by his appearances on Press TV (before it was de-platformed from Sky)
In 1987 the West London Synagogue approached Islington Council with a startling proposal: to sell its original cemetery to property developers, destroying the gravestones and digging-up and reburying the bodies lying under them. This cemetery (dating from 1843) was not merely of great historic and architectural interest – in the view of orthodox Jews, the deliberate destruction of a cemetery is sacrilegious. So when Islington Council granted the planning application, a Jewish-led and ultimately successful campaign was launched to have the decision reversed. I was part of that campaign. So was Jeremy Corbyn. Meanwhile, the then-leader of Islington Council (1982-92), whose decision to permit the destruction of the cemetery was eventually overturned, was none other than Margaret Hodge (though it is unclear whether she personally was in favour of the proposal).
I have deliberately omitted from this discussion any consideration of Corbyn’s attitude to Zionism and whether anti-Zionism is inherently anti-Semitic. All I will say here – as a proud Zionist – is that in my view context is, again, paramount.
I will agree that from time to time, as backbench MP and party leader, Corbyn has acted unwisely. But the grounds for labelling him an anti-Semite simply do not exist.
Geoffrey Alderman is Professor of Politics, University of Buckingham.
...Except for the affects of anti-Zionism on the actual lives of Jews worldwide, as anti-Zionism tends to place Jews at the absolute mercy of Mulsim states world-wide.
ReplyDelete...and I know, Arabs are Semites, too.
DeleteJews are a subset of Semites. A category error in language, so to speak.
Anti-Zionism is a subset anti-semitism borne of Orthodox Jewry. Before Khomeini's guardianship if the jurists, xxx al fiqh, there were other Islamic Semitic restrictive equivalents against theocracy (quietism)... but what was once heresy has become the norm for Iran.
Deletexxx = veleyaat
ReplyDeleteOnly racist Arabs use the idiotic 'we're Semites too, ergo we can't be anti-semitic'.
ReplyDeleteNo state should be above criticism (although tries that by labeling any critique as racist), nor should Israel.
Grrr... "[...] although Israel (and of course establishment US) tries [...]", of course.
ReplyDeleteAZ is constantly deliberately misinterpreted as 'seeking the destruction of Israel' but there are very few of these.
ReplyDeleteUp to about 10 years ago, most AZ were fairly docile '2 staters'. We know that that's not going to happen: under the auspices of Trump the WB will almost certainly be annexed. That's a de facto one state solution.
Acc. same Geoffrey Alderman Jews WW had no intention to create a Jewish homeland - prior to the Holocaust. The Holocaust became the game changer, which explains why it is still so central to Zionist ideology. Some prominent American Jewish scribe once described Israel as 'Yad Vashem with an airport'! (he was made to swallow his words of course)
ReplyDelete