I wasn't calling you a racist Fed Up. It was more your style of continous ranting that made me think of Alf, not so much the content.

Lend me a Tenor

31 May to 3 June 2017

John McIntosh Arts Centre
London Oratory School
SW6 1RX

with Superfly in the chorus
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What would you be saying if Farage had said what Ken did?

"That was fun and to round off the day, I am off to steal a charity collection box and then desecrate a place of worship.” - Smokey, The Selhurst Arms, 26/02/02

Always the way....if the right say something similar, the left are on it in a flash,the left say it.....Much ado about nothing....hypocrisy of the highest order.

always a Norwood boy, where ever I live.

Last one of the evening, although I'm sure there will be new material by the morning

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Apologies for the lengthy post...

At times is the spectre of "anti semitism" abused where people are simply accusing the Israeli government of acting inappropriately? Sure.

At times,do people come out with some dodgy utterances that expose underlying anti semitic-like sentiments,and try to cover it up by saying they are merely "anti zionists"? or victims of the "zionist media/lobby"?Equally sure.

Balance is all.Balance is not being slow to recognise there do seem to be disturbing pockets of anti-semitism within Labour.Equal balance in recognising the cancer doesn't just exist there and very far from attaches itself to all in the Labour party who are at times very critical of the Israeli government's actions.

We need to be careful of demonising whole groups indiscriminately and collectively for the sins of their governments,whether it be Saudis,Serbs in Bosnia,Israelis or Brits

So,I do agree with those who would say the media are focusing on this issue with the intensity they are so as to basically use it as another way of attacking Labour.If they looked equally as hard,likely they'd find a not insignificant amount of it on the right.And,indeed as I've posted before, a poll last year showed Lib Dem voters as those most inclined (still a relatively small minority) to anti semitic sentiments.

So,when Ken says Hitler supported sending Jews to Israel (Ken seemingly being ignorant of the fact Israel didn't exist then and the zionist goal was a "national home" as opposed necessarily to a state) before he "went mad"and killed 6 million,its actually pretty dodgy in that he seems to me suggesting there is some equivalence between Hitler (Post Mein Kampf)and pro-zionists and suggesting zionism is dodgy because someone like Hitler was in favour of it. It may not be anti semitic but its a crass,offensive,dodgy and dumb thing to say at this time.

He also said today he had never heard anyone in the labour party make an anti semitic assertion.Funny that,given,as just one example, he knew Naz Shah had posted her endorsement of the view that Israelis,(though no doubt in her dodgy mind just Jewish Israelis),should all be transferrd from Israel en masse and resettled in the USA.(Not least also showing her crass ignorance of the 2 million Jews expelled from Middle Eastern countries (with property expropriated)where they'd lived for hundreds of years or longer to Israel and the Jewish presence in the area since biblical times

So,lets not get too eager to paint Ken as a martyr at the hands of the pro-Isael lobby.They may very well be after him and try to "tar" him but it seems he's doing quite enough that's dodgy to put himself in the doghouse without any "Jewish lobby" assistance. Thus, call him what he is;a cnut, and that saddens me having been a supporter of his at the GLC and as Mayor.

The HAMAS charter states that"the Jews" were responsible for the French Revolution and both world wars.Can you imagine if something similar was said about African people or those from the Indian sub-continent? Corbyn (whom I generally have some time for)and Ken would rightly be up in arms about it and refuse to share a platform/expel anyone supporting them from the party.

Yet because Palestinians are viewed as the oppressed(not unreasonably) and Israelis always the bad guys (not always 100% reasonably),it seems to allow for an extremely reactionary ideological group within the Palestinian community with clear anti semitic (not simply anti zionist) sentiments in its charter to be embraced as freedom fighters and platforms shared with them.Perhaps we need to be more careful when we say we support the good guys not the dodgy ones to make sure we don't embrace any of the dodgy ones

Edited by legaleagle (28 Apr 2016 9.29pm)

I agree... great observation/read Mr Legal but you could have saved all that effort and research and just said "Ken is a tw@t" and we all would have agreed with you just the same... LOL