The recent blurting by Shimon Peres that "There is in England a saying that an anti-Semite is someone who hates the Jews more than is necessary," has got me thinking once again about this little problem that often bugs me, but that I say very little about.
We often hear of demonization of Israel and Jews in the press, but demonization by Israel or Jews of another country is very little talked about. The fact that it does exist, and is swept beneath the rug bothers me a great deal. Being as I am, very patriotically British with a connection to Judaism and Israel, it puts me in an awkward position that I find sometimes is close to untenable.
Most who read Haaretz and Jpost will not have noticed this, but (being sensitive to these issues) over the last six or so years I have noticed a marked increase in hostility to Britain amongst the writers and editorials of both publications. The criticism is sometimes based on policy decisions or slips of the tongue, the sort of diplomatic gaffes that plague the relations of any two nations. However I cannot escape the feeling that more and more of this is cultural criticism.
Most of it is based in horrendous ignorance, and a falling toward a default position that is simple to expound, and difficult to remove.
The default position runs thus. Britain is getting full up with Muslims. Muslims hate Israel and Jews. Ergo combine this with the snooty attitude of Britons towards foreigners and you have a Jewish nightmare, a new breeding ground of fascist hate and concomitant loathing for the Jewish state.
I do not deny that many British people have problems with the state of Israel. But the reasons for their dislike are varied and not at all as monochromic as many seemingly believe.
Some are hard headed realists: Britain’s interests come first, Israel means as much as Indonesia. Simply put if it gets in the way, it is a problem to be dealt with because it hinders the national interest. Others dislike Israeli policy vis-a-vis the Palestinians and thus find it hard to like Israel, whom they view as an aggressive overly nationalist remnant of the 20th century. A small minority have a deep dislike of Jewish presence in the Middle East and stupidly link that to Jewish presence in the Diaspora. Many of these individuals are to be found on of the far left and right, and also to some extent from the Muslim population of the country.
This I would equate with genuine anti-semitism.
However most importantly, the vast majority of British citizens simply don’t care. They’ve never seen or met a Jew in their life, have no idea where Israel is apart from on the news (which they almost never watch), and think Zionism is a nice tasting sauce added to curry.
Which brings me nicely onto my next point:
Disproportionate Attention.
this needs a brief comment. Again yes the Guardian and the BBC love to stick Israel on the front pages, but guess what? Jewish Organisations are just as bad. Having worked for some and been involved in British-Israel relations for over six years I can categorically say that it was our paranoia and overly hasty actions that worked against us on a number of occasions.
A case in point; one organisation I worked for was terrified by the British academic boycott against Israel (a heinous decision in all fairness.) The problem was that in their panic to combat it, they forgot one important thing: ALMOST NO ONE IN BRITAIN KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT IT. By pumping information and one sided propaganda into the country we actually did two things:
1) Raised awareness of the boycott to a far greater level. 2) Turned people who cared not one iota about it in favour of the boycott due to our over aggressiveness, and horrendously misplaced communication strategy (which involved the use of world war two imagery...big mistake in Britain, just incalculably wrong).
By worrying too much about the activities of the far left and the Muslim population, our carpet bombing response has been catastrophic and insensitive. We tar and smear people in ways that we ourselves have hated to be depicted. Too often in Israel I found myself describing to people that Britain is actually a very nice place to live, and not full of people with crow bars just waiting to bash the nearest Jew or graffiti the nearest synagogue.
Hearing the amount of ignorance and vitriol spewed at my country I often found hurtful and extremely worrying. How did well educated young Jews form such a negative opinion of a country that has boasted an even greater level of social mobility for Jews than the United States of America?
(Arguably) The two of the most powerful men in the last two hundred years were both British Jews: Benjamin Disraeli, and Edwin Samuel Montague. Both men controlled populations that totalled into the hundreds of millions, commanded trade routes the likes of which the world had never and will never see again. Both men were openly and proudly Jewish (Disraeli’s conversion to Anglicanism was a matter of personal belief which he separated from his pride in his ethnic Jewish identity).
Likewise today’s crop of politicians have displayed exceptional social mobility, not once rescinding or backing away from their Jewish identity (this is not the same as backing away from religion, which has become a requirement for nearly any public figure in our overly secular lifestyle.) Millibands Ed & David, Michael Howard, Malcom Rifkind, Nigel Lawson, John Bercow, Leon Brittan, Oliver Letwin have all exercised enormous power over our nation, and never was their Jewishness an issue.
I challenge any nation on Earth to measure Jewish social mobility, and to find itself ahead of Britain. This includes Israel, where one’s particular type of Jewish identity can certainly be a hindrance to success or power. Further, to equate an Israeli Prime Minister to a Viceroy of India is so ridiculous that it is not even worth exploring.
As for the United States, a population of six million Jews I assert has not matched the level of influence that 300,000 Jews has in Britain, nor has it provided a Jewish President as of yet.
This piece is not denying that there is anti-Semitism in Britain. It is not denying that being Jewish can be problematic at times, and that levels of personal security are sometimes affected. It is not denying that a latent racism amongst some British citizens does exist.
All it asks for is that the facts that it has presented are oft forgotten, and that one should remember those facts before criticising Britain and the role of the Jewish people’s place in its cultural, spiritual and political life.
As for Peres let me be British in my assessment; the man is so in love with the French that of course he stereotypes us. May I suggest that he return to eating cheese and frogs legs, surrendering, smoking cigarettes, and wearing onions for a living...ta
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
Monday, 5 July 2010
The Charge of the PCS Brigade
The Public and Commercial Services Union (more commonly known as the PCS) has mounted its trusty steed in preparation for a glorious charge at the massed ranks of the British ministers of the Treasury. Alarming figures released by Treasury officials suggest that as many as 600,000 public sector workers will lose their jobs over the next five years. Indeed to be a civil servant at this present time could hardly be less attractive, those not culled by the coalition government will face drastic cuts in their pension schemes and severance options, this in combination with a three year salary freeze on all wages above £21,000 (some 72% of the public sector workforce) amounting to a 3% drop in annual pay.
Armed with this plethora of cheerful statistics, the PCS as the representative of nearly three quarters of all civil servants has little choice but to go on the offensive; In an interview with the BBC, Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS stated ‘I believe there's no argument for any cuts in public services at all at the moment, that it would be a massive backward step that would throw up to a million more people on to the dole queue.’ Union bosses now warn of impending strikes unless the current disagreements over the severance compensation scheme (CSCS) are soon ironed out. Talks between ministers and all civil service Unions are expected to be conducted this Wednesday, but it is unlikely that the PCS will seek room for compromise, it so far being the only Civil service union to have refused agreement over the planned changes to the CSCS redundancy packages.
The ensuing battle between the PCS Union and the Government brings with it eerie reminiscences of the Thatcher years, in which Arthur Scargill as president of the National Union of Miners locked horns with the Iron lady over planned redundancies to miners nationwide. The result was a crushing defeat for the NUM, and it is hard to see how any ensuing battle between Serwotka and Chancellor George Osborne could follow any other path. Information released this weekend reveals that Osborne has ordered most government departments to begin planning for budget cuts of as much as 40%. Given this staggering scale of fiscal downsizing it cannot be the case that the PCS will be able to protect its members from the butcher’s knife. Given the shocking state of the country’s finances, and the desire of the Government to encourage private entrepreneurialism and maintain a positive business climate, the crosshairs can only fall on upon those to whom state resources are allocated.
Given these austere times is unlikely that the PCS will be able to count upon mass public support in any ensuing battles. Virtually no home has been left unaffected by rises in VAT (sales tax), income tax, and unemployment. The trials and tribulations of civil servants who rely upon such taxation are therefore low on the list of popular grievances with government fiscal policy. Whilst it is unfair to expect the civil service to bear the brunt of the pain for the mistakes of the banking sector, (a fact which even the most fiscally conservative minded citizen cannot fail to acknowledge), it has long been the case that in the spendthrift years of the Labour government the number of public sector workers has expanded to horrendously bloated levels. The current level of public expenditure is not only unsustainable, but ruinous given the ten quarters of economic contraction preceding the budget outlined by the current government.
For Serwotka and his fellow PCS bigwigs these are ominous days, few relish the chance of a battle in which the odds are stacked against them, and even less so when the option to retreat is no option at all. Belligerent as their words may be they convince nobody, perhaps indeed the words are more to steel themselves than the general public. Therefore before Wednesday’s crucial meeting I suggest they reread Alfred Tennyson’s ‘The charge of the light brigade’ for it is truly into the valley of death that PCS rides.
Armed with this plethora of cheerful statistics, the PCS as the representative of nearly three quarters of all civil servants has little choice but to go on the offensive; In an interview with the BBC, Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS stated ‘I believe there's no argument for any cuts in public services at all at the moment, that it would be a massive backward step that would throw up to a million more people on to the dole queue.’ Union bosses now warn of impending strikes unless the current disagreements over the severance compensation scheme (CSCS) are soon ironed out. Talks between ministers and all civil service Unions are expected to be conducted this Wednesday, but it is unlikely that the PCS will seek room for compromise, it so far being the only Civil service union to have refused agreement over the planned changes to the CSCS redundancy packages.
The ensuing battle between the PCS Union and the Government brings with it eerie reminiscences of the Thatcher years, in which Arthur Scargill as president of the National Union of Miners locked horns with the Iron lady over planned redundancies to miners nationwide. The result was a crushing defeat for the NUM, and it is hard to see how any ensuing battle between Serwotka and Chancellor George Osborne could follow any other path. Information released this weekend reveals that Osborne has ordered most government departments to begin planning for budget cuts of as much as 40%. Given this staggering scale of fiscal downsizing it cannot be the case that the PCS will be able to protect its members from the butcher’s knife. Given the shocking state of the country’s finances, and the desire of the Government to encourage private entrepreneurialism and maintain a positive business climate, the crosshairs can only fall on upon those to whom state resources are allocated.
Given these austere times is unlikely that the PCS will be able to count upon mass public support in any ensuing battles. Virtually no home has been left unaffected by rises in VAT (sales tax), income tax, and unemployment. The trials and tribulations of civil servants who rely upon such taxation are therefore low on the list of popular grievances with government fiscal policy. Whilst it is unfair to expect the civil service to bear the brunt of the pain for the mistakes of the banking sector, (a fact which even the most fiscally conservative minded citizen cannot fail to acknowledge), it has long been the case that in the spendthrift years of the Labour government the number of public sector workers has expanded to horrendously bloated levels. The current level of public expenditure is not only unsustainable, but ruinous given the ten quarters of economic contraction preceding the budget outlined by the current government.
For Serwotka and his fellow PCS bigwigs these are ominous days, few relish the chance of a battle in which the odds are stacked against them, and even less so when the option to retreat is no option at all. Belligerent as their words may be they convince nobody, perhaps indeed the words are more to steel themselves than the general public. Therefore before Wednesday’s crucial meeting I suggest they reread Alfred Tennyson’s ‘The charge of the light brigade’ for it is truly into the valley of death that PCS rides.
Thursday, 3 June 2010
The Israeli Palestinian ball game
Yes ladies and gents the biannual Israeli-Palestinian conflagration is upon us. Once again our papers and TV stations have been jammed full with scenes of overtired Israeli spokespersons being verbally assassinated in interview after interview, and of muslims and Communists burning their grandmothers in the town centres around the world to signify their ‘outrage’ at this latest Middle Eastern Tiananmen Square.
Yet amongst the usual humdrum of media nonsense, arises an altogether new and exciting form of boring the average news consumer to death. The Facebook group page, ably assisted by its scrawnier cousin, the status update. Many of these have bombarded my Facebook feed as of late, and it is always amusing to see how quickly intelligent people march to the drum beat of nationalism and unquestioningly tow the party line in a way that would bring a tear to the eye of Dvariche Stalin, and make Orwell turn in his grave. Such loyalty, such nobleness...ignorance is strength
My friends (said in a John McCain voice) please do not delude yourselves, for you are not deluding me, anybody with an IQ above 70 is able to realise that the videos you post of the incident either do not show the savage beating dealt to the soldiers by the so called ‘peace activists’, or conveniently stop just at the moment the Israeli soldiers begin to open fire on their attackers. In short the videos are a reflection of the media conflict itself; half explanations to far deeper questions.
I liken such behaviour to a football final played in Spain. Two teams, followed by two sets of passionate fans take to the field, each knowing the game can only be won or lost. The leisurely pace of this epic battle (as anyone familiar with Spanish football is all too aware) is frequently interrupted by fouls which seemingly appear from the tiniest collisions. On the occasion of each foul the fouled player rolls around screaming in a manner which suggests that his leg has been reversed over by a Russian T-72. His fans stand to attention, screaming, booing and hissing at the other side for this apparently horrendous transgression; whilst both they, and the player keep their eyes firmly fixated upon the referee to see what punishment will be doled out to the offending party.
He awards a free kick...both sets of fans now rise to their feet screaming and hurling insults at the referee for slighting them, their anger seethes and boils seemingly indicating their diehard passion for their team and their hatred for the mediator in the middle. That is until the next foul occurs 90 seconds later.
If a winner emerges from the game, you still both lose. Why? Because about 70mins into the game the neutral viewers get bored of the rolling around, play acting and diving and switch the channel. In short they care not about your seemingly epic battle because it seems so petty, so contrived and fake. Wave your flags all you like ladies and gentleman, your skull and crossbones will not convince me the Israeli navy is somehow comprised of Jews descended from Blackbeard, nor will your Magen David convince me that your ‘Warriors’ are darling angels who were set upon by big nasty boogy-monsters armed with chainsaws.
Let me be clear. I am Zionist, I have a strong attachment to the State of Israel and the Jewish people, and will never argue against its right to self defence. But this game was lost 3-0 the moment the soldiers opened fire. Hamas streaked home with the cup, and the plaudits.
What needs to happen now is for the losing team to stop the excuses, and stop attacking the winners by name calling, and instead question itself. Where did we go wrong? Why did we lose? And most importantly, who is to blame?
Conveniently there is a very simple answer, it is the one person who has remained out of the spotlight throughout this whole fracas. He is of course none other than Mr Ehud Barak, Israel’s minister of Defence.
But why blame him?? Some of you scream, ‘the boat was filled with anti-semitic radicals, intent on conflict with us’. Yes you’re right it was, there is no doubt that a number of individuals on the sixth ship in the aid convoy, harboured a hatred of Jews and sought to violently confront any Israeli with whom they came into contact...The trouble is, that Israel knew this and did not adapt its blockade enforcement policy accordingly.
In truth Israel didn’t really have a blockade enforcement policy to adapt. Some boats get through it, others don’t. Some are boarded in Israeli waters some are not, whilst others are left alone entirely. There is no consistency of policy, no stated intent, and when problems of blockade enforcement do occur, no backup plan to deal with them.
Mr Barak, I have had the pleasure of renewing my acquaintance with the Cuban missile crisis this week, you should have done the same, except you should have done it three years ago. All that was needed was a half hour examination of Secretary Mcnamara’s exchanges with President Kennedy concerning rules of enforcement and you would have been home and dry. In short you should never have sent the Commandos onto the ship, numerous options were available to you, the most violent of which would have involved disabling the rudder of the Mavi Marmara allowing you to forcibly tow it to the port of Ashdod.
Instead you ignored sensible blockade policy, and ordered the boarding of a ship in International Waters by Commandos who lacked appropriate crowd dispersal weaponry, leaving them no option but to kill civilians. Your ignorance is your strength for it is claimed Israel possessed no other option, but Mr Barak you are guilty as charged for your criminal negligence of history and accordant policy.
To those of you who stand behind Israel, I suggest you look at this man and direct your anger against him, rather than the outside world. He has let you down, and he now lacks the courage to do the right thing which is to resign, and apologise to you and those killed in the raid. The fact that such an action has no chance of occurring is indication of the predicament in which Israel exists. A team on losing streak must sack its manager, or face spiralling oblivion. Which do you choose?
Yet amongst the usual humdrum of media nonsense, arises an altogether new and exciting form of boring the average news consumer to death. The Facebook group page, ably assisted by its scrawnier cousin, the status update. Many of these have bombarded my Facebook feed as of late, and it is always amusing to see how quickly intelligent people march to the drum beat of nationalism and unquestioningly tow the party line in a way that would bring a tear to the eye of Dvariche Stalin, and make Orwell turn in his grave. Such loyalty, such nobleness...ignorance is strength
My friends (said in a John McCain voice) please do not delude yourselves, for you are not deluding me, anybody with an IQ above 70 is able to realise that the videos you post of the incident either do not show the savage beating dealt to the soldiers by the so called ‘peace activists’, or conveniently stop just at the moment the Israeli soldiers begin to open fire on their attackers. In short the videos are a reflection of the media conflict itself; half explanations to far deeper questions.
I liken such behaviour to a football final played in Spain. Two teams, followed by two sets of passionate fans take to the field, each knowing the game can only be won or lost. The leisurely pace of this epic battle (as anyone familiar with Spanish football is all too aware) is frequently interrupted by fouls which seemingly appear from the tiniest collisions. On the occasion of each foul the fouled player rolls around screaming in a manner which suggests that his leg has been reversed over by a Russian T-72. His fans stand to attention, screaming, booing and hissing at the other side for this apparently horrendous transgression; whilst both they, and the player keep their eyes firmly fixated upon the referee to see what punishment will be doled out to the offending party.
He awards a free kick...both sets of fans now rise to their feet screaming and hurling insults at the referee for slighting them, their anger seethes and boils seemingly indicating their diehard passion for their team and their hatred for the mediator in the middle. That is until the next foul occurs 90 seconds later.
If a winner emerges from the game, you still both lose. Why? Because about 70mins into the game the neutral viewers get bored of the rolling around, play acting and diving and switch the channel. In short they care not about your seemingly epic battle because it seems so petty, so contrived and fake. Wave your flags all you like ladies and gentleman, your skull and crossbones will not convince me the Israeli navy is somehow comprised of Jews descended from Blackbeard, nor will your Magen David convince me that your ‘Warriors’ are darling angels who were set upon by big nasty boogy-monsters armed with chainsaws.
Let me be clear. I am Zionist, I have a strong attachment to the State of Israel and the Jewish people, and will never argue against its right to self defence. But this game was lost 3-0 the moment the soldiers opened fire. Hamas streaked home with the cup, and the plaudits.
What needs to happen now is for the losing team to stop the excuses, and stop attacking the winners by name calling, and instead question itself. Where did we go wrong? Why did we lose? And most importantly, who is to blame?
Conveniently there is a very simple answer, it is the one person who has remained out of the spotlight throughout this whole fracas. He is of course none other than Mr Ehud Barak, Israel’s minister of Defence.
But why blame him?? Some of you scream, ‘the boat was filled with anti-semitic radicals, intent on conflict with us’. Yes you’re right it was, there is no doubt that a number of individuals on the sixth ship in the aid convoy, harboured a hatred of Jews and sought to violently confront any Israeli with whom they came into contact...The trouble is, that Israel knew this and did not adapt its blockade enforcement policy accordingly.
In truth Israel didn’t really have a blockade enforcement policy to adapt. Some boats get through it, others don’t. Some are boarded in Israeli waters some are not, whilst others are left alone entirely. There is no consistency of policy, no stated intent, and when problems of blockade enforcement do occur, no backup plan to deal with them.
Mr Barak, I have had the pleasure of renewing my acquaintance with the Cuban missile crisis this week, you should have done the same, except you should have done it three years ago. All that was needed was a half hour examination of Secretary Mcnamara’s exchanges with President Kennedy concerning rules of enforcement and you would have been home and dry. In short you should never have sent the Commandos onto the ship, numerous options were available to you, the most violent of which would have involved disabling the rudder of the Mavi Marmara allowing you to forcibly tow it to the port of Ashdod.
Instead you ignored sensible blockade policy, and ordered the boarding of a ship in International Waters by Commandos who lacked appropriate crowd dispersal weaponry, leaving them no option but to kill civilians. Your ignorance is your strength for it is claimed Israel possessed no other option, but Mr Barak you are guilty as charged for your criminal negligence of history and accordant policy.
To those of you who stand behind Israel, I suggest you look at this man and direct your anger against him, rather than the outside world. He has let you down, and he now lacks the courage to do the right thing which is to resign, and apologise to you and those killed in the raid. The fact that such an action has no chance of occurring is indication of the predicament in which Israel exists. A team on losing streak must sack its manager, or face spiralling oblivion. Which do you choose?
Friday, 2 April 2010
Welcome!!!
Welcome everyone to Nelson's Political Column. A blog focused on current affairs, and social issues in Britain, and also around the world. I intend to deal with topics in a direct, yet intellectual way. The idea is to challenge not to offend, in the hope that this blog can foster dialogue and conversation about current issues of the day. If you feel you have an issue or a disagreement with what is written here, please feel free to post your counter argument or comments in the spirit of debate and discussion. These are the rules ladies and gentleman, so play nice!
1) no swearing
2) no abuse of nations, races, or religions, critical reasoned argument is fine, name calling is not.
3) keep replies to under 250 words if possible...(unless you have something really smart to say)
Let the games begin.
1) no swearing
2) no abuse of nations, races, or religions, critical reasoned argument is fine, name calling is not.
3) keep replies to under 250 words if possible...(unless you have something really smart to say)
Let the games begin.
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