This is a genuinely despicable tweet, belittling the seriousness of the industrialised mass murder of six million Jews. Anyone who speaks like this has no place in the left whatsoever. pic.twitter.com/g0Sfcxuamp— Owen Jones 🌹 (@OwenJones84) August 21, 2020
I am really worried that there will be some very nasty unintended consequences because of this for Jewish people. Do you have any suggestions for what we can do to help Jewish people out if something like that happens?
Me too. For all the stick I get for my bluntness or admitting that the swirl of absurd accusation in the culture at the moment has even started to numb me to claims of antisemitism, I'm profoundly concerned for Jewish family and comrades, most of whom wouldn't ever consider the Israeli government or any of cynical or zealot groups that claim to represent British jews as allies.
I think the only answer is the same as it's always been - action & direct solidarity; support left wing and non-reactionary Jewish groups, build multi-faith and multi-racial networks, march against fascists in the streets and fight them together when it comes to that.
And if it gets really fucking bad try and help them escape persecution. A Jewish comrade I worked with on some projects was asked disapprovingly by his parents why he was helping try and start a network of religious refuges to stop attempted deportations mostly of people from Syria. He told his parents that it was because that's what good people did for the Jews in the past. They apparently didn't quite accept that answer so he said he told them that it was also because if it ever got really bad for Jewish people in this country then they could use it too. Better to be prepared and that answer they understood.
Yes, he was worse than the actual Labour leadership on grovelling and apologising for the party and helping give that cancerous story room to spread.
I am really worried that there will be some very nasty unintended consequences because of this for Jewish people. Do you have any suggestions for what we can do to help Jewish people out if something like that happens?
Me too. For all the stick I get for my bluntness or admitting that the swirl of absurd accusation in the culture at the moment has even started to numb me to claims of antisemitism, I'm profoundly concerned for Jewish family and comrades, most of whom wouldn't ever consider the Israeli government or any of cynical or zealot groups that claim to represent British jews as allies.
I think the only answer is the same as it's always been - action & direct solidarity; support left wing and non-reactionary Jewish groups, build multi-faith and multi-racial networks, march against fascists in the streets and fight them together when it comes to that.
And if it gets really fucking bad try and help them escape persecution. A Jewish comrade I worked with on some projects was asked disapprovingly by his parents why he was helping try and start a network of religious refuges to stop attempted deportations mostly of people from Syria. He told his parents that it was because that's what good people did for the Jews in the past. They apparently didn't quite accept that answer so he said he told them that it was also because if it ever got really bad for Jewish people in this country then they could use it too. Better to be prepared and that answer they understood.