JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: BRITISH RABBI JONATHAN SACKS IS AT IT AGAIN COMPARING JEREMY CORBYN TO ENOCH POWELL - NOW ADDING THE THREAT OF JEWS LEAVING BRITAIN - TIRESOME MUCH-REPEATED AND DISHONEST STUFF JUST AS SEVERAL COMMENTS TO WHICH I RESPOND - THE DECENT GILAD ALTZMON A JEW AND A HUMANIST IS ALSO CALLED "ANTI-SEMITIC"

John Chuckman


COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT



“Labour antisemitism causing British Jews to consider leaving country, says leading rabbi

“Jonathan Sacks insists he needed to 'issue warning' by comparing Jeremy Corbyn to Enoch Powell”



Jonathan Sacks is a tiresome, repetitive act in the theater of the absurd.

And this silly idea of British Jews leaving Britain has been pushed from the beginning of the orchestrated attacks on Corbyn, especially over at The Guardian, which did several articles in the last year or so on the theme, each by a separate person supposedly thinking about leaving the country.

But we don't see people leaving a large and dynamic society where Jews flourish, such as Britain, for a troubled and troubling place like Israel. Indeed, that wouldn’t make much sense in many ways.

Of course, if the Rabbi wanted to set an example, he could, and I don’t mean making a visit, I mean moving permanently, but that seems highly unlikely.

It all reminds me of all the Hollywood types who said they would leave the United States if Trump were elected. Not one has yet been spotted in Canada or Argentina.

The fair and decent-minded Gilad Altzmon, himself Jewish, has treated this very subject:

https://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/

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Response to a comment:

Yes, indeed, but people are so afraid of speaking out on any matter of this nature.

In effect, the Rabbi takes advantage of this fear to spout nonsense.

Hiding behind a clerical collar, of any faith, to advocate narrow-interest politics, negative attack politics yet, is unacceptable to fair-minded people.

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Response to a comment:

Sorry, but you really do have it so wrong.

Israel, sadly, has long ago joined the ranks of the bad guys.

It did so for the same motives as so many bad guys, to increase its size and influence at the direct expense of others.

Constantly starting conflicts, threatening others, holding millions in oppression and abuse, and following in no sense whatever the rule of law that is expected of every nation.

If there indeed has been any increase in anti-Semitism in the world - and I seriously doubt that, at least in any place I’ve been - it would not be owing to the decent likes of Jeremy Corbyn.

It would unquestionably be owing to the savagery of someone like Netanyahu.

He has killed at least four thousand people in Gaza, including about a thousand children.

He keeps the people penned up in something resembling a concentration camp, not even allowing them to repair the terrible bombing damage and the effects of derivation.

And he lies and cheats constantly.

The people of Gaza are treated every bit as terribly as the Rohingya of Burma.

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Response to a comment calling Gilad Altzmon an anti-Semite:

That is the same kind of cheap slander used against Corbyn.

He simply is not, but he is critical of Israel, as he has every right to be.

These slanders do tend to become ridiculous.

Altzmon, who is Jewish and a humanist, is an "anti-Semite"?

Corbyn, who has a lifetime of defending rights and decency is an "anti-Semite"?

The absurdity speaks for itself.

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Response to a comment quoting a sentence to support the idea of Gilad Altzmon being an anti-Semite:

He was using the word in a special sense.

I read him every now and then, and I would never read anyone who promoted hatred of anyone.

I just have no interest in hate or stupidity or prejudice.

Altzmon’s is a decent voice overall.

You know, you can always find little lines or phrases from anyone who writes or speaks a lot that seem questionable in isolation.

But your quoting that, out of context completely, is just the kind of unfair activity being conducted daily against Corbyn. There's no fairness or honest research effort in it. No effort to seek truth.

And speaking of awful quotes, how about General Dayan, following his conquest in the Six Day War, saying the Palestinian residents would have to be made to feel so terrible, they would leave?

Well, that’s just what Israel’s government has done for half a century.

Or Golda Meir’s “There’s no such thing as a Palestinian.” No such thing as six million people? But that too has provided a template for the government of Israel’s behavior.