From Newsgroup: alt.buddha.short.fat.guy

When an Islamist attack on a synagogue in my home city of Manchester
left two dead, I responded by writing about the failure of some parts of
the pro-Palestine movement to distance themselves from Jew hate.

It was a leftish argument, I thought. I condemned racist murders rCo in
this case the racist murders of Jews. (And the left rCo indeed any sane
person rCo is against that, arenrCOt they?). I pointed out that the anti-Israel demonstrators, who have filled the streets for two years did
not cancel their protests as a mark of respect for the dead as the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, had asked. If they werenrCOt inciting
violence, they would have had every right to ignore Mahmood. But listen
to their chants: rCyGlobalise the intifadarCO; surely a call to arms. rCyPalestine will be free from the river to the searCO; a slogan that can
only mean the expulsion of all Jews living between the Mediterranean and
the River Jordan.

If the protestors were serious about abjuring racism, they would make a
stand. But I went on to look at how the Palestine Solidarity Campaign
would not even fully define antisemitism, and argued that, if it did not define it, it could not police it.

Nothing I wrote could be construed as justifying the disgraceful
attempts by Israelis prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers
to brand calls for a two-state solution as antisemitic. That is not antisemitism. rCyNor is it in any way racist to deplore the reduction of
Gaza to a charnel house of rubble and bones,rCO I wrote.

In a decision I am sure I will regret, I even praised the Green party
because it, at least, warns its members about the dangers of EuroperCOs
oldest hatred.

I filed my copy and took my son for a long walk in the Essex
countryside. As chance would have it, we ended up in Epping, where the sectarianism that envelops this unhappy nation was made flesh by beery
geezers with union flags looking for a confrontation with asylum seekers.

I switched on my phone and found that my X feed had gone haywire. JK
Rowling had tweeted a quote from the piece:

rCyPro-Palestinian demonstrators couldnrCOt give it a rest rCo not even for 24 hours. They were chanting all the old slogans and ducking all the hard questions. rCyGlobalise the intifada,rCO they cried rCo does that mean killing Jews in Manchester @NickCohen4rCO

What followed was a mass denial of incitement to racial violence. The
last time I looked, the tweet had 16 million views, so I must be careful
about generalising. Because she refuses to cut her conscience to fit
this yearrCOs fashions and will not deny the reality of biological sex, Rowling attracts extraordinary levels of hatred.

But that said, the reaction to her tweet showed the dangers Jews face.
On and on the abuse went through thousands of replies. I think my
patience with her critics snapped when the former porn star Mia Khalifa screamed at Rowling to rCyShut up you f*cking c*nt.rCO

Honestly, I thought, is that your best shot?

Remember the piece was about the failure of parts of the left to
confront, or even acknowledge, the existence of anti-Jewish racism. The failure meant that they were ignorant of the dangers of inciting
thoughts of terrorist violence in the minds of fanatics.

What does it say about our times that these concerns are viewed as
wholly reprehensible by people who think of themselves as utterly
respectable?

The broadcaster Richard Bacon beat his chest and asked Rowling: rCyDid you read the UN report into conditions for women and children in Gaza?rCO as
if deaths in Gaza excused deaths in Manchester.

Others claimed that RowlingrCOs tweet showed she rCywasnrCOt on the side of the PalestiniansrCO. Chris Williamson, once a Labour MP, now a comrade of George GallowayrCOs, declared: rCyWhat an utterly deplorable post from @jk_rowling. Israel is committing a genocide, but JK Rowling wants
people calling on the UK to stop Israel killing babies to rCygive it a rest.rCO You are one sick woman.rCO

Of course, her trans stance was thrown back in her face repeatedly, as
if it had anything to do with the matter at hand. For tactical as much
as moral reasons, IsraelrCOs opponents ought to be able to dismiss the
claim that they are inciting anti-Jewish hate as a grotesque smear. It
is the charge that Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies constantly throw at
them. Surely, they should want to squash it?

But instead of acknowledging the dangers and covering their backs, they
called Rowling rCysickrCO or worse rCo or, in the case of Bacon and others, they pretend that caring about dying babies in Gaza and dying Jews in Manchester is an either/or choice.

Rowling is British and like everyone else in the UK has a right to worry
about terrorist violence in her own country. Of course, the death toll
here will be as nothing when set against deaths in Israel and Gaza. But rCyhererCO is where we live, and parochial though our concerns may be, rCyhererCO is where we must preserve the peace.

The men and women who propel the anti-Israel demonstrations canrCOt do it because they cannot break from the authentically antisemitic movements
of Islamist fanatics, from Hamas to the Iranian regime. Nor can they
accept that the failure to face up to the extremists they so
unthinkingly mimic has been a disaster for the Palestinian cause.

As it is, tens of millions around the world have cheered on a doomed
extremist project that has brought nothing but misery to Jews and Arabs
alike. That sound you hear from the streets is not a triumphant battle
cry but a howl of impotent despair.

Imagine that, instead of calling for a globalisation of the intifada and
the purging of Jews rCyfrom the river to the searCO, the global left had rejected HamasrCOs all-or-nothing agenda and concentrated on the moderate demand that Israel uproot its settlements on the West Bank and grant a Palestinian state.

True, they would have denied themselves the pleasurable thrill the
prospect of violence and revolution brings. But there should be no
pleasure in condemning others to do your fighting and dying for you.


Nick Cohen
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.buddha.short.fat.guy

On 10/9/2025 2:25 AM, Julian wrote:

When an Islamist attack on a synagogue in my home city of Manchester
left two dead, I responded by writing about the failure of some parts of
the pro-Palestine movement to distance themselves from Jew hate.

It was a leftish argument, I thought. I condemned racist murders rCo in
this case the racist murders of Jews. (And the left rCo indeed any sane person rCo is against that, arenrCOt they?). I pointed out that the anti- Israel demonstrators, who have filled the streets for two years did not cancel their protests as a mark of respect for the dead as the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, had asked. If they werenrCOt inciting
violence, they would have had every right to ignore Mahmood. But listen
to their chants: rCyGlobalise the intifadarCO; surely a call to arms. rCyPalestine will be free from the river to the searCO; a slogan that can only mean the expulsion of all Jews living between the Mediterranean and
the River Jordan.

If the protestors were serious about abjuring racism, they would make a stand. But I went on to look at how the Palestine Solidarity Campaign
would not even fully define antisemitism, and argued that, if it did not define it, it could not police it.

Nothing I wrote could be construed as justifying the disgraceful
attempts by Israelis prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers
to brand calls for a two-state solution as antisemitic. That is not antisemitism. rCyNor is it in any way racist to deplore the reduction of Gaza to a charnel house of rubble and bones,rCO I wrote.

In a decision I am sure I will regret, I even praised the Green party because it, at least, warns its members about the dangers of EuroperCOs oldest hatred.

I filed my copy and took my son for a long walk in the Essex
countryside. As chance would have it, we ended up in Epping, where the sectarianism that envelops this unhappy nation was made flesh by beery geezers with union flags looking for a confrontation with asylum seekers.

I switched on my phone and found that my X feed had gone haywire. JK
Rowling had tweeted a quote from the piece:

rCyPro-Palestinian demonstrators couldnrCOt give it a rest rCo not even for 24
hours. They were chanting all the old slogans and ducking all the hard questions. rCyGlobalise the intifada,rCO they cried rCo does that mean killing
Jews in Manchester @NickCohen4rCO

What followed was a mass denial of incitement to racial violence. The
last time I looked, the tweet had 16 million views, so I must be careful about generalising. Because she refuses to cut her conscience to fit
this yearrCOs fashions and will not deny the reality of biological sex, Rowling attracts extraordinary levels of hatred.

But that said, the reaction to her tweet showed the dangers Jews face.
On and on the abuse went through thousands of replies. I think my
patience with her critics snapped when the former porn star Mia Khalifa screamed at Rowling to rCyShut up you f*cking c*nt.rCO

Honestly, I thought, is that your best shot?

Remember the piece was about the failure of parts of the left to
confront, or even acknowledge, the existence of anti-Jewish racism. The failure meant that they were ignorant of the dangers of inciting
thoughts of terrorist violence in the minds of fanatics.

What does it say about our times that these concerns are viewed as
wholly reprehensible by people who think of themselves as utterly respectable?

The broadcaster Richard Bacon beat his chest and asked Rowling: rCyDid you read the UN report into conditions for women and children in Gaza?rCO as
if deaths in Gaza excused deaths in Manchester.

Others claimed that RowlingrCOs tweet showed she rCywasnrCOt on the side of the PalestiniansrCO. Chris Williamson, once a Labour MP, now a comrade of George GallowayrCOs, declared: rCyWhat an utterly deplorable post from @jk_rowling. Israel is committing a genocide, but JK Rowling wants
people calling on the UK to stop Israel killing babies to rCygive it a rest.rCO You are one sick woman.rCO

Of course, her trans stance was thrown back in her face repeatedly, as
if it had anything to do with the matter at hand. For tactical as much
as moral reasons, IsraelrCOs opponents ought to be able to dismiss the
claim that they are inciting anti-Jewish hate as a grotesque smear. It
is the charge that Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies constantly throw at them. Surely, they should want to squash it?

But instead of acknowledging the dangers and covering their backs, they called Rowling rCysickrCO or worse rCo or, in the case of Bacon and others, they pretend that caring about dying babies in Gaza and dying Jews in Manchester is an either/or choice.

Rowling is British and like everyone else in the UK has a right to worry about terrorist violence in her own country. Of course, the death toll
here will be as nothing when set against deaths in Israel and Gaza. But rCyhererCO is where we live, and parochial though our concerns may be, rCyhererCO is where we must preserve the peace.

The men and women who propel the anti-Israel demonstrations canrCOt do it because they cannot break from the authentically antisemitic movements
of Islamist fanatics, from Hamas to the Iranian regime. Nor can they
accept that the failure to face up to the extremists they so
unthinkingly mimic has been a disaster for the Palestinian cause.

As it is, tens of millions around the world have cheered on a doomed extremist project that has brought nothing but misery to Jews and Arabs alike. That sound you hear from the streets is not a triumphant battle
cry but a howl of impotent despair.

Imagine that, instead of calling for a globalisation of the intifada and
the purging of Jews rCyfrom the river to the searCO, the global left had rejected HamasrCOs all-or-nothing agenda and concentrated on the moderate demand that Israel uproot its settlements on the West Bank and grant a Palestinian state.

True, they would have denied themselves the pleasurable thrill the
prospect of violence and revolution brings. But there should be no
pleasure in condemning others to do your fighting and dying for you.

Nick Cohen

You just can't make this stuff up!
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2