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Category: Britain

antisemitism Britain Israel USA 

The west’s antisemitism crisis

Melanie, , ,

Antisemitism is now a major issue in the West. In Britain, there are continuing convulsions over rampant antisemitism in the Labour Party. In America, there was outrage over the presence of the virulent Jew-hater Louis Farrakhan at Aretha Franklin’s funeral. In France and other European countries, Jews are under siege from violent Muslims. The really disturbing thing, though, is that so many are not outraged by this. For a troubling number of people, antisemitism is no longer considered a big deal. Either it is denied or minimized, as in Europe,…

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Masculinity Britain Culture wars 

Turning masculinity into an accessory to crime

Melanie, ,

Turning masculinity into an accessory to crime The Labour MP Stella Creasy wants to make misogyny a hate crime. Misogyny is defined as hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. Far from creating a more decent, civilised society, existing hate crimes have helped promote a climate of intolerance, bullying and social division based on suspicion, recrimination and blame. Making misogyny a crime presupposes that male attitudes to women need to be regulated in and of themselves. It therefore makes men the enemy, not just of women but of decent…

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children Britain 

It takes courage to say what’s best for a child

Melanie, ,

One of the great film performances is about to hit British cinemas. The Children Act, which is based on Ian McEwan’s novel and goes on release on August 24, is a magnificent film with a mesmerising and intensely moving piece of acting by Emma Thompson. She plays a family court judge, Fiona Maye, who must decide where the best interests of a 17-year-old leukaemia sufferer lie when his Jehovah’s Witness beliefs forbid the blood transfusion that will save his life. The novel has been viewed principally as an examination of…

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antisemitism Britain 

UK Jewish community leaders lose the plot on antisemitism, hate and lies

Melanie, , ,

The Jewish community leadership has been pleading with the Labour Party to deal properly with antisemitism and become again the party of moral decency. Surely no-one in the Jewish leadership believes this will happen? Even if the party adopts the full International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition, does anyone really think its antisemitism will then go away? The core problem goes way beyond Labour. It is that the new antisemitism, expressed through virulent anti-Israelism, is now the defining motif for “progressive” circles. This attitude intrinsically repudiates the unique right of the…

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ethics Britain Culture wars 

It’s not the role of judges to reconfigure basic medical ethics

Melanie, ,

End-of-life issues pose some of the most difficult dilemmas in medical ethics. The Supreme Court confirmed yesterday that doctors can withdraw clinically assisted nutrition and hydration from a profoundly brain-damaged patient, if the family agrees, without permission from a court. The case cuts straight to the increasingly contentious issue of whether people should be “allowed to die”. Is this actually a euphemism for killing someone? Proponents say it is the right thing to do if a patient’s life no longer corresponds to the idea of living. Who, though, is entitled…

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frenzy Britain 

The Tommy Robinson circus of fools

Melanie, , ,

Tommy Robinson, the anti-Islam activist, has been freed on bail by the Court of Appeal which has quashed his contempt of court order and ordered a retrial. His supporters are crowing that this proves they were right all along. No, it most certainly does not; quite the contrary. But their reaction shows that there is simply no evidence that will ever persuade a conspiracy theorist that he or she is wrong. Let’s go through this, shall we. Robinson (real name, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) was found to be in contempt of court…

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Labour party antisemitism Britain 

Labour antisemitism: the skies are darkening even more

Melanie, , ,

British Jews can be forgiven for feeling punch-drunk. Almost every day, it seems, brings yet another hallucinatory example of darkening antisemitism in the Labour party. Item. Damien Enticott, a Labour local councillor, was suspended by the party after grossly antisemitic posts were found on his Facebook account. These included an image claiming that as part of a “Jewish ritual they drink blood” with the comment: “This is done only by Talmud Jews. Talmud Jews are parasites! They also believe any child over 3 years old that isn’t a Jew should…

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Britain Israel USA 

Israel gets the nation-state right while the west fumbles with identity

Melanie, , ,

Two utterly fundamental and seismic issues are threatening to tear apart Britain, Europe and America. They are mass immigration and national identity. The majority of Jews in Britain and America are warmly disposed towards the former and terrified of the latter. They have got it precisely the wrong way round. Diaspora Jews have a Pavlovian response to immigration. This is entirely understandable: the vast majority, myself included, are the descendants of immigrants and refugees. Jews are also commanded in the Torah not to wrong or oppress a stranger “for you…

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UK Britain 

The second shoe drops in the Brexit coup

Melanie, , ,

In her 2016 Conservative party leadership speech, Theresa May said this: “I will create a new government department responsible for conducting Britain’s negotiation with the EU and for supporting the rest of Whitehall in its European work. That department will be led by a senior Secretary of State – and I will make sure that the position is taken by a Member of Parliament who campaigned for Britain to leave the EU.” Her first appointment as Brexit Secretary was the Brexiteer David Davis. When earlier this month he resigned from…

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communism Britain Culture wars 

Communism isn’t cool; it’s a murderous creed

Melanie, ,

Communism isn’t cool; it’s a murderous creed Comrades! You have a funky new star. When the Corbynite lecturer Ash Sarkar appeared last week on ITV’s Good Morning Britain to discuss protests against President Trump’s visit, she told the presenter Piers Morgan: “I’m literally a communist.” As a result, she’s become literally a media sensation. Interviewed by Teen Vogue, she enlightened its doubtless surprised readers about Karl Marx’s early and obscure critique of capitalism, Die Grundrisse. Elle magazine declared Sarkar was “literally a communist and literally our hero!” So now you can be a communist and cool. Who…

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