- Bob Pitt - Has the Labour left subjected Luciana Berger to hatespeak and death threats? Archived Message
Posted by johnhol
on March 26, 2019, 6:57 pm
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Begins: Matt Carr recently published an excellent article (“Are you or have you ever been an antisemite?”) on his Infernal Machine blog in which he patiently took apart the apparently never ending and still escalating moral panic over the so-called “antisemitism crisis” in the Labour Party. In circumstances where otherwise sensible liberal journalists have been swept away by the ongoing witch-hunting hysteria, it was a relief to find an article on the subject by a writer who retains a respect for empirical evidence and a capacity for rational thought. Matt Carr did recognise that genuine antisemitism can be found on the left, for example when opposition to the crimes committed by the state of Israel crosses over into hostility towards the Jewish people in whose name it claims to be acting, or in the form of “‘tropes’, about ‘zionazis’, Rothschilds, international banking conspiracies, undue Jewish influence over domestic politics etc”. He was right about that. However, he also gave credence to dubious claims that Luciana Berger, who broke from the Labour Party last month with a disparate bunch of rightwing malcontents to found the new Independent Group, had been the victim of racist abuse and threats of violence from the Labour left. “At its most extreme”, he wrote, “leftwing antisemitism may take the form of the vicious hatespeak and death threats directed at Jewish MPs such as Luciana Berger.” When I asked Matt what evidence he had to back up the claim that the former Labour MP had been subjected to vicious hatespeak and death threats from leftwingers, he replied: “According to Berger two of the six people convicted of sending death threats were leftwing.” Apparently this story of leftwingers threatening Berger has now become accepted wisdom, even among those who otherwise express a healthy scepticism towards the prevailing narrative about antisemitism in the Labour Party. So it’s worth subjecting the story to a critical assessment. Continues: https://medium.com/@pitt_bob/has-the-labour-left-subjected-luciana-berger-to-hatespeak-and-death-threats-146598226313?fbclid=IwAR22mO1z8x-rsR8CNbohbqbL67d4DDM3hWEK8-P-gJMTCZnvqLGoklrxz40 |
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