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    Jones responds (sort of) to accusations of a/s hypocrisy 📂 Archived Message

    Posted by Ian M on May 23, 2021, 12:04 pm

    J.Cook made the same point I did below about OJ's sudden ability to recognise a bad faith accusation of a/s:

    https://twitter.com/Jonathan_K_Cook/status/1395874872417468417

    'Jonathan Cook @Jonathan_K_Cook

    Owen Jones suddenly sensitive to the weaponisation of antisemitism – when the smear-merchants come after him. Presumably Jones expects our solidarity, even though he denied it to the earlier victims of these demonisation campaigns' -

    [quote text] Owen Jones @OwenJones84
    ·
    Antisemitism is one of the world’s greatest ever horrors.

    There is nothing antisemitic about interviewing an 18 year old Palestinian girl talking about being bombed by the Israeli state.

    These accounts know that, and are playing a cynical and disturbing game.

    Quote Tweet
    unit 8200 UK handler@HUnit8200

    Sooner or later, back on the antisemitic bandwagon. twitter.com/owenjones84/st… '

    A well-deserved pile-on in the comments which Jones feels obliged to respond to (while not addressing Cook's post directly):

    peter cave @flossopher
    Replying to @Jonathan_K_Cook and @r1tch2e

    Quite so, JC - Owen J just added to the flames of hysteria against Corbyn as antisemitic, when manifestly Corbyn is not.

    Owen Jones @OwenJones84 Replying to @flossopher

    @Jonathan_K_Cook and @r1tch2e
    Where did do this? I consistently defended Corbyn against all accusations of antisemitism so what do you mean exactly?

    vivien may @vivienne34may
    ·
    First they came for....Jackie Walker, Chris Williamson, not to mention thousands of labour party activists, and still there's a spare bus for you.

    Owen Jones @OwenJones84
    ·
    Ah, so you mean I supported action taken by Corbyn and his key ally Jennie Formby. You’re right, I did and I still do.

    shannon ribbons @shamusr001
    ·
    They were forced to make examples of those people because of the hysteria created by the media and factions hostile to his politics. A balanced view would have acknowledged that rather than cheering the pile on.

    Owen Jones @OwenJones84
    ·
    Oh I see, so you argue without any evidence that they took this action involuntarily and I'm part of the witch hunt against Corbyn by supporting him and Formby taking action against these people. Do you realise how absurd that is as an argument

    shannon ribbons @shamusr001
    ·
    I didn't actually say you were part of the witch hunt, i don't know about that, my comment was about how the expulsions were forced and the media just clapped the gaining of scalps without a balanced view of what (esp. Williamson) was actually saying & whether it was antisemitic

    shannon ribbons @shamusr001
    ·
    & Williamson if memory serves had plenty of Jewish commentators supporting him. Why are you so happy he was expelled?

    Owen Jones @OwenJones84
    ·
    They both correctly had action taken against them by the Corbyn leadership and I am proud to have supported that action.

    SpreadWhiz @SpreadWhiz
    ·
    I'd encourage you to reconsider that pride. At its core, from the very beginning, this was a bad-faith attack on the left wing of Labour.

    SpreadWhiz @SpreadWhiz
    ·
    It's understandable that Corbyn felt like the least worst option was to be at least somewhat responsive to this pile-on given how resonant it came to be, but he failed to recognize that nothing would ever placate the right.

    shannon ribbons @shamusr001
    ·
    Exactly. There was never going to be a line drawn under it and it just weakened him more imo     - https://twitter.com/flossopher/status/1395885391417384963

    and:

    Charlie Otto @charlie__otto
    Replying to @Jonathan_K_Cook

    that's why your solidarity with him might be extra effective

    Owen Jones @OwenJones84
    Replying to @charlie__otto and @Jonathan_K_Cook

    I don’t want his solidarity! I’ve had this thrown at me long before Corbyn became leader     https://spectator.co.uk/article/owen-jones-is-lying-about-israel-plain-and-simple-

    I’ve consistently opposed antisemitism where it exists and consistently opposed cynical and baseless claims. If that angers you, I don’t want your solidarity

    Owen Jones is lying about Israel. Plain and simple. | The Spectator
    Owen Jones’s column in the Guardian is headlined ‘Anti-Jewish hatred is rising - we must see it for what it is.’ Sadly the article falls well short of that headline's aspiration. At one point in the...
    spectator.co.uk     - https://twitter.com/charlie__otto/status/1395919611212836867

    and:

    WillSukDeek4Oil@Deek4Oil
    Replying to @Jonathan_K_Cook and @jmcevoy_2
    He turned a blind eye to the smear campaign against Corbyn and other pro Palestinian MPs

    Now he’s noticing it. I don’t buy it, a very dishonest and unprincipled human being

    Owen Jones @OwenJones84
    Replying to @Deek4Oil @Jonathan_K_Cook and @jmcevoy_2

    I love how this thread is full of tweets making claims they have absolutely no evidence for whatsoever. What, like this?

    The Corbyn wreath ‘scandal’ is just an exercise in hypocrisy | Owen Jones
    Showing solidarity with Palestinians courts condemnation, while complicity in the Israeli occupation is seen as acceptable, says Guardian columnist Owen Jones
    theguardian.com     - https://twitter.com/Deek4Oil/status/1395882605011251206

    He felt obliged to tweet this out, again not referencing J.Cook's post:

    Owen Jones Rose@OwenJones84

    The position I’ve always had is to call out genuine antisemitism where it does exist, and to rebuff politically driven false accusations, like this https://theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/14/corbyn-wreath-terror-victims-memorial-israel-palestinian

    This was always the correct position and not one I’m going to apologise for, ever.

    Quote Tweet
    Arson Archer@Daniel4rcher
    Replying to @OwenJones84

    First they came for... Etc etc.

    If you'd grown a backbone 4-5 years ago these accusations would get no traction and would be treated with the disdain they deserve. Instead you were on your high horse pointing fingers, sharing ridiculous "guides" to anti-Semitic language. Kismet.     - https://twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/1396019802142121984

    They don't like it up 'em! From the graun article he links to in his defense:

    'Sometimes there is a need for plain speaking, and this is one such moment. Labour has bungled its response to the antisemitic fringe on the left of the party, needlessly haemorrhaging goodwill with Britain’s Jewish communities. But that is a separate issue from the stigmatising of legitimate expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people. For those of us who believe that challenging antisemitism and supporting Palestinian solidarity are not mutually exclusive, they spring from the same desire for justice and equality.

    [...]

    And here’s where moral clarity is needed. Antisemitism exists, it is a menace, and frightens Jews traumatised by the all too recent Holocaust. Labour must show far greater leadership in tackling antisemitism in the party and rooting out every and any antisemite. But that should not detract from the just cause of showing solidarity with the Palestinian people.'     - https://www.dumptheguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/14/corbyn-wreath-terror-victims-memorial-israel-palestinian

    So, still completely blind to the possibility that Zionist Jews might be claiming in bad faith to be 'frightened' because of trauma from the nazi holocaust when it comes to leftists expressing rational, evidence-backed criticism of the state of Israel and its policy of ethnically cleansing the Palestinians. As far as I know Jones has never mentioned the various studies showing the true, minuscule extent of genuine a/s opinions in the labour party. It didn't make it into his book, at least:

    'Jones accepts that ‘the former leadership and the vast majority of Labour’s membership abhor antisemitism’, arguing that the problem lay with a ‘small minority’. (p.254) But Jones does not cite an October 2016 report by the Commons home affairs committee, which found:

    ‘Despite significant press and public attention on the Labour Party, and a number of revelations regarding inappropriate social media content, there exists no reliable, empirical evidence to support the notion that there is a higher prevalence of antisemitic attitudes within the Labour Party than any other political party.’

    And he does not cite a September 2017 report by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, which found:

    ‘Levels of antisemitism among those on the left-wing of the political spectrum, including the far-left, are indistinguishable from those found in the general population… The most antisemitic group on the political spectrum consists of those who identify as very right-wing: the presence of antisemitic attitudes in this group is 2 to 4 times higher compared to the general population.’

    Instead, Jones pours scorn on leftists who ‘still were in denial, claiming that the antisemitism crisis had been entirely manufactured by a media “out to get” Corbyn…’ (p.254)

    Rational commentators have always accepted that antisemitism exists within the Labour Party. The point is that making that ugly reality a ‘crisis’ specifically for Labour, rather than for other parties and other sectors of society, and above all making it a ‘crisis’ for Corbyn – reviled as a dangerous antisemite – was entirely manufactured.'     - https://www.medialens.org/2020/guardian-friendly-omissions-this-land-by-owen-jones/

    Also hiding behind the fact Corbyn & Formby also indulged the witchhunt is pathetic - of course they did because the entire media & political culture, including Jones & his employer, was screaming at them to DO SOMETHING about the a/s 'problem' (not that this absolves them of responsibility for caving in and denouncing their allies).

    I don't think he'll ever get it or apologise, certainly not while he retains his cushy position at graun towers and stays in bed with the labour centrists and sell-outs.

    jeers,
    I

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