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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Zach Polanski is evil thread 2

315 replies

Whysnothingsimple · 01/05/2026 15:51

As this is a developing story it’s worth continuing here

link to first thread https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5523621-zach-polanski-is-evil

OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
callmej · 03/05/2026 17:28

Cathandkin · 03/05/2026 17:10

Oh there was a whole thread on this yesterday. People don't understand what policing is like.

I try and stay away from threads like this as I find them upsetting. And I'm not even Jewish. I do find it difficult that MN allows so much naked antisemitism here, but I suppose it is important to see their 'logic'. But I had a comment removed from a similar thread about the Green Party as I suggested that people voting for them might be... um... (rhymes with 'bassist' 🫣). They told me that as some people had said they were going to vote for them, my comment constituted a personal attack. Which I did find a bit peculiar, as I'm sure I've seen many posts left up calling Reform voters the same and worse...

PS I'm not a Reform voter - my deleted comment actually said they and the Greens are just as bad as each other. (Even though I've personally not heard Reform come out with anything close to as hideous as what I've heard from the Green Party.) But regardless, both are beyond the pale and I strongly judge anyone who would consider voting for either. Even if I can't call them names.

Cathandkin · 03/05/2026 17:31

callmej · 03/05/2026 17:28

I try and stay away from threads like this as I find them upsetting. And I'm not even Jewish. I do find it difficult that MN allows so much naked antisemitism here, but I suppose it is important to see their 'logic'. But I had a comment removed from a similar thread about the Green Party as I suggested that people voting for them might be... um... (rhymes with 'bassist' 🫣). They told me that as some people had said they were going to vote for them, my comment constituted a personal attack. Which I did find a bit peculiar, as I'm sure I've seen many posts left up calling Reform voters the same and worse...

PS I'm not a Reform voter - my deleted comment actually said they and the Greens are just as bad as each other. (Even though I've personally not heard Reform come out with anything close to as hideous as what I've heard from the Green Party.) But regardless, both are beyond the pale and I strongly judge anyone who would consider voting for either. Even if I can't call them names.

Yes, there have been some awful threads. Last night a particular bad one; minimising and denying what's happening to Jewish people in the UK, and completely blind to the serious problems in the Green Party.
It's not great in UK politics at the moment, is it?

inamarina · 03/05/2026 17:34

IrisDaisyMarigoldLillyRose · 03/05/2026 16:29

Ffs how can a Jewish man be an antisemite? Just get over him!

Can a woman have misogynist views? Or support others who have them?

callmej · 03/05/2026 17:37

Cathandkin · 03/05/2026 17:31

Yes, there have been some awful threads. Last night a particular bad one; minimising and denying what's happening to Jewish people in the UK, and completely blind to the serious problems in the Green Party.
It's not great in UK politics at the moment, is it?

It's terrifying. I like to believe they're all bots. But then you see the marches, and that people are genuinely thinking of voting for people like this. We have allowed some very, very dark shadows to spread, and it's difficult to see how to dislodge without causing severe unrest. Scary times ahead. This is not a country I would currently choose to bet on tbh.

Cathandkin · 03/05/2026 17:40

callmej · 03/05/2026 17:37

It's terrifying. I like to believe they're all bots. But then you see the marches, and that people are genuinely thinking of voting for people like this. We have allowed some very, very dark shadows to spread, and it's difficult to see how to dislodge without causing severe unrest. Scary times ahead. This is not a country I would currently choose to bet on tbh.

I think the atmosphere got febrile. Things were chanted and slogans deployed with little reflection.
Polanski seems to me to be a bit like this, tweeting "in haste", using soundbites, not reflecting and responding with any measure of sensitivity or circumspection.

FailedToLaunch · 03/05/2026 17:41

I went down an unfortunate rabbit hole today of green councillors who had been pulled to task for antisemitism. Bloody hell, it's even worse than I suspected. The ' lovely ' Tina ion, candidate for blakelaw in Newcastle, has tweeted the most vile remarks regarding " Zionists " and what she believes should happen to them. They have a real problem don't they, it's endemic, not just a few rotten apples. How people can continue to lend their support is beyond me.

Hoardasurass · 03/05/2026 17:41

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

He's a sexist misogynistic moron. He's the leader of a party with more openly antisemitic twats, who are so stupid and racist that they openly post such blatant antisemitic troupes that 2 have been arrested just this week for inciting racial hate and malicious communications.
Nobody is being falsely accused of antisemitism for what they say or want to say, they are being correctly labelled as the hate filled bigots that they are.
The fact that you can't see this tells us all we need to know about your character

Whysnothingsimple · 03/05/2026 17:46

FailedToLaunch · 03/05/2026 17:41

I went down an unfortunate rabbit hole today of green councillors who had been pulled to task for antisemitism. Bloody hell, it's even worse than I suspected. The ' lovely ' Tina ion, candidate for blakelaw in Newcastle, has tweeted the most vile remarks regarding " Zionists " and what she believes should happen to them. They have a real problem don't they, it's endemic, not just a few rotten apples. How people can continue to lend their support is beyond me.

The problem is, they seem to be surrounded by an echo chamber of people who agree with them. If you read their supporters comments online they somehow think their anti semitism puts them on the right side of history. I think that many of them genuinely belief they’re right. It’s like 1930s Germany all over again!

what needs to happen is a massive investigation into the who party by external bodies and the most vile being imprisoned for their vile views. But then the issue is their disciples are so brainwashed that will be some “conspiracy against them

OP posts:
FailedToLaunch · 03/05/2026 17:59

Whysnothingsimple · 03/05/2026 17:46

The problem is, they seem to be surrounded by an echo chamber of people who agree with them. If you read their supporters comments online they somehow think their anti semitism puts them on the right side of history. I think that many of them genuinely belief they’re right. It’s like 1930s Germany all over again!

what needs to happen is a massive investigation into the who party by external bodies and the most vile being imprisoned for their vile views. But then the issue is their disciples are so brainwashed that will be some “conspiracy against them

And that's what it is - brainwashing. It's cult like. You can give these people as much re -education and lessons will be learned rhetoric as you like, but ultimately you're dealing with the much larger problem of radicalisation. No politician seems to want to call it for what it is.

callmej · 03/05/2026 18:00

Cathandkin · 03/05/2026 17:40

I think the atmosphere got febrile. Things were chanted and slogans deployed with little reflection.
Polanski seems to me to be a bit like this, tweeting "in haste", using soundbites, not reflecting and responding with any measure of sensitivity or circumspection.

I think I could believe that when all this started. But after the attacks, after the murders, after the Jewish community and every right-minded person has pointed out that calls for 'anti-Zionism', 'intifada', 'jihad' and 'from the river to the sea to be [presumably palestinian, who have repeatedly voted overwhelmingly for the extinction of Jews]', is pretty fucking threatening, it's difficult to see how these people can be in any doubt at all what they're asking for. At best, you could argue they're only calling for the destruction of Israel, Israelis and anyone who supports Israel and Israelis, and they're happy for any 'good Jews' who publicly denounce Israel and Israelis to remain alive. For now.

And nothing's being done to stop it.

inamarina · 03/05/2026 18:00

Cathandkin · 03/05/2026 17:40

I think the atmosphere got febrile. Things were chanted and slogans deployed with little reflection.
Polanski seems to me to be a bit like this, tweeting "in haste", using soundbites, not reflecting and responding with any measure of sensitivity or circumspection.

“Febrile” is the right word for it.
When it comes to Iran, people seem mostly concerned about the energy prices, with not much thought given to the Iranian government and how it treats its own people.
Not much to say about the violent crackdown on protesters or the ongoing executions, but mention “Zionism” and those same people will rush to condemn it.

Cathandkin · 03/05/2026 18:09

callmej · 03/05/2026 18:00

I think I could believe that when all this started. But after the attacks, after the murders, after the Jewish community and every right-minded person has pointed out that calls for 'anti-Zionism', 'intifada', 'jihad' and 'from the river to the sea to be [presumably palestinian, who have repeatedly voted overwhelmingly for the extinction of Jews]', is pretty fucking threatening, it's difficult to see how these people can be in any doubt at all what they're asking for. At best, you could argue they're only calling for the destruction of Israel, Israelis and anyone who supports Israel and Israelis, and they're happy for any 'good Jews' who publicly denounce Israel and Israelis to remain alive. For now.

And nothing's being done to stop it.

Good points

Cathandkin · 03/05/2026 18:10

inamarina · 03/05/2026 18:00

“Febrile” is the right word for it.
When it comes to Iran, people seem mostly concerned about the energy prices, with not much thought given to the Iranian government and how it treats its own people.
Not much to say about the violent crackdown on protesters or the ongoing executions, but mention “Zionism” and those same people will rush to condemn it.

Edited

Yes, I agree.

Hoardasurass · 03/05/2026 18:13

Skinnysaluki · 03/05/2026 11:24

I don’t actually want to get into arguing with you but I do like the idea of both liberal values and nuanced conversation so I am going to try.

Here are some things it is possible to believe at the same time:

  1. These stabbings, and the thinking that led to them, are appalling and the perpetrator should face punishment and never be allowed to do any such thing again. Our society cannot tolerate these behaviours.
  2. A perpetrator can also have been a victim of something- whether that be failings of mental health services, institutional racism or police brutality. That can also be part of the conversation, or how is such an event to be avoided in the future? (Either an antisemitic attack OR, as also sadly frequently occurs, an attack by a man known to prevent and/ or mental health services)

it would be great if the world was like a simple monochrome drawing but it isn’t

Edited

Except there was no police brutality. Nor do we have any evidence that he suffered institutionalised racism.
Was he failed by the mental health services quite probably as most people are these days unfortunately.
Did prevent fail in its duties to protect us from radicalised dangerous people yet again, absolutely.
None of this excuses ZP for his outrageous lies and manipulation of the situation for his own purposes,which makes him a truly despicable person

Aislyn · 03/05/2026 18:28

callmej · 03/05/2026 17:28

I try and stay away from threads like this as I find them upsetting. And I'm not even Jewish. I do find it difficult that MN allows so much naked antisemitism here, but I suppose it is important to see their 'logic'. But I had a comment removed from a similar thread about the Green Party as I suggested that people voting for them might be... um... (rhymes with 'bassist' 🫣). They told me that as some people had said they were going to vote for them, my comment constituted a personal attack. Which I did find a bit peculiar, as I'm sure I've seen many posts left up calling Reform voters the same and worse...

PS I'm not a Reform voter - my deleted comment actually said they and the Greens are just as bad as each other. (Even though I've personally not heard Reform come out with anything close to as hideous as what I've heard from the Green Party.) But regardless, both are beyond the pale and I strongly judge anyone who would consider voting for either. Even if I can't call them names.

This is a bizarre thing about the moderation here. Jews aren't allowed to say when someone is racist towards them. Others aren't allowed to say when someone is racist towards Jews. Pointing out other kinds of racism is fine though.

I have also seen posters who are openly racist towards Jews continue to post, with no moderation whatsoever. They do not even receive a temporary ban.

DierdreDaphne · 03/05/2026 18:32

IrisDaisyMarigoldLillyRose · 03/05/2026 16:29

Ffs how can a Jewish man be an antisemite? Just get over him!

The same way a woman can be a misogynist, if she moves in a misogynistic world and swallows what she hears about women uncritically, I imagine.

MaidMiriam · 03/05/2026 18:39

wecangoupupup · 03/05/2026 11:45

He was on sky news. He openly asked Trevor Phillips why his Jewish identity was being erased and Trevor responded with a very aggressive “don’t try that one on me”, I was disgusted.

He uses his Jewish identity to deny that his and his party's actions are contributing to rising Jew hatred. It's an argument that has as much validity as "some of my best friends are gay/black, so I can't be homophobic/racist."

Whysnothingsimple · 03/05/2026 18:42

The issue is much larger than the Green Party too. If you haven’t heard of it before look up the “new Puritanism” it’s often deemed a “godless religion” because for all intents and purposes it’s a religion but no supernatural figure head. But sometimes it has magical thinking, things that logically make no sense can suddenly be true. It has its own catechisms and commandments, breaking them is likely to lead to eternal damnation, not agreeing with them is likely to see you branded s heretic and excommunicated (cancelled), instead of branding you get doxed. Instead m

Rathet than “I believe in one God…” we have “transwomen are women”, “from the river to the sea” etc etc. think how there’s a massive decline in young people drinking

With the takeover of the Green Party this group who mainly existed online suddenly have a place to gather, their own temple.

in reality there’s no convincing them, they’ve been convinced they’re the chosen, the righteous.

The only way to control it is controlling online exposure, removing the ideology from schools and universities.

Our reference points should be Reformation Europe and 1930s Europe because we are seeing patterns we’ve seen before, patterns which lead to some of Europes darkest days.

OP posts:
Whysnothingsimple · 03/05/2026 18:48

Skinnysaluki · 03/05/2026 16:57

I don’t think someone who has been tasered is capable of much

Oh they really can! Recently a man near here was tasered twice, was PAVA’d and he still hospitalised a police officer and it took 4 large officers to get him into cuffs. So yes s person can be very much a danger after being tasered

OP posts:
callmej · 03/05/2026 19:02

Aislyn · 03/05/2026 18:28

This is a bizarre thing about the moderation here. Jews aren't allowed to say when someone is racist towards them. Others aren't allowed to say when someone is racist towards Jews. Pointing out other kinds of racism is fine though.

I have also seen posters who are openly racist towards Jews continue to post, with no moderation whatsoever. They do not even receive a temporary ban.

I found MN's reason: "Given that posters have expressed support for the party on thread, we removed this as a personal attack." I unfortunately didn't see it for a couple of days, else I would have pushed back and asked why in that case so many posts being extremely rude to and about Reform/Tory/Labour voters are allowed to stand. It does make me uneasy that it seems to only be Green voters who must not be criticised, especially when viewed alongside some of the horrific antisemitic posts that are apparently fine. Maybe this isn't a platform I really want to be supporting.

callmej · 03/05/2026 19:07

The only way to control it is controlling online exposure, removing the ideology from schools and universities.

But it's difficult to see how we can do this as they'll just believe it's the evil Zionists suppressing the truth, and believe even harder. It needed to be nipped in the bud years ago, when it really should have been evident which way the wind was blowing. But presumably the powers that be decided it would probably just sort itself out, hopefully... So did nothing. I have no idea how it can be cut out of society now.

callmej · 03/05/2026 19:10

callmej · 03/05/2026 19:02

I found MN's reason: "Given that posters have expressed support for the party on thread, we removed this as a personal attack." I unfortunately didn't see it for a couple of days, else I would have pushed back and asked why in that case so many posts being extremely rude to and about Reform/Tory/Labour voters are allowed to stand. It does make me uneasy that it seems to only be Green voters who must not be criticised, especially when viewed alongside some of the horrific antisemitic posts that are apparently fine. Maybe this isn't a platform I really want to be supporting.

Oh - I forgot to add, they did quote the offending part of my post... and it was only the part about the Greens. There was no mention of the second part of the post, which said how they were as bad as Reform, who were also [not terribly bright 'bassists']. That bit was apparently absolutely fine.

DinoDragon · 03/05/2026 19:10

While some no doubt will love the Green Party’s current direction, which seems to embrace anti-Semitism, for many of us, it is now irreparably tarnished. I saw a Green party poster in a window and a woman with a badge today and it made me so uncomfortable. The party, was once a symbol of ethical progress (a symbol), now feels untouchable and, yes, 'evil'. I admit that based on Zack Polanski's behaviour this week, I will eye anyone voting Green with suspicion.

RapunzelHadExtensions · 03/05/2026 19:12

NotAnotherScarf · 01/05/2026 16:02

And his non apology!!! Even his deputy has backed away.

Left wing twattery at its highest... anything the police do is wrong.

I'm a left wing police officer and I agree.

Those officers and the volunteer saved lives that day and should be given the George Cross. I'm a taser carrier and it's a lot harder than it looks, plus with adrenalin and fear, and the first few shots missing? They nailed it.

He refused multiple times to relinquish the knife. They have self defence just like any other member of the public.

In America he would have been shot.

Don't want to get kicked in the head? Put down the knife then.

KatiePricesKnickers · 03/05/2026 19:18

RapunzelHadExtensions · 03/05/2026 19:12

I'm a left wing police officer and I agree.

Those officers and the volunteer saved lives that day and should be given the George Cross. I'm a taser carrier and it's a lot harder than it looks, plus with adrenalin and fear, and the first few shots missing? They nailed it.

He refused multiple times to relinquish the knife. They have self defence just like any other member of the public.

In America he would have been shot.

Don't want to get kicked in the head? Put down the knife then.

They did a perfect job of ramping up the response.
The terrorist had ample opportunity to avoid the physical violence he invoked.