Opinion piece in newspaper -RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: The only purpose of these endless marches is to intimidate British Jews.

[floodlightonwhatisright]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-12878659/RICHARD-LITTLEJOHN-marches-intimidate-British-Jews-tolerate-hatred-streets.html

He raises some interesting ideas.

I care not for a whatever look.
Let me repeat - antisemitism stinks - should be countered always.
Individual acts of antisemitism in London or wherever should of course have a clear searchlight shone on them by whoever and countered. And in certain cases doubtless prosecution is in order.
As for The Campaign Against Antisemitism, there are well documented concerns about Many of the concerns from Jewish folk.
I didn't know about the organisation until recently and only became aware of these concerns after doing some basic research after my antennae twitched at some of the material they are sending out.

Right, so you agree that real problem with antisemitism is antisemitism, and not the Campaign against Antisemitism.

Yes it must be. I have never denied this. I have Jewish friends and colleagues who are scared to venture into central London. I feel for them. I have always accepted there is a hideous element to these protests. But still think the ones who want to march in peace and for peace should do so.

Glad you have never denied this, there are plenty on here who have claimed that Jews are irrational to feel intimidated by the marches.

That’s disgusting of people to say that. I hope the majority of decent people would condemn the appalling slogans and placards that have been carried by the antisemitic elements on these marches.

One thing I find depressing but never say as I will be accused of whataboutery, is my experience as a Muslim in London. After 9/11 and 7/7 there were all sorts of unpleasant comments made about Muslims. Even by friends. And I am not a ‘visible’ Muslim with a headscarf; some family members fared much worse.

Yet there didn’t feel to be a sense of outrage about this. I wonder how many people on these threads spoke up about Islamophobia.

We really need to have zero tolerance of all prejudice. I reached out to my Jewish friends in the aftermath of 7/10. Nobody ever reached out to me in those Islamophobic moments after the terrorist attacks 🤷🏼‍♀️

Just a few days ago a protest in front of Palantirs head office was organised by health workers for Palestine ,
nothing in the news about it because some of the their demands like ; Canceling the Palantir NHS contract and Bringing all public services data management in house, ending privatisationasset stripping and outsourcing of public services to corporations and No public service deals with companies complicit in the Israeli occupation No news Outlet wants to shed light on such issues concerning the level of outsourcing and mismanagement within the NHS contracts.

but a group of protesters wearing Santa hats , Kyffiehs and tambourines ? Front page worthy I guess .

@queenofarles I think the privatisation of the NHS is happening, and it's appalling. The public did not vote for this. Unfortunately, as you say, it's all carried out rather quietly when it should be major news.

We really need to have zero tolerance of all prejudice.

Absolutely. I do remember the Islamophobia after 9/11. I remember also Sikhs being targeted because people thought that their turbans meant they were Muslim. I'm sorry that you and your family experienced this,

I also deplore the Islamophobia on MN, and hate the fact that the far right appear to have seized on this conflict as a way to get at Muslims by using accusations of antisemitism to attack them.

Sorry to hear this @TenorMachine I think anti Muslim sentiment is rife in the media, institutions and society and it's not understood or taken seriously enough.

but a group of protesters wearing Santa hats , Kyffiehs and tambourines ? Front page worthy I guess

Probably the fact that they forced a shop to shut its doors on the busiest shopping day of the year on the basis that they didn't like an ad campaign for that shop that was shot in September?

@noblegiraffe are you referring to the Zara campaign?

Was that not why Zara was targeted?

Zara is controversial, anyway, due to slave labour concerns and allegations though. Not sure if they have put this right?

I don't see how anyone can be ok with the Zara campaign. Especially those that claim to be against intimidating and racist material.

Regardless of when it was shot, it should not have been aired when it was. Completely insensitive at worst, insanely offensive at best. They would have known how it would come across.

To claim to be against racism then be ok with that seems odd somehow.

Here are the images for anyone who hasn't seen them.

So people are now scrabbling around for other reasons that Zara might have been targeted?

@noblegiraffe are you ok with the images above? Do you think they were fine to be shared at this point in time given what is going on?

I fully understand this. Prejudice is prejudice. There shouldn't be a ranking of what type of prejudice is the worst or that marches should stop because it intimidates some.
The EDL marches scare the pants out of me. I am white, my husband is black. Do I want them banned? Absolutely not.

@noblegiraffe Sorry, just pointing out Zara has long been criticised by ethical consumers. Not sure if they have addressed concerns though.

Yes, tbh I don't give mind that some clothing company depicted images of unfinished sculptures.

I also didn't mind the green and red Christmas hats in the M&S advert.

I think some people are leaping to offence far too easily and it is making them look ridiculous.

@noblegiraffe it's weird how you can point out so many things regarding the marches that Jewish people find offensive, but be unable to recognise something that could be considered equally offensive towards Palestinians that could be interpreted as glorifying body bags and a war zone.

Especially given the timing of the release of the pictures and they would have released them knowing what was going on in the world.

It's a bit confounding to be honest.

Yes, tbh I don't give mind that some clothing company depicted images of unfinished sculptures

Oh is that what they are? It’s not what they look like..😬

I know this was not done on purpose but I can see why people think that now is not the time to be seeing images of human figures wrapped up in plastic and shrouds.

So people are now scrabbling around for other reasons that Zara might have been targeted?

No worse than “scrabbling around” for* *reasons the marches are a problem and coming up with disruption to Christmas shopping.

Honestly last minute Christmas shopping on Oxford stress is not a joyful experience under any circumstances.

Thanks. That’s appreciated.