Boris Johnson's Daily Mail column and an offensive term about Keir Starmer

[LlynTegid]

Mr Johnson refers to him as Keir Schnorrer. The word schnorrer is a Yiddish word/insult for beggar or scrounger. Mrs Starmer is Jewish.

If any of you meet any Conservative candidates or there are any who do online questions, let them know about this slur and ask whether they think this man is fit to remain in the Conservative party.

I have complained to IPSO.

Me too. I just thought adding the extra letters was typical Boris. I never realised it was a Jewish word.

That's because they're agreeing with you. In a different scenario you would be enraged if someone accused you of pretending to be a Jew in order promote some view, it's total hypocrisy.

"I'm totally convinced that whatever you're posting isn't in the best interests of Jews." Of course it's fucking antisemitic to suggest that Jews are a monolith who think the same on all issues, which is exactly what that poster is trying to say.

I don't think there's many Jews that would be surprised if someone pretended to be a Jew on a forum to cause trouble right now.

Don't know any who's main concern appears to be the overuse of the word antisemitism either, there's quite a few bigger concerns than that right now, e.g., lots of people going around causing trouble.

Lots of Jews often talk to each other about what's is or isn't the best interest of Jews, some almost on a daily basis right now. Not sure how you don't know this? Have you never heard a Rabbi talk about it?

Have you just assumed I'm Jewish because of my views?

Which type of synagogue did you go to where never talked about what's in the best interest of Jews as a child? What did they talk about?

Boris getting what he wanted.

The word Johnson used is not an English word and it is not a word used in common palance in this country. I'd never heard of it before. The reasons to use a Jewish/Yiddish word in an opinion piece in a newspaper would be 1. The author is Jewish. 2. The readers/audience are Jewish or 3. The subject, in this case, Starmer, is Jewish. Johnson implies or conflates Starmer with Jewishness and in a very insulting way. I am not Jewish but in my view it is highly anti-Semitic and very worrying.
It seems bizarre for Johnson to use a word that surely many of the Mail's readers are unaware of. But I think it must be the epitome of dog whistle racism.
On a side note, Johnson says it is Britain that will be the gagged gimp in the EU's dungeon if Starmer becomes PM.

The Daily Mail is such a hate filled rag. It would be a good idea to make media companies that produce content for the UK pay UK tax.

Yes, people talking about him. That fact will no doubt please him immensely. The fact that he is an appalling man, who has form for saying repellent things, will have no consequences for him at all, which is typical.

"Johnson implies or conflates Starmer with Jewishness and in a very insulting way"

Its insulting, because the word is an insult but how is implying or conflating someone with Jewishness insulting? Do you mean it's insulting to suggest anyone is a Jew?? I genuinely don't understand the argument ppl think they're making here.

Johnson is a smug bloated creep who prides himself on coming out with obscure insults. He also claims to be 'part Jewish'.

@VinnieVanDog
Its insulting, because the word is an insult but how is implying or conflating someone with Jewishness insulting? Do you mean it's insulting to suggest anyone is a Jew?? I genuinely don't understand the argument ppl think they're making here.

It's really quite simple. Keir's name is Starmer not Schnorrer and his wife and kids are Jewish - hence Johnson has used the Yiddish word pejoratively. It's a very clear example of dog-whistle racism, the raison d'être of the Daily Mail.

It's bizarre to see you repeatedly misconstrue the words of so many posters, and in the process direct various personal insults their way, simply because you seem completely unable to interpret what they've said.

Johnson is a smug bloated creep who prides himself on coming out with obscure insults. He also claims to be 'part Jewish'.

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What makes you think antisemitism has to be intentional for it to be antisemitism?

Johnson doesn't identify as Jewish, not sure how his far removed Jewish ancestry that doesn't make him Jewish are relevant to whether he's being antisemitic or not.

Nonsense.

@79Helene but its pejorative term full stop.
Schnorrer is an insult in Yiddish regardless. It's Jewish insult. He hasn't bastardised it. Yes it's chosen because it sounds like snore but also because it means living at the expense of others / scrounger( BJ likes to show off his linguistics).
What he hasn't done is take word and make it and make it an insult to all Jews.

If however it's later misappropriated in popular culture to mean something other, I would agree with you. The deeply offensive " K" word for a Jew and the " N" word for a black person originate from non offensive terms . So I agree it could happen. I just don't think it is in this context.

Why has he picked a specifically Jewish word to insult Keir Starmer? That’s the point. It’s nothing to do with insulting all Jews, it’s to do with discriminating against them.

If Starmer’s family weren’t Jewish, he wouldn’t have picked that word.

I would also, if I thought Johnson were at all sneaky, wonder if Johnson were seeking to highlight that Starmer has a Jewish family as we know the hard left has a problem with antisemitism, particularly in the current climate.

I’ve already seen on MN the suggestion that Starmer’s position on Israel could be influenced by his wife (which is obviously antisemitic).

"If Starmer’s family weren’t Jewish, he wouldn’t have picked that word"

You've absolutely no idea if that's true and it just sounds desperate to keep trying to push that line.

He’s a man with a well documented history of racism and it’s an extremely uncommon word. Why do you think he chose it over other, similar, non-Yiddish options?

You are missing the point, he didn't have to intend it to make it antisemitic for it to be antisemitic. It's an insult to the Jewish community for him to have used the word in this context at a time when antisemitism has risen significantly.

The 'he's got Jewish friends so it's not antisemitic' argument you made earlier was debunked long ago. If anything if he's been exposed to Judaism this works against him because he's got no excuses for not understanding the nuance of what he's written.

This isn't Gary down the pub who's having a bit of banter, it's an ex PM writing a newspaper column. There's absolutely no defence for him being this insensitive to the current situation and not choosing his words more carefully.

How many Daily Mail readers are likely to understand obscure Yiddish words though so if it’s a dog whistle who are the dogs? It’s very odd. Is he just amusing himself with it which is quite sad. I can’t stand the man, he’s awful.

No I agree but that's not Anti Semitic it itself is it? I mean it's clearly designed to add an edge - going over Keirs head so to speak.

It's antisemitic if it offends a significant number of the Jewish community. Not because of what you think the book definition of antisemitic is.

What don't people understand about this?

I've got absolutely no idea what goes on in Bozo's mind thankfully!

He claims to have Jewish roots/heritage and clearly feels empathy. At a push I would guess he didn't really even know what the word meant and used it to suggest the man is boring/lacks ideas which is his usual form of attack on Starmer 🤷‍♀️