Jeremy Corbyn broke his silence on the nonsensical issue a blistering put-down to Benjamin Netayahu when the Israeli PM made an ill-advised and hypocritical comment on Corbyn’s attendance at a memorial for Palestinians killed in an Israeli bombing raid.
Echoing fake news in the UK mainstream media, Netanyahu claimed that Corbyn had laid a wreath on the grave of a ‘terrorist who perpetrated the Munich massacre’ – and Corbyn’s gloves-off response was a masterclass in righteous indignation and a tonic to his supporters:
Comment:
The Establishment’s smears are getting ever more desperate as the likely implementation of Labour’s Democracy Review rule-changes threatens to put the Labour Party beyond the reach of Tory-lites indefinitely – cementing the availability of the genuine alternative to the bankrupt Establishment that the UK public needs and craves.
The SKWAWKBOX needs your support. This blog is provided free of charge but depends on the generosity of its readers to be viable. If you can afford to, please click here to arrange a one-off or modest monthly donation via PayPal. Thanks for your solidarity so this blog can keep bringing you information the Establishment would prefer you not to know about.
If you wish to reblog this post for non-commercial use, you are welcome to do so – see here for more.
Lets be clear, the antisemitic smears are going to intensify after this because this exchange summerises itself the entire campain of attack the JC project has to deal with. That’s the JC I want to see, firm, strong and principled, he should do the same with Netanyahu surrogates, namely the labour right, the Tories and the MSM.
It is worthwhile reminding ourselves of the LFI’s initial response to the massacre of Palestinian protesters.
https://skwawkbox.org/2018/05/15/labour-apologists-for-gaza-massacre-in-retreat-after-widespread-revulsion/
Jeremy Corbyn has more integrity in his little finger than a hundred champagne swilling careerist Tory,
Lib Dem and Blairite MPs put together.
Where did JC post his response?
Twitter, so far. https://twitter.com/jeremycorbyn/status/1029075065550372864
That’s me done with compromise. Just seen Corbyn saying a compromise will be found on IHRA questions. Looks like Labour “gold standard” code is about to become Labour mass claims of anti-Semitism crisis for the disciplinary team a self fulfilling prophecy of centrists and their supporters… that’ll keep LP busy for months and months and feed MSM lots of juicy stories to embellish. Oh well, May regime rumbles on repressing citizens at home and abroad and LP feeds the trolls and anti Corbyn/Socialism establishment and factions.
It wont work… chuck all your principles in the bin of ‘compromise’ and it still wont work.
“That’s me done with compromise. Just seen Corbyn saying a compromise will be found on IHRA questions.”
I can’t find the clip I saw to post a link to. I also wanted to check it was today and not from a while back. I’ve been across many sites and social media looking for responses to Netanyahu’s false claims about Corbyn and can’t find it again.
Meanwhile, back in the MSM,The Guardian offers a master class in vicious, suggestive, deceit by juxtaposing Corbyn’s “I was present at wreath laying, but don’t think I was involved” with a picture of him holding the wreath that he did lay. They refer to an interview (as usual they don’t tell us which interview – shoddy as ever) that he gave 2 days after the Daily Mail pictures in which he showed his willingness to make compromises on the IHRA examples). The article concludes with Margaret Hodge sustaining the deceit and tacitly, some may say explicitly, confirming her support for a vendetta of lies and malice until all of the examples are accepted:
“Until he does that, incidents such as his presence at the laying of wreaths at the graves of those responsible for torturing and murdering innocent Jewish Israeli athletes in Munich will continue to emerge.”
Paulo,
I wonder if the clip I saw was from the interview you refer to? I usually take a bit of care to check but was so enraged and busy trying to see who supported Corbyn and who was defending Natanyahu’s false claims, I was thrown I must admit.
I can’t find any clip either – though some papers, e.g The Independent, are suggesting an expected “partial climbdown” based partly on Corbyn’s own comment in his Guardian piece re just 1/2 of one example being the sticking point and comments “from sources close to the leader” re “movement” on the other 3 examples out of the 4 – apologies if this is old news Maria!
On the subject of “the IHRA examples”
I hope most of Skwawk B’s contributors are aware of the “Open Letter to the Labour Party NEC” (see Jewish Voice for Labour website) urging the NEC to resist calls to adopt all 11 examples. Please add your name and CLP to the letter if you agree with it.
Perhaps Skwawk B should be giving it some publicity?
Re “IHRA examples” Here’s the link:
https://lettertolabournec.wordpress.com
Thanks for the link to the JVL open letter Paulo.
Here’s Leah Levane robustly opposing JLM claiming they speak for the Jewish community and trying to suppress criticism of Israel.
https://twitter.com/Muqadaam/status/1028281419125141504
Not sure where she was speaking but voices, especially Jewish voices, such as hers must not be side lined and silenced. Palestinian voices are increasingly being silenced and they need international support more than ever as the Israeli regime tightens its grip and land, sea and air blockade on Gaza and in the illegal occupation and colonisation of Palestinian territories. It feels like Israel is going for broke. In my opinion the two state solution is no longer practically viable unless the world is going to allow Israel to run a series of repressive, inhuman ‘bantustans’ or camps such as Gaza where Palestinian’s are fenced or walled in, dependent on (just enough to maintain life) ‘aid’ much of which Israel forces agencies and NGOs to buy from Israel, as in Gaza, so subsidizing and maintaining the illegal occupation.
Agreed on a one state solution – self evidently, the two state solution is deeply flawed and fraught with every kind of difficulty. I’m not that well up on this, but for the one state solution, Ali Abunimah (co founder and director of Electronic Intifada) makes an excellent case.
I fell out a bit with EI over the war on Syria, a regional state that has always been a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause, their, like Al Jazeera, Democracy Now! etc.reporting on Palestine/Israel has always been good, even excellent.
On Syria, all took the western/allied imperialist line. Independents such as Max Blumenthal and Rania Kalek, who formerly took the imperialist line, have done U turns on Syria though, reporting much more informed and balanced reports on Syria these days and there is Robert Fisk, a rare voice of an anti Syrian government investigative reporter who writes what he sees and gets published in MSM! There are many independents reporting from the ground in Syria, speaking to Syrians, so a different narrative is and has long been available to those sceptical of western and allied MSM and now ubiquitous extreme demonizing political narratives against regime change target states and their governments and who search.
I will look Ali Abunimah’s take on two v one state solution up though, I have a vague memory of coming across it.
One only has to look at the map of current illegally occupied Palestinian territories not taken by illegal colonisation as Jewish only zones in Palestinian territories to see that a Palestinian state is not viable as an independent state.
Here’s the first of Empire files reports on Palestine and Israel from 2016. I believe the map of reduced Palestinian territories shown isn’t accurate any longer. The rest of the series gives some insight into the conditions under which Palestinians are forced to live under military occupation as well as some Israeli views.
Regarding my criticism of Al Jazeera and some other ‘left’ outlets, I ask you take the time to listen to this hour long interview which is a fascinating, revealing and thought provoking discussion on the current ruling family and big power faction fighting being played out in Yemen. It brings in the function of the media in the western centric (for now) neo-colonial empire of global Capital for public consumption and disruption of mass anti imperialist activism. Divide and conquer works as well in 21C as it did in previous centuries.
AJ specifically comes up at around 20.00 mins.
http://aroundtheempire.com/2018/08/14/ep-64-yemen-war-big-picture-media-narrative-feat-isa-blumi/
We must start looking at more sources, question our own beliefs and sources, try to join jots and look at the bigger picture.
Nice one JC, a strong and stable star!
Our opponents are sounding increasingly desperate.
And as for Sajed (what’s his name) Home Sec. calling for JC to resign – “Hey Sayed, what do you say, how many kids have the Tory backed Saudis killed in Yemen today?”
Oh never told you all, just before the Miliband General Election I was passing one of the plushest hotels in my city, and stood outside was Tom Watson and I am sure Javed and they were having a good laugh as best pals (and bourgeois politicians), and I think I said out loud: “Two bloody Tories!”
Time to counter the Right Wing Barbarians narrative!
Solidarity!
JC4PM!
Labour could do worse than copy word for word the Tory party anti-Semitism policy, which doesn’t specifically mention anti-Semitism at all – it just outlaws discrimination which “includes victimising or harassing any other person because of race (including colour, ethnic or national origin, nationality, citizenship), sex, gender re-assignment, sexual orientation, marital or civil partnership status, disability, age, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity status.”.
I don’t see why Labour needs a specific anti-Semitism policy, when the Tories get away with a more general “anti-bigotry” policy.
Because we are Labour and NOT the Tories , (yes I grasp the cynicism )
The following is from an article in The Times on the 10th of August (just in case anyone missed it):
Rowan Atkinson, one of Britain’s best-known comedians, has said that Boris Johnson’s comments about the burka were funny and urged him not to apologise.
The man behind Blackadder and Mr Bean defended the former foreign secretary’s right to poke fun at religion. His intervention came as the Conservative Party started an investigation into Mr Johnson, who compared women wearing burkas to letterboxes and bank robbers.
Atkinson wrote in a letter to The Times: “As a lifelong beneficiary of the freedom to make jokes about religion, I do think that Boris Johnson’s joke about wearers of the burka resembling letterboxes is a pretty good one.” Describing it as an almost perfect visual simile, he added: “All jokes about religion cause offence, so it’s pointless apologising……”
(Ends)
So now we know; Atkinson is a racist AND a defender of racists, and needless to say, the only people who would find such a ‘joke’ amusing are racists.
Never liked Atkinson anyway , always thought he was a toffee nosed supercilious twat and ,like it or not , Johnson is not a comedian ( really ! ) but a high ranking Govt official and Tory MP
No, Johnson ISN’T a comedian, but even if he WAS, it wasn’t a joke as such anyway, and Atkinson knows it, and is not only being totally disingenuous, but using his popularity as a comedy actor to dupe people. And THAT tells us all we need to know about the real character of the man.
You may enjoy this satirical perspective
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/antisemitism-labour-party-jeremy-corbyn-jewish-holocaust-survivor-abuse-a8474846.html
Agreed Alan without doubt
Atkinson, a has-bean… has come out as a defender of far right wing rallying cries by a cynical, calculating and dangerous, divisive Tory MP.
Surely their would have been some coverage of this event by media in Tunisia at the time, which could perhaps settle the matter once and for all. I mean where did the photo(s) come from anyway?
YESSSSSSSS tell him Jez!
I do fear for his safety though, even more now. Hope he doesn’t walk around without security, especially in crowds like he did at the anti-trump rally.
I think a major point being missed here is that in any organisation, when the rank and file cock up, the boss man steps in.
Berger, and Ellman, and Hodge et al. have not been achieving very much of late.