The mood was celebratory. Flares were lit, flags flown, slogans chanted. People danced. Thousands descended on the Israeli embassy before hundreds made their way to central London last night, blocking roads and filling the streets as they partied. This was an expression of joy, not an explosion of rage.
Norovirus Media's commissioning editor Rivkah Brown's initial tweet lauded Saturday as a "day of celebration of freedom and democracy", as if, even absent the acts of outright barbarism, Hamas and its key sponsors, Iran, Qatar and Turkey, are vanguards of freedom and democracy. She has since tried to do damage control but it's about as convincing as one of those bulbous red clown noses made of plastic, but there's nothing humorous to be found in Rivkah or her ilk.
Socialist Worker (Mon 9th Oct) calls on us to "Rejoice," & compares Hamas's actions to the Tet Offensive against the American forces in Vietnam.
Unsurprising of them I know, but to view what was effectively an Einsatzgruppen pogrom through the prism of 60s radicalism must surely be a new low, even for them.
I have come to the conclusion that when it comes to that fringe that portray Saddam Hussein, Bashir Assad and the ayatollahs as bulwarks of anti-imperialism and "part of the global left", they are a bottomless cup of toxic slime.
Yes, the worst of them reveal a genuinely fascistic callous inhumanity.
I know leftist antisemitism is nothing new, and "far-left meets far-right" has long been an overworked cliché, but there seems to be a hideous ideological mutation of leftist populism, kneejerk anti-western foreign policy and outright conspiracism at work in certain circles (I'm looking at you, Galloway), creating a lazy and irrational (but internally coherent) set of false beliefs and fake "explanations."
Coupled with similar developments on the once-mainstream conservative right, it's the worst possible response at the worst possible time.
I think it's possibly time to give my now 20 year old copy of Paul L Berman's "Terror and Liberalism" a re-read. If I recall, he drew the uniting factor between religious reactionaries and the far left as being that both are utopian, nihilistic and totalitarian in nature.
Is the Hamas attack even to do with the liberation of Palestinians? Or is it, since they are financed and backed by Iran, about advancing Iran's interests in the region -- by drawing Israel into a brutal ground war that will derail the peace process, especially with Saudi Arabia -- Iran's enemy?
I'm all for the liberation of Palestinians, and I oppose many Israeli policies regarding them. BUT -- Hamas is as murderous as Al-Qaeda and ISIL. Anyone who praises their actions is a moral moron, and incredibly naïve.
(P.S., Substack -- I have tried repeatedly to update my profile, but I can't)
Norovirus Media's commissioning editor Rivkah Brown's initial tweet lauded Saturday as a "day of celebration of freedom and democracy", as if, even absent the acts of outright barbarism, Hamas and its key sponsors, Iran, Qatar and Turkey, are vanguards of freedom and democracy. She has since tried to do damage control but it's about as convincing as one of those bulbous red clown noses made of plastic, but there's nothing humorous to be found in Rivkah or her ilk.
Socialist Worker (Mon 9th Oct) calls on us to "Rejoice," & compares Hamas's actions to the Tet Offensive against the American forces in Vietnam.
Unsurprising of them I know, but to view what was effectively an Einsatzgruppen pogrom through the prism of 60s radicalism must surely be a new low, even for them.
I have come to the conclusion that when it comes to that fringe that portray Saddam Hussein, Bashir Assad and the ayatollahs as bulwarks of anti-imperialism and "part of the global left", they are a bottomless cup of toxic slime.
Yes, the worst of them reveal a genuinely fascistic callous inhumanity.
I know leftist antisemitism is nothing new, and "far-left meets far-right" has long been an overworked cliché, but there seems to be a hideous ideological mutation of leftist populism, kneejerk anti-western foreign policy and outright conspiracism at work in certain circles (I'm looking at you, Galloway), creating a lazy and irrational (but internally coherent) set of false beliefs and fake "explanations."
Coupled with similar developments on the once-mainstream conservative right, it's the worst possible response at the worst possible time.
I think it's possibly time to give my now 20 year old copy of Paul L Berman's "Terror and Liberalism" a re-read. If I recall, he drew the uniting factor between religious reactionaries and the far left as being that both are utopian, nihilistic and totalitarian in nature.
Thanks for the tip-off. I'd not heard of Paul Berman, so I've ordered a cheap copy of T&L off eBay & will give it a go.
Is the Hamas attack even to do with the liberation of Palestinians? Or is it, since they are financed and backed by Iran, about advancing Iran's interests in the region -- by drawing Israel into a brutal ground war that will derail the peace process, especially with Saudi Arabia -- Iran's enemy?
I'm all for the liberation of Palestinians, and I oppose many Israeli policies regarding them. BUT -- Hamas is as murderous as Al-Qaeda and ISIL. Anyone who praises their actions is a moral moron, and incredibly naïve.
(P.S., Substack -- I have tried repeatedly to update my profile, but I can't)
(Well, obviously, I did get it set up!)
Exactly. And absolutely. And thank you.
Frankly, I'm convinced Israel is engaged in a war with non-humans, fake humans, inhumans, subhumans....call them what you will. https://voyle.substack.com/p/israels-war-with-non-humans
This sums up the attitude completely