I just watched David Baddiel’s Channel 4 TV programme “Jews don’t count”. I have news for him.. They do, they do.
They demanded the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism- and they got it. As a result, thousands have been punished as antisemites for criticising Israel.
He ignores this very powerful mechanism which has created a huge spike in “antisemitism” cases in the UK, which of course he does cite, ignoring that so many of these examples are bogus. Because all it takes now to be an antisemite is to call Israel a racist endeavour. (I am the only shop steward in the world to be expelled from my union- for criticising Israel.) Why did Baddiel choose to ignore this toxic definition, that has done so much harm to Palestine campaigners? He droned on and on, relentlessly seeking evidence that everyone hates Jews, when in fact, it is ISRAEL that is the problem.
It is as if Baddiel lives in another universe. So many of the miseries his TV pundits complained of have been levelled at other minorities- Catholics, Scots, Irish- all have been victims of pogroms, persecution, and cruel stereotypes. Admittedly none have suffered the genocide that took place in WW2, but Baddiel’s programme was intent on portraying modern Jewry as victims – as if Hitler was around corner, just itching to do it all again. Miriam Margolyes was the only one in his programme that spoke sense, in that she correctly identified the cause of so much concern from the left around UK Jewry over its overwhelming support of Israel; but every time she brought up Israel, Baddiel dismissed her views.
Tony Greenstein was correct when he wrote “Jews are not an oppressed minority- they are overwhelmingly middle class”. And I would go further, and note they are white, too.
Baddiel ignored such truisms and went out of his way to define Jews as a separate oppressed race- but struggled to match their present situation with the very real ongoing racism that black and Asian people face on a daily basis.
He beat his chest while apologising to black footballer Jason Lee, saying how much he regretted the racist bullying he had subjected the footballer to 25 years ago in his Fantasy Football League TV show. But one got the impression that Baddiel was only “mock grovelling” for the sake of his documentary TV film. Lee’s face told the story; he was not convinced. Because no white man, even a Jew, can claim his suffering matches the indignities born of a history of slavery. Baddiel’s insensitivity in taking the piss out of Lee for being black reflected the fact that Baddiel himself had never suffered racism at the time. Baddiel said that because he now sees antisemitism everywhere, that he appreciates how much hurt he has caused Lee. But one gets the impression that Baddiel is searching for antisemitism in order to get himself into the public eye; I suspect he needs a new career, because he’s given up on comedy- and presumably he sees lots of mileage in painting Jews as victims in Sunak’s Britain, when they are not. Israel will be loving this.
So, who are the winners in all this? Who was it that prevented a worldwide boycott that might have stopped Hitler in his tracks? Who profited from the rise of the Nazis? Who was it that refused to save the European Jews in WW2, by declaring in 1943 (when they were given the chance to buy the Jews out of the gas chambers) when they said “only through the bloodshed of Jews will we get the land, because when the victors will divide the land after the war, then they will give us the land in return for Jewish bloodshed, and that is what we want.” Why, it was – and is- the Zionists. And the majority of UK Jews support Zionism. David Baddiel, by choosing to ignore what is being done by Zionists in the UK and in Israel, presents a very weak case. Jews comprise 0.4% of us- a tiny, tiny proportion- yet this tiny proportion has won the propaganda war for Israel. It has convinced all our big political parties (bar the Greens), the Scottish and Westminster Governments, all the major trade unions (bar the PCS), the police and 40% of local authorities to declare that to call Israel racist is an example of antisemitism. So, it seems Jews do count, after all.
Pete Gregson
What is Zionism? (Part 1) – The Existing Zionist Movement
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