Jews arrested for 'anti-Semitism' - Happy New Year!

  I am indebted to my Times Online colleage Michael Herman for alerting me to this story about the Jewish people arrested by police a few days ago in the run-up to the Jewish New Year. What were they arrested for by those beloved guardians of our free society at the Met? Yes, you guessed it. They were handcuffed and led off to the cells at Charing Cross police station - under suspicion of inciting anti-Semitism. The story appeared first in the Jewish Chronicle but is also on the Jewdas website. The four arrested, a mix of Jewish and non-Jewish adults promoting a party in Hackney, were at the recent Simcha on the Square event, designed to promote Jewish culture and music. The Trafalgar Square event, where ther possible crime was to distribute a leaflet promoting a Protocols of the Elders of Hackney party, was itself subject to a boycott by some Jewish organisations because of the backing of Ken Livingstone. (Pic of Deborah Rosenberg dancing at Simcha in the Square with Rivers of Babylon.)

The organisation Jewdas is committed to reclaiming traditional terms of anti-Semitic abuse in order to rob them of their power. The four arrested been bailed to return to the station, “pending further enquiries”. The three men aged 33, 31, 25 and a woman of 31 were arrested under the Public Order Act “on suspicion of distributing racially inflamatory material with intention to incite.”
The leafleters, known on the Jewdas website only as Dogboy, random 76, the p factor and Robin Hood, were promoting a party that was due to have been at the Hackney Synagogue in East London next month. The party will apparently now take place in another venue in the East End of London and will include entertainment from a “radical beth din” and a “live borscht show”.

The Association of Jewish ex-Servicemen and Women was among those that boycotted the Simcha on the Square event. The boycott reflected continuing anger in the community at Livingstone’s refusal to apologise for his remarks when Jewish reporter Oliver Finegold questioned him as he left a party last year. When Finegold said he worked for the Evening Standard, Livingstone asked: “What did you do? Were you a German war criminal?”

The Simcha Festival, from Hebrew word meaning “joy”, was organised to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the Jewish community’s return to Britain after the explusion by King Edward I in 1290. Pictured here, by Rembrandt, is Rabbi Menasseh Ben Israel, of the Spanish and Portugese community, who in 1656 successfully petitioned Oliver Cromwell to be allowed to live and worship with his community in Britain. Commenting on the events at the Simcha festival, Geoffrey Cohen, a spokesman for Jewdas said: “Our reaction to these arrests is one of absolute incredulity.” He said the aim of Jewdas was “to reinvigorate young Jewishness”.

Jewdas attracted 600 people to its last event, Punkpurim. Most were young Jews who rarely celebrate their Jewishness. “Many of them, shock horror, live outside of North West London,” said Geoffrey. “We take our inspiration from diasporic Jewish philosophers, and the anarchist and socialist heritage of the Jewish East End. We want our fellow Jews to stand tall and feel proud in their yiddishkeit. Our reward for this... is scorn and now, arrest. We don’t ask to be accepted, but we do ask to be allowed to carry on inspiring young Jews to take pride in who they are. And we'd prefer not to be arrested, thank you very much.”

The reclamation of racist imagery has a long intellectual history. A contemporary example is Sacha Baron-Cohen’s character Borat, who aims to diffuse anti-Semitism by exposing it to ridicule.

  “We want to confront the madness of antisemitism, not run from it, as we are encouraged to do by Jewish security groups,” Geoffrey told me. “This is especially relevant as we approach the 70th anniversary of the battle of Cable Street. We throw the anti-Semites’ images back at them.”

As a non-Jewish person, I can see why there might be some ambivalence in the community about this approach. I can even understand the confusion the police might have experienced. When first made aware of this story, I thought it might be an anti-Semitic wind-up. The fact that it was on the front page of the JC, and my conversation with Geoffrey, convinced me otherwise. All of us who tread here do so with caution. For example, my personal embarrassment at centuries of Christian anti-Semitism means I would have great difficulty even saying the name of Geoffrey's organisation out loud, given the way it is spelled. So why have I posted this? Because it made me laugh, I suppose. I can see this approach by the people at Jewdas might upset people in the community, but laughter can be a great weapon against the evil that is the ancient hatred of anti-Semitism. So thank you Geoffrey, for helping me with this story, and good luck with your party, if you ever managed to get it re-arranged. Perhaps, though, another title might not be a bad idea....

Comments

[Jonathan R.]

Hi Ruth,

Thanks for the comment on my blog, the post of which I've linked to (see my name/link).

I'm Jewish and this was news to me, so thanks. Here are a couple of notes along those lines, which you may or may not want to blog about:

- I left a comment on Jeff Jarvis' BuzzMachine blog post about Borat, in which I referred readers to an article in Canada's Globe and Mail by Jesse Brown about pranksterism's popularity of late.

Here's a link to that blog comment, which has links to all relevant pages incl. the article:

http://www.buzzmachine.com/index.php/2006/11/05/schmorat/#comment-190376

- Also, I checked out Cafe Babel, a European online mag and citizen journalism site, and their feature this month explores "German Jews -- Living with the past" -- worth a look and maybe a blog post, but that's up to you. Here's the link (English version):

http://www.cafebabel.com/en/dossier.asp?id=337

[alistair mcbay]

This looks like an interesting case in the Times today. Is this vicar a racist? Or just someone who should know better? Would you expect to hear this stuff on Saturday Night Live or Live at Jongleurs, or read it in a parish magazine?

"Vicar's joke gets chilly reception"
By Simon de Bruxelles

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2388127,00.html

A vicar who made a joke about the Japanese in the parish magazine has been accused of being racist.

The Rev Michael Wishart, vicar of St Mary the Virgin in Bishop’s Lydeard, Somerset, was commenting on the change of season. He wrote: “The mornings have a decidedly autumnal feel to them, there’s a little nip in the air. Which is what they said when they hanged the Japanese criminal!”

Yesterday Mr Wishart said the joke had been intended as a throwaway line. “If it has caused offence, then I apologise. I got the mickey taken out of me left, right and centre for being Welsh when I was in the Navy but I never went running to the race relations board.”

David Onamade, director of Somerset Racial Equality Council, said: “I think this guy is a racist and he should not be allowed to be a vicar.”

A spokesman for the diocese said the Church would not be asking Mr Wishart to resign.

[Dr Irene Lancaster FRSA]

As a bit of an antidote to this blog piece and responses, do access my own blog:

http://irenelancaster.typepad.com/my_weblog
and read the last three entries:
EREV ROSH HASHANAH; ON SWALLOWING A SABRA and finally BUYING A SUCCAH IN HADAR.

The human spirit really can withstand more than we think it can and humour is a great cure-all.

[emanuel appel]

a letter from America

dear Ruth,

To focus on the topic at hand:
The Hebrew Bible's historical function is to provide guidance and precedent when confronted with the distasteful.

When the Jews tried to enter the Land after liberation from Egypt, they were too raw and had to stay in the wilderness forty years to create a new , tougher people. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the tablets, discipline had broken down and many were ordered punished by Moses. This is what we're seeing today. Every generation has its share of sinners and confused souls.

Those who are agnostic or atheist focus on the fantastic, on the improbable, to denigrate the Bible when the lessons are open for anyone to see.

The West doesn't care about the history of Israel. We do. On the other hand, alien agnostics and the Christians focus on the creation story to argue for or against Darwin and make it a point of faith. That is the least important part of the Book. It's a record of Israel's meeting with God.

[Tom Jackson]

"There is a sickness in Western society (particularly in Europe and Canada) - which believes that anything said or done which upsets anyone else must not be allowed."

There is a dilemma in Western society which on one hand recognises the need for free speech as a characteristic of a healthy, vibrant and open community and on the other, the need for laws and standards which safeguard and promote a way-of-life that is secure, morally balanced and harmonious.

In the UK, a reluctance to confront issues of religious belief amongst minority groups has severely distorted and disrupted many areas of our lives. The fear of being labelled racist prevents perfect valid debate about issues from Islamic fundamentalism to immigration from Eastern European countries.

Taking the easy option, continually deferring to anyone who cries foul and selectively enforcing legislation designed to protect and maintain the way-of-life of those indigenous to this country now appears to be the preferred course of action.

I abhor the racist policies of groups such as the BNP but the more moderate approach of parties such as UKIP are becoming more and more attractive. My personal position has moved from a fairly Leftist, socialist standpoint to one which is considerable more to the Right and this is partly due to a frustration with those elected to govern and maintain law and order and partly due to the instability introduced into our society by pandering to ethnic minority cultures and communities.

Rather like a well-loved but unruly child, there comes a point where enough is enough and in the context of those who abuse the rights we have to free speech, who disingenuously abuse the fairness and tolerance of the community to suggest they are being victimised and who have little or no allegiance to their neighbours and fellow citizens, it is time to openly confront issues that have long been swept under the carpet.

[James]

Wow.

It seems like the right-wing fundie Christian Taliban neo-con homo-Islamo phobe American, the uber-smooth talking Euro-intellectual, the Son of Zion Jew soldier and the freak random mutational accident all agree on something.

We should get together and smoke some cigars gentlemen - to freedom.

James

[alistair mcbay]

You are right, James.

It’s a disgrace that all organised religions in Britain are now endlessly competing to see who can be the most offended and outraged by any given item – a word or a phrase, a book, a film, a play, an art exhibition, a musical, a cartoon, a visiting sports team, an advertisement, genetic research – you name it, organised religion will object to it and demand police or government action to shut it up, close it down, ban it, suppress it or whatever. If police and Government don’t act, then the religions frequently resort to intimidation, threats and even mob rule.

The term coined for this by a Guardian journalist is “politics of competitive grievance,” which is a very good description.

That’s why the ancient blasphemy law that exists here should be repealed, as it is itself a barrier to the freedom of thought and expression that you enjoy in the US and which you so rightly proclaim and defend. Freedom of religion must include freedom to blaspheme.

[Frank Schnittger]

I'm afraid, James, anyone who doesn't support Zionism or Israeli/U.S. policy in the Middle East gets this anti-Semitism crap thrown at them all the time. I regularly offend the defenders of Zion and get called a Nazi sympathiser for my troubles.

I think it's great that some Jewish people see through this and make a joke of it. The facile charges of anti-Semitism end up alienating a lot of ordinary people who have absolutely no problem with Jews at home or a lot of what Israel stands for.

I think it is also partly why Islamic extremism sometimes gets such an easy ride with public opinion. If you are tired of being called an anti-Semite every time you open your mouth on Israel or Palestine, you are much less likely to stand up when the real anti-Semites get going.

The really principled stand, of course, is to oppose anti-Semitism of all kinds (Arabs are Semites as well and Jews do not have a monopoly of victimhood when it comes to racist prejudice). Unfortunately, as recent events have shown, Arab Islamists are even less likely to have a sense of humour about their identity and history.

So most of us just shut up, and democracy dies just a little every time someone is afraid to make their real views known.

I'm not sure though about your contention that this is a mostly European and Canadian phenomenon. I have friends living and working in the USA who are afraid of voicing their concerns about Bush for fear of losing their jobs. They do feel a little like slaves in America.

I have never known anyone here to be afraid of voicing their political beliefs because of a similar fear. Perhaps your freedom to speak freely is partly because you are not swimming against the tide of the dominant polical discourse in the US.

Try arguing for a Palestinian right of return to a secular, multi-racial Israel for a bit and see what reactions you get. You may not feel insecure in your job. But many in the USA do.

[Alan Marsh]

Yet another disgraceful performance by PC Plod. Is it not time for some of their senior officers to attend some basic courses on how to identify actual criminals, instead of arresting (or worse, shooting) peaceful citizens?

[Greg Griffith]

Ruth,

I hate to drop in on a thread like this with an OT post, but could you drop in over here:

http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/1229/

...and give our readers an explanation of your recent Times headline and article? Thanks!

(will do later, but without looking at the thread I can guess the problem. The headline has now been amended, online at least. That was not my error as we don't write our own headlines on The Times. I'm hoping to post a blog on all this later today as well.)

- Greg

[emanuel appel]

a letter from america

Dear Ruth,

I agree with James. We're Americans and that's the general attitude in the US.

What if it were a Moslem affair? Would the police dare to arrest anyone? Look into what you've become.

This is the Jewish avant-guarde that is tasteless and cruel. Aren't all avant-guardes? What about Madonna appearing on stage on the cross? As Miriam Migdal ( Mary Magdalene) yes, as Yeshua ( Jesus) no.

For real tastelessnes involving Jewish things, see
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CharlesKrauthammer/2006/09/25/turning_up_jewish

[James]

"on suspicion of distributing racially inflamatory material with intention to incite"

---

There is a sickness in Western society (particularly in Europe and Canada) - which believes that anything said or done which upsets anyone else must not be allowed. Such is the antithesis of free speech, and seeks to criminalize thought and speech that someone, somewhere doesn't like (such as with the British lady questioned by the police for daring to say a child deserves a mother and a father...).

Such also gives power to anyone over anything.

Don't like what someone says? Then act up! be violent! - and tell everyone you were 'incited' to behave poorly.

It's the behaving poorly which should be criminalized - not the saying of things which you don't like.

If this continues - Europe will be a mute continent - where nothing of substance or real meaning may ever be said.

Someone told me once: "Modern liberalism's basic intent is to take discussion of any meaningful thing off the table."

You have to choose - a free society - or a society where you are never upset.

I vote for the former, and would never live in the latter (which means, of course, that I would never, ever become, say, a Canadian slave citizen).

James