Kathleen Stock on the new Stonewall boss. The old “no debate” stance has been dropped, in favour of a more compromising position. :
In the history of gay rights, there have always been fearless souls willing to face down mobs of pitchfork-wielding fanatics, but perhaps none so brave as Kezia Dugdale, incoming chair of trustees at Stonewall. In an interview with The Guardian this weekend, the former Scottish Labour leader did the unthinkable and praised JK Rowling.
She also asserted that polarised “culture wars” around gender should be dropped, and apologised for her own part in them. The new version of Stonewall, she says, is “not dogmatic” but aspires to be in the “messy, grey bit … because that’s where progress and consensus is found”.
This is all a far cry from the charity’s hardline stance on trans identity, taken only a few years ago. It’s also a stretch from Dugdale circa 2022, when the Gender Recognition Reform Bill was going through the Scottish parliament. Writing in this paper, the former politician felt moved to “call out the populist tactics” of those who opposed gender self-ID. She claimed “facts had been absent” from their objections, and accused them of having “fed on division” and being “riven with fear”.….
Online, the volte-face has gone down as well as you might expect. The trans-activist side believes everyone at Stonewall is a Nazi, and the gender-critical side thinks Dugdale is a hypocrite. Presumably she will use both reactions to her benefit, depicting Stonewall as holding the sensible centre ground, while surrounding crazies foam at the mouth.
Whatever Dugdae may now think – and it’s most likely that her views on gender haven’t changed – at least it looks like she now appreciates what a mess Stonewall got itself into with its aggressive approach. It worked at first, but the organisation just ended up disgracing itself.
So whatever Dugdale claims to have learnt from the past ten years, the lesson for the rest of us is to be wary of any lobbying group — on any issue — that tries simultaneously to cajole and terrify the public into a uniform ethical position on what should really be a matter of private conscience.
Meaningful change in grassroots attitudes doesn’t work that way. On the contrary: it requires you to take your opponents seriously as intelligent, responsible thinkers. Ultimately, you must be prepared to share a stage with them while they disagree with you; to defend their right to say their piece, against illiberal lunatics; and perhaps even go for a friendly drink with them afterwards, in full view of others. Whether the new incarnation of Stonewall is ready for that kind of unprecedented courage remains to be seen.
They won some battles, but lost the war. Time for a regroup and a rethink. Though I think – I hope – that it’s too late for them now.
We have seen confirmation that the driver has been identified and suspended whilst TfL carries out an investigation. We thank @TfL for intervening quickly, and expect that, if the interaction in the footage is borne out, his employment will be terminated.
Proudly declaring his antisemtism at an anti-racist rally. Where we are now…
More on the antisemitism silence of the progressive left, this time from Brendan O’Neill at Spiked:
We need to speak plainly: England’s Jews are being terrorised and the left is silent. Jews are being subjected to a campaign of fascist-style animus and so-called anti-fascists are saying fuck all. The world’s oldest racism has burst back to bloody life and ‘anti-racist’ influencers either haven’t noticed, don’t care, or they like it. How else to explain their craven self-gagging in the face of racist violence? ‘We would have hidden Jews in the attic’, these preening ‘progressive’ moralists love to say, when the only thing in their attics are Palestine flags, spare keffiyehs and placards saying ‘Zionism is cancer’.
The situation could not be more serious. The attempted burning of Kenton United Synagogue was the third violent assault on a Jewish institution in London in a week. There was also the attempted firebombing of the Finchley Reform Synagogue on Wednesday. In the dead of night, two people in balaclavas hurled petrol-filled bottles at it. Thankfully, the damage was minimal. Then on Friday, a man placed a bag containing three bottles of flammable liquid outside the former offices of Jewish Futures in Hendon, a Jewish educational charity. They failed to fully ignite. And it was only last month that four Jewish ambulances were destroyed in Golders Green in a fiery act of racial hatred. And only last year that two Jews were slain on Yom Kippur in the Islamist atrocity at the Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester.…
Worse, there are suspicions the Islamic Republic is involved in this violent rebirth of anti-Jewish persecution. A group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia has claimed responsibility for some of the anti-Semitic arson in the UK and other attacks on Jews in Europe. It is thought to be a proxy or at least a fanclub of the tyranny in Tehran. After the failed burning of the synagogue in Kenton this weekend, the Metropolitan Police said it is ‘alive’ to the ‘threat of Iranian state aggression in the UK’.
Think about this: it is possible British Jews are being terrorised at the behest of a foreign regime. It is possible the Islamist theocracy in Iran is engaged in a war of attrition against Jews in Hendon, Kenton, Finchley. If the Iranian link is substantiated, the government’s response should be the immediate closure of the Iranian Embassy and the expulsion of all Iranian diplomats. No quarter whatsoever can be given to regimes that encourage militant racists to take up arms against Jewish Britons. As for that sickly, suicidal Islamo-left alliance that makes excuses for, or outright cheers, the Islamic Republic and its ‘axis of resistance’ – they are now completely morally indistinguishable from Oswald Mosley and his mob who did fascism’s bidding in Britain.
Dave Rich on The Sound of Silence. As antisemitism surges, where are the left anti-racists now?
In past decades, when minorities were targeted for sustained campaigns of racist violence and abuse, the activist left came up with big movements like the Anti-Nazi League or Rock Against Racism to call people to action. Last month a similar movement was launched, the Together Alliance, to campaign against the far right, with lots of celebrities and musicians putting their names to the effort.
But when Kanye West, the music world’s best-known supporter of Hitler and Nazism, was named as headliner at the Wireless Festival, those same famous musicians had nothing to say, just as they showed no support when Jewish bands had their gigs cancelled by venues.
The last time the Jewish community in Britain was targeted by a sustained arson campaign was in the 1960s, and it was Colin Jordan’s National Socialist Movement that was behind it (that’s what led to the formation of the 62 Group, Searchlight magazine, and ultimately to CST). Everyone who thinks of themself as an anti-racist can get behind a campaign against Nazis. But today, when these latest arsons are all being claimed by an Islamist extremist group with links to Iran, there’s little or no comparable interest or support.….
It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that, at an organisational level, Jews have simply been abandoned by the big beasts of progressive, liberal, anti-racist opinion and activism. There are pockets of support that remain, thankfully. But in general, looking at the sector as a whole, most of the trade unions, human rights NGOs, public sector bodies campaigning organisations, student groups and the rest who make up the anti-racist establishment have closed their eyes and their hearts to the Jewish community.
Because, in the identity politics game, Jews are no longer victims but oppressors. Not just any old oppressors either, but, in Israel, the very definition of settler colonialists. It’s a perfect storm of hatred.
Meanwhile those on the hard left have joined hands with the Islamists:
Claim that the UK is under “Zionist control” and nobody bats an eyelid. Solidarity statements flood in for people who rant about “Jewish supremacy”, rather than for the Jews they are inciting hatred against. And all driven by an obsessive, violent hatred for Israel, and a purifying desire to denounce and destroy anyone and anything touched by the sin of “Zionism”.
Of course this generates antisemitism. How could it not? And of course, the people pushing this hatred, marching alongside it, or saying nothing when the people on the same platform as them express these views, cannot mount a campaign against antisemitism even when synagogues are being fire-bombed. How could they?
Maarten Boudry at Quillette on decolonising the curriculum. When he first heard the phrase, at a meeting in his philosophy department, he shrugged his shoulders. Then came October 7th:
I was terribly wrong to be so insouciant, as I discovered when 7 October happened. I’m not Jewish and don’t have a personal connection to Israel, so initially I didn’t follow the news very closely. I had relegated the attack to the—regrettably vast—mental category of jihadist terrorist attacks across the globe, failing to grasp that this was, in fact, a full-blown invasion. In my naivety, I assumed that after the massacres in Paris, Brussels, Nice, Berlin, and countless other Western cities, everyone had finally woken up to the true nature of jihadism. When a bunch of Allahu Akbar-chanting fanatics slaughtered innocent young people at a music festival, just as they had done at the Bataclan in Paris, it seemed inconceivable to me that any of my colleagues and friends would condone, rationalise, or even celebrate such acts. And yet that is precisely what happened.
To my horror, within days—even hours—of the attack, when the Israeli army was still fighting off the invaders, I started seeing reactions of excitement and gleeful jubilation on social media. Not from the usual religious maniacs praising Allah, but from left-wing activists at prestigious universities. Academics started breathlessly applying the same framework of decolonisation that I had foolishly brushed aside as amusing but harmless virtue signalling. As the writer Najma Sharif famously posted on X that day, racking up tens of thousands of likes and reposts: “What did y’all think decolonization meant? vibes? papers? essays? losers.”
It was as though she was talking about me. I was one of those “losers” who had been foolish enough to think that decolonisation amounted to little more than papers and essays, along with some harmless but well-intentioned proposals to diversify the philosophy curriculum. If only. What I came to see in the wake of 7 October was something far less benign. Decolonisation operates as a rigid, almost Manichaean ideology that neatly divides the world into evil perpetrators (Western colonisers) and innocent victims (the colonised, indigenous peoples). In this worldview, there is no room for moral ambiguity. Those on the wrong side of the divide are irredeemably rotten and deserve everything that’s coming to them, while those on the side of the angels are completely absolved of any wrongdoing. If they appear to commit atrocities, these are reframed as understandable—perhaps even inevitable—responses to prior injustice. In fact, the more extreme the violence, the greater the wrongs they must have endured.
At one point, many on the Left considered Israel an admirable success story of decolonisation—of an indigenous people driving out the Western colonisers and achieving self-determination in their historical homeland. For a variety of complex historical reasons, however, the Jewish state is now firmly relegated to the side of the oppressors. In fact, Israel is regarded as the settler-colonialist enterprise par excellence, and Palestinians as paragons of victimhood. And that is all the latter-day activists need to know to reach their moral verdicts—which explains why those verdicts came rushing in mere hours into the unfolding event.
How the academic left came to love their inner antisemitism – and embrace the most regressive ideology.
Panorama on BBC tonight deals with the UK rise in antisemitism. There’s a featured piece this morning, as a prelude – Spat at, threatened and kidnapped: British Jews tell of rising antisemitism.
Until recently, Amanda, 47, always openly wore a Star of David pendant around her neck. The Jewish symbol is a proud part of her identity and she had never thought twice about displaying it. Now, she tells BBC Panorama, she is afraid it marks her out as a target.
“It’s hard to be openly Jewish sometimes in everyday life,” she says. “Living in the UK now for Jewish people is very uncomfortable.”
In a WhatsApp group of about 20 of her Jewish friends – many of them children or grandchildren of refugees from the Nazis, who once saw the UK as a haven from antisemitism – she says conversations have shifted from neighbourhood chat to more existential questions.
“There aren’t any Jewish people I know that haven’t got plans to leave,” says Amanda. “The first thing we all talk about is: What is the exit plan? Where are you going? What will you do? When will you be going? Or they’re already moved or moving.”…
Amanda is one of more than a dozen Jewish people from a range of UK communities who have spoken to Panorama – including an NHS midwife, a student and a musician who was kidnapped.
They describe a rising undercurrent of antisemitism across society. Police and policy experts tasked with tackling antisemitism believe this has helped create the conditions for the most serious anti-Jewish hate crimes in recent British history, including the Manchester synagogue attack that left two men dead.
In north London, recent targeting of Jewish premises has also heightened fears – including an arson attack last month on ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity in Golders Green and attempted arson last week on a synagogue in Finchley Over the weekend, there were arson attempts on a business in Hendon and a synagogue in Kenton.
The Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that provides advice and security for Jewish communities and monitors antisemitism in the UK, says it is receiving record numbers of reports of antisemitism.
Well yes, but who was responsible for the Manchester synagogue attack? Where is this hate coming from? Certainly the demonisation of Israel on the left – Palestine Action and the rest – is a huge part of this. But what about Islam? The only mentions of Islam in the article are for “Islamophobia” and “Islamophobic hate crimes” – because obviously, as per Jeremy Corbyn, we can’t have any discussion of antisemitism without bringing up Islamophobia.
And there’s this:
Community leaders from the Jewish faith and other religions agree on the importance of interfaith dialogue, but say this has become a lot more difficult since the the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.
About 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza in which more than 72,330 people have been killed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
“I think a lot of Jews are quite frightened of making those relationships with Muslims and Christians. People are more worried about security,” says Baroness Julia Neuberger, who was ordained in 1977 as the second female rabbi in the UK.
“And the other thing is that I think there’s increasing nervousness, unwillingness, unhappiness, particularly amongst Muslims, but to some extent amongst Christians too, about entering this dialogue, because they don’t know what to do.
“Are they supposed to talk about Gaza? Are they not supposed to about Gaza? How do you deal with all of that?”
Figures from the ever-reliable Hamas-run health ministry. Really? Perhaps some acknowledgement of the BBC’s own role in this rise in antisemitism, from its distorted Gaza reporting, might be in order.
And this is the only mention of Muslims – that they, as well as Christians, are “nervous” about entering into dialogue with Jews. Hmm.
I realise the BBC will never say anything critical about Islam – it must be in their charter – but this determined looking away from the elephant in the room is just grotesque.
We’ve met some of the Green Party candidates recently, proudly parading their antisemitism. Yes, they’ve come in for some criticism, but not to worry: they now have a support group. From the JC:
The Green Party has set up a “support group” for election candidates who say they have been targeted by media “smears”, including allegations of antisemitism, following a wave of reports highlighting controversial comments about Israel and Jewish people.
In recent weeks, reports have emerged that some Green candidates have blamed 9/11 on “Zionists,” ranted about the “chosen people,” labelled the Hatzola ambulance attack a “false flag” – and blamed Israel for it.
Messages shared in a “Greens for Palestine” WhatsApp group on Monday show a coordinated offer of support for those affected by coverage of these offensive messages that they have shared.
Tariq Khawaja, a member of the “Greens 4 Palestine” steering group, told candidates they would receive “all support they need” in response to what he said was a “coordinated smear campaign” by “legacy media” against Green candidates ahead of May’s local elections.
In a message to the group, first reported by the Telegraph, Khawaja – who previously encouraged people to join the Green Party and vote on a motion naming “Zionism is racism” – said an “emergency response” had been established, including a support network and efforts to phone up candidates and assist them in “combat[ing] smears”.
The party’s deputy leader, Mothin Ali, also voiced support for those facing scrutiny.
In a message to the group, he said “know you are not alone,” adding that those “attacked in the media” were making “the right type of noise” and “put[ting] fear into the heart of the establishment”.
Ah yes – deputy leader Mothin Ali:
Ali once targeted an Israeli rabbi in Leeds, whom he claimed “went from Leeds to Israel to kill children and women” after discovering that he was an IDF reservist. Rabbi Zecharia Deutsch was forced to flee the country with his family after a campaign of hate against him.
While the synagogue attacks accelerate…
Another day, another arson attack on a synagogue.
Jonathan Sacerdoti in the Spectator:
Jewish Britons are increasingly sick of hearing from our politicians that there is ‘no place for anti-Semitism’ in our country, because the attacks carry on happening anyway. There clearly is a place in our society, or many places, for Jew-hatred to grow and thrive. And those places, both literal and ideological, are often under-policed, overlooked and skirted around for fear of seeming ‘racist’ or ‘intolerant’.
Existing legal tools already allow for us to tackle some of the ideological breeding grounds for these bad and poisonous ideas, including the exclusion of foreign nationals who promote hatred or violence. But it seems they just aren’t used evenly or sensibly. Kanye West was rightly barred form entering the country after his numerous pro-Hitler anti-Semitic episodes, each one designed to appeal to a large audience. The Dutch political activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek was also recently barred from entry to the UK, less justifiably so. Yet many Islamic hate preachers still seem free to enter our country and preach the kind of material which encourages anti-Jewish, anti-women and anti-Western ideology, sometimes leading to real-world violence and terrorism.
Similarly, the government itself has done little to counter the regular expressions of hatred directed either towards Jews or even towards our traditional British way of life, whether they have been part of regular street protests, moments of violence and destruction aimed at buildings or objects, or deliberate acts of public worship and dominance. So-called ‘far right’ protestors have been pushed through the justice system swiftly and imprisoned in record time, but those who vandalised legal defence sector factories, struck the police physically, or preached hatred inside mosques as religious leaders have all somehow escaped the same heavy hand of justice. When violence stems from religious belief or dogma, it can’t simply be given a free pass.
We can hardly be surprised when some people feel emboldened enough to carry out violence towards synagogues or churches. Our national weakness gives them strength.
Mick Hartley 