Mick Hartley

Politics and Culture

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  • The Amsterdam aftermath

    The Times of Israel on the debate in Holland after the Amsterdam violence, and the reluctance to discuss the religion and ethnicity of those who attacked the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans: 

    Dilan Yesilgoz, leader of the center-right liberal party, brings a unique perspective to the events in Amsterdam. She served as justice and security minister under former prime minister Mark Rutte, fought antisemitism as an MP, and started her political career on the Amsterdam city council.

    Yesilgoz was born in Ankara and is the daughter of Turkish immigrants. Like Kreuger, she noticed a tendency among left-leaning parties to avoid mentioning the ethnic or religious background of the attackers of November 7.

    “It’s bad enough that Jewish institutions like schools and synagogues need to be protected, but now youths are demanding to see citizens’ papers to check if they are Israeli or Jewish. If they are, they get beaten up,” Yesilgoz told The Times of Israel.

    “This is an absolute low point for Amsterdam and an example of bad integration of migrants into Dutch society. The attackers were probably of Moroccan background, and police are investigating this,” she claimed.

    Yesilgoz said such tiptoeing around identity has been a frustrating experience throughout her career.

    “I can speak freely about antisemitism among the extreme left and right, but as soon as I mention Islam as a motive, everybody freezes up and starts talking about exclusion and Islamophobia,” said Yesilgoz. “But how can you fight the problem if you’re not allowed to talk about it?”

    Sound familiar?

    Many Moroccan households receive their news on the Israel-Hamas conflict through satellite television stations in North Africa and the Middle East. Teachers in the Netherlands’s bigger cities often find it difficult to speak neutrally about the wars in Gaza and Lebanon to their Muslim students, who in some areas of Amsterdam form a majority in their classrooms.

    Although the city was home to the famous young Holocaust diarist Anne Frank before she perished at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany, history teachers frequently find themselves unable to teach lessons on the Holocaust because of racist and sometimes aggressive reactions by their students.

    David Beesemer, chairman of Maccabi Netherlands and Europe, says Dutch Jews are “gravely concerned” that they will be targeted next….

    “It’s a disgrace that the city of Anne Frank has become world news because of violent antisemitism and the city council’s priority seems to be to blame Israelis or the government in The Hague,” said Yesilgoz, leader of the center-right liberal party. “Damn it, I’m a citizen of Amsterdam. Show me you can and want to guarantee my safety. Show us at least that you care.”

    Well OK, city of Anne Frank – but she was betrayed in the end. The Dutch had the worst record of protecting Jews of any country in German-occupied Western Europe.

  • Sentenced to death

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  • Two hostile states

    Kim Jong-un's abandonment of the old policy of reunification of the two Koreas in favour of the new "two hostile states" line is getting te full state propaganda treatment:

    North Korea has ordered propaganda officials in Pyongyang to intensify ideological crackdowns following recent moves to emphasize the “two hostile state” doctrine, Daily NK has learned.

    A source in Pyongyang said recently that the propaganda department of the city’s party committee held a lecture for propaganda officials from district party committees and major factories on Nov. 6 at party headquarters.

    The lecture followed Kim Jong Un’s recent constitutional changes that rejected shared national identity with South Korea and the concept of reunification, instead defining North and South as “two hostile states.” It aimed to reinforce regime cohesion by emphasizing “our state first” ideology and state symbols.

    The city party committee’s propaganda department introduced new educational materials about the “our state first” ideology and national symbols, directing officials to focus on ideological activities for party members and workers.

    “Propaganda officials must recognize that state symbols are not mere symbols but powerful means to inspire people’s identity and patriotism,” the source quoted from the lecture. Officials were ordered to teach the public about national symbols including the flag, emblem, national flower (magnolia), national dog (Pungsan), national tree (pine), and national language (Pyongyang dialect of Korean).

    The lecture particularly emphasized teaching patriotism through the national anthem and making it part of educational and cultural life. “The propaganda department believes repeatedly teaching state and socialist creeds will help people understand that North Korea and South Korea are clearly two hostile states,” the source said.

    This indicates authorities aim to move beyond promoting general hostility toward South Korea to firmly establish the concept of “two hostile states” in public consciousness. Propaganda activities emphasizing this message will continue through year’s end.

    However, some Pyongyang residents have expressed doubt about this ideological shift. “Some question whether you can deny connection with people who share a language and traditions after decades of emphasizing our 5,000 years of shared history and culture,” the source said.

    While the promotion of South Korea as a hostile state appears central to North Korea’s current strategy for regime cohesion, the rejection of shared Korean identity has met with some resistance.

    In a way, Kim Jong-un has little choice. Great Leader Kim Il Sung's dream of reunification was predicated on the belief – not unrealistic at the time – that North Korea would be the stronger partner, and reunification would just be a matter of the South submitting to the North. Some seventy years on, that vision is dead and buried. North Korea is an economic basket-case and cultural desert only surviving through its links with China and Russia, while South Korea has become an economic and cultural powerhouse. The only conceivable reunification would see the North subsumed into the South. Clearly that is something the Kim dynasty cannot allow. So…two hostile states, and no reunification.

    Not, I think, that the majority of South Koreans are that bothered. They're doing fine, and the costs of reunification would be absolutely horrendous – never mind that China would probably intervene before that could happen, should there be a threat to the Kim dynasty. The worry now of course lies in the new concord with Russia, and the sending of some 10,000 North Korean troops to fight in Ukraine. What will the North Koreans get in return?

    Kim Jong-un likely has a new spring in his step with the way things are going. On the other hand North Korea's relations with China appear to be deteriorating – and that may be something they'll come to regret. It's also something that an astute US could use to their advantage. But Trump?? Who knows.

  • Displaying appropriate cultural sensitivity

    Jo Bartosch at The Critic on the left's failure to support Iranian women:

    It’s only been two weeks since Ahoo Daryaei was bundled into a car by the authorities in Iran for defying draconian laws on forced veiling. Yet already, the woman many hoped would be the regime’s last victim looks more like its latest.

    Footage of the thirty-year-old student walking defiantly through the campus in her underwear garnered international coverage. For a moment there was a feeling that underground dissent, stoked by social media sites banned in Iran, might boil over into action and topple the government.

    But, like the case of Mahsa Amini over two years ago, a momentary interest soon faded from the news – and never much concerned the left anyway.

    Oddly, the response of the progressive mob seems to be a resigned shrug of keffiyeh-draped shoulders. There are no regular mass demonstrations through London, nor widespread solidarity campaigns on campuses. And despite the punishment of homosexuality, there are also no high profile “Queers for Iranians” groups waving placards. Support for the people of Iran remains excluded from the omnicause; oddly outside the sink hole that sucks in everything from sex workers’ rights to Gaza.

    It is hard not to suspect this is because of an uncomfortable blind spot on the left. Across the West, progressives have a morbid fear of being accused of “isms” or “phobias”. And there is of course a hierarchy; racism is the worst, closely followed by Islamophobia. Transphobia trumps homophobia. And everything has more kudos than boring old sexism which, after all, only impacts those who might be useful as surrogates for gay men.

    If Iran was a Christian theocracy, progressives would know who the enemy was. Yet there is a squeamishness about standing against obvious inhumanity when it comes wrapped in an amameh (Iranian clerical turban). Telling women what to wear, or blaming them when they are raped, is wrong. Unless the person doing it is a Muslim. Then one must display appropriate cultural sensitivity, decolonising one’s thoughts to avoid causing offence. Because if the great monolith of Muslims are alienated, they think, only whiteys will be left carrying Socialist Worker Party placards, and that would be a PR disaster. Such tokenism is, of course, offensive to everyone regardless of faith — not least to the Muslim women taking a stand against the brutality of the Iranian state.

    In brief: no Jews, so no outrage.

  • Putting trans rights above women’s rights

    Another woman fighting against the gender cult:

    A mother-of-two has sued the council she used to work at after it removed female-only toilets in its office in favour of gender neutral ones.

    Sarah Holman, 56, said she was hounded out of the job she loved at Bracknell Forest Council after she complained to HR and management.

    Mrs Holman spent 12 years helping regenerate Bracknell but felt forced to hand in her notice after the council 'put trans rights above women's rights'.

    She said the council was also excessively promoting controversial gender ideology while not celebrating any other protected characteristic in the same way.

    Yet what left her 'outraged' was the council's suggestion that gender neutral toilets were not a risk as women could also be alone in the lifts and during meetings.

    Mrs Holman told MailOnline: 'I don't think it's right. For privacy and dignity reasons, I don't want to share a toilet with a man.

    'I had a miscarriage in a women's toilet. The majority of women need to spend more time in toilets based on our biology….

    Bracknell Forest Council's chief executive Susan Halliwell said: 'We are unable to comment on individual cases. However, the council is committed to creating a safe, inclusive, and supportive work environment for all our staff.

    'We take the safeguarding and wellbeing of our employees extremely seriously and have robust policies in place to promote equality and diversity across our organisation.'

    Always with the old "inclusivity" and "diversity" mantras: never any concern for women. I guess you don't get to be Bracknell Forest Council's chief executive by thinking for yourself.

    Crowd Justice fund-raiser here.

  • An undoubtedly intelligent person spouts absolute bullshit

    On John Oliver's rant the other night, in protest at the suggestion that trans issues may have played a part in Trump's victory – "there's no evidence that trans girls are at an unfair advantage or pose a threat to safety in athletic competition".

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    Full text:

    Nothing about this feels good, because John Oliver generously gave his time for my charity Lumos and I liked him very much when I met him, but God knows, if you ever need an example of motivated reasoning and confirmation bias, this video's for you. An undoubtedly intelligent person spouts absolute bullshit to support something he wants to be true, but isn't.

    According to the UN, female athletes have lost nearly 900 medals to trans-identified men competing against them in women’s sporting categories. Girls have been ousted from teams to make way for boys. Women have suffered serious injury playing against trans-identified men (see Payton McNabb, mentioned below).

    Again and again I've come up against men who argue exactly what Oliver does here, using the very same talking points. With a straight face, the 'believe the science' guys will say 'actually, we don't yet have enough data to say whether men and boys are stronger and faster than women and girls'. The 'be kind' crew can't see what the issue is. 'Why are you bothered, it only affects a tiny minority of females?'

    To prove to their progressive credentials – and (coincidentally, I'm sure) indemnify themselves against repercussions from cultural elites in the media, academia and publishing who've showed themselves more than ready to kick people to the kerb for failing to mouth the approved mantras – people with a lot to lose are currently prepared to make idiots of themselves. They'll stare unabashedly into a camera and insist that their audiences' eyeballs are incapable of seeing what's plain as day, and that there's something wrong with the great unwashed for believing that girls are being robbed of opportunities and put at physical risk.

    If you want to tell the world you're happy to watch females suffer injury, humiliation and the loss of sporting opportunities to bolster an elitist post-modern ideology embraced by a minute fraction of the world's population, fair enough; you're allowed your opinion. But if you've just told girls they don't deserve fair sport, maybe rethink using all too real and common sexual predation against young women as a punchline for your 'edgy' closing joke.

  • Putin’s response

    Germany's Scholz call to Putin, "ending Western isolation over Ukraine":

    In a phone call that was swiftly criticised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Scholz urged Putin to pull his forces out of Ukraine and begin talks with Kyiv that would open the way for a "just and lasting peace", the German government said.

    That worked well.

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  • Swastikas in Ohio

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  • Supporting trans inclusion in women’s sports

    Have the Dems learned anything about their backing for trans athletes – ie men – in women's sport: a policy which undoubtedly helped Trump to win? Apparently not.

    Democrats in Massachusetts are plotting a revolt against House Rep. Seth Moulton after he made multiple statements condemning his party for supporting trans inclusion in women's sports, according to the Boston Globe.

    Salem Democratic City Committee chair Liz Bradt told the Globe that she had heard from "several" people in the area who were considering running against him in Massachusetts’ Sixth District.

    "We will find someone to run against him and win," Bradt said.

    Moulton is up for re-election in 2026. But he has been the subject of intense criticism by members in his own state and party since last week, when he spoke out against his party's stance on trans athletes in women's and girls' sports in a New York Times article. Moulton has doubled down on his comments in several interviews since then, inciting more and more backlash from his party members.

    Salem city councilor Kyle Davis, who is planning a pro-trans rally outside of Moulton's office this Sunday, told Fox News Digital that he will actively contribute to another candidate who challenges Moulton, and is even calling for the congressman to resign ahead of 2026.

    "I certainly am calling on Seth Moulton to resign and will be supporting any Democrat and LGBT ally that runs against him," Davis said.

    Moulton's original comments about the subject were rooted in his stance as a father to two daughters. In television interviews with CNN and MSNBC, the Democrat has stood firm and has not made any apologies.

  • A knock on the door

    Julie Bindel on her experience of a police visit:

    It was a Sunday lunchtime around 1pm when I received a knock on the door. I was with my family and friends, preparing lunch, looking forward to a convivial afternoon of roast chicken, chilled white wine, and lots of gossip.

    I opened the door, and saw two uniformed police officers. At first I thought that perhaps they were investigating a spat of local burglaries or car thefts in the area, although I soon dismissed that possibility. The police are rarely proactive on those issues, as resources are so stark and ever diminishing.

    Which is what made it so shocking when the young, female officers told me why they were standing on my doorstep. “We are here to talk to you about a hate crime”, said one, as her colleague looked anywhere except at me.

    When I asked what it was about, I was told that a “transgender man” in Holland had reported me for a tweet. Yes, something I had tweeted, sometime within the past year. I was not allowed to know which tweet it was, or under which category of hate crime law it fell.

    I assumed of course it was so-called transphobia, and started asking about the legal jurisdiction, such as how a person based in Holland can make a complaint about someone based in the UK, and which court it would get to.

    I was asked if I would voluntarily go into the station the following day to make a statement. I said, “absolutely not”. Why should I do that, when I have no idea what I was being accused of? I had better things to do.

    One of the officers then explained that they would have to talk it over with their senior officers and come to some decision about what to do. I said they were welcome to pop round any time and let me know exactly what I was supposed to have done that was illegal.

    The officers left looking a little bewildered. I did have a sense that they understood what a ridiculous mission they have been sent on. I advised that they could better use their time investigating rape and domestic violence.

    She was informed the next day that the investigation had been dropped. They – the police – no doubt realised that they'd picked the wrong person to intimidate.

    Nevertheless, I thought about the women who have lost jobs, been hounded out of college courses, friendship groups and university societies, as well as those who would have found it distressing to be threatened with a hate crime conviction for no good reason. A criminal record is a serious issue and can have a terrible effect on a person’s livelihood, reputation, and self-esteem.

    Police coming after those of us who do nothing more than speak the truth about gender madness and refuse to bend the knee to the crazy cultists, are doing a massive public disservice. Unless there is a very good reason not to, we must all publicly protest this terrible infringement of our human rights.

    We need the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, to come down hard on this. I don't see it happening though.