a m'learned-friend's-opinion on what Corbyn is attempting to do on Brexit:

 

"Jo Maugham QC

‏

Labour has proposed not one viable alternative to Tory Brexit. It doesn't want a better Brexit; it wants to pin a bad Brexit on the Tories.

 

Damn those who will lose their jobs. And damn the austerity it will cause.

 

This is why you should be furious with the so-called OppositionJo Maugham QC added,

 

 

Jo Maugham QC

Missed in Jeremy Corbyn's car crash interview yesterday: he holed below the waterline Labour's pretence of wanting a customs union with the EU. "

 

It's true though, and I just don't get Labour supporters blinkered attitude to it, and all the non-policies that will result from the economy crashing, short of borrowing cash at ridiculous prices and hocking the country to Arab/Russian/a.n.other friends or banks.

 

Cos that went so well last time....

 

OK. Corbyn's media "reforms". They aren't really "reforms" because that assumes the media is in need of reform.

 

On the plus side I can agree with any reform of private ownership of British-based media to exclude foreigners. But that isn't what he's proposing. He's VERY vague on the likes of Murdoch and the expat owners of The Daily Mail. These are the real problem areas because they don't have the interests of a country that they dont live in at heart, they have the interests of their own power and pocket at heart. He also says nothing about the propaganda of stations he has appeared on, such as Russia Today, as if they in some way are "unbiased" because they don't slag him personally off, instead of viewing all the obvious lies they push constantly.

 

So, failed on that basis.

 

So it's an attack on the BBC, basically. There is no need for legislation with regard to the BBC. If you think they are biased you get in power and sack those failing to do their job in being even-handed. It's really very simple.

 

In terms of legislating to make sure the public pays for a journalism service - we already do - it's called local radio. In terms of enforcing them to not criticise Corbyn and the Labour Party, that assumes that all journalists are wrong with their criticisms - they aren't. Some are politically based, in the right-wing press, but most comments are fair. Corbyn is useless with the media because they ask him questions he can't answer truthfully. Which he hates. he wants to control the discussions, and judging by the implication that the press can't criticise him ("a fair hearing") that involves political control, which is not a free press.

 

The Labour Party, the trade unions, and any wealthy individual can set up a left-wing press that tells the point of views he would approve of. There is no argument for a tax-payer-funded version of this. That is state control by any other name. we already have the BBC which can be, as we have seen, manipulated by the government in power, whichever one it is. He gives no real solution to this other than some sort of mad idea to rival netflix. We have the BBC to do that. Taking money off Amazon and other huge tax-dodgers to pay for this nutty idea is a crock. That tax is for the tax-payer benefit, for hospitals, care, roads, infrastructure, welfare, NOT to make sure everyone ends up paying more tax to pay for bloody internet-based entertainment. We already have a TV licence. Taking the cost from elsewhere just means we pay even more indirectly for something that isn't essential, and takes away cash from things that are.

 

So, the reason Corbyn and Labour get a bad press is that he's really not very smart. A lazy, hypocritical, interview-avoiding, terrorist-excusing, nutjob-scheme-creating silent opposition leader who doesn't give a shit about reality and how to achieve his more rational social aims while faced with the most useless government of my lifetime. In short, the most useless opposition leader of my lifetime.

 

Presumably he'll try and get Amazon to pay for Buzzjack so it can edit out criticisms like this.....

Jeremy Corbyn has put out another Jewish-related statement this week after a video emerged of him saying that "British Zionists have no sense of irony" (a video that earned him the praise of both Nick Griffin and former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke).

 

Funnily enough, for the 2nd time in as many weeks, he has waited until Friday evening to put out his statement, which means that it coincides with Shabbat, where observant Jews don't take part in any activities, which is highly convenient.

 

If you pardon my language, one would consider that something of a dick move, somewhere on par with putting bacon through the door of a mosque.

Didn't the video only surface today?

 

Far too many people commenting on this seem to be confusing the words "Zionist" and "Jewish". If he had said British Jews lacked a sense of irony that would have been seen by most people as anti-semitic. Saying Zionists lack a sense of irony, OTOH, is more of a political statement. It is no more anti-semitic than criticism of Israeli government policy.

The video surfaced a few days ago, although it was ignored in many quarters as it first emerged in the Daily Mail.

Didn't the video only surface today?

 

Far too many people commenting on this seem to be confusing the words "Zionist" and "Jewish". If he had said British Jews lacked a sense of irony that would have been seen by most people as anti-semitic. Saying Zionists lack a sense of irony, OTOH, is more of a political statement. It is no more anti-semitic than criticism of Israeli government policy.

 

That's Corbyn's belief too, though he also admits "Zionist" has been hijacked now by anti-semitics as code for getting away with anti-semitic statements. he then finger-wags everyone who doesnt agree with his comments to learn a bit of history.

 

 

More general thoughts from me:

 

As a non-religious person, I may not know what I'm talking about, but I thought Israel was originally the seat of Christianity and Judaism as well as a bit involved in Islam? Is he putting a sell-by date on claims to historic arguments on land? I'd love to know what the timescale is, as it might have an impact on other areas of the world and other religions.

 

To be clear, I'm not in any way supporting Israeli politics and their treatment of non-Jewish minorities, nor the British decision to help create a state for people not murdered by the Nazis and homeless and stateless. Nor am I supporting anti-semitic feelings and historic mistreatment and demonisation of them in other regions, the most recent mass murders having left a bit of an understandable sore-point and sensitivity. Gassing millions can have that effect, go figure! People, eh, so touchy about stuff.....

 

Just suggesting, however, that an awareness of British historic involvement in the Middle East might mean British politicians should be a bit more careful in choosing their words and showing support to some organisations while criticising others. A bit of history, then.

Without for one second excusing Israeli atrocities, here's one man's view of Corbyn meeting up with the man who organised the murder of his 16-year-old cousin...

 

"Adam Ma'anit

‏

 

I’ve been watching in quiet horror and with increasing anxiety as the Labour Party sinks deeper by the day into an antisemitic cesspit of its own making. Recently revealed details of Corbyn’s troubling past associations means I can no longer remain silent. This is personal.

Last week, a day after Jeremy Corbyn insisted to the BBC: “I don’t share platforms with terrorists,” @TheGolem_ revealed details of his 2012 trip to Doha where he shared and hosted platforms with numerous high-ranking terrorist leaders.

Among these was Husam Badran – a man connected with the murder of my 16-year old cousin.

 

Badran is a former leader of Hamas’ military wing and its current international spokesperson. He is widely regarded as the man who orchestrated some of the most horrific suicide bombing attacks against Israeli civilians in the history of the Israel/Palestine conflict.

Badran was released from prison as part of a controversial deal when 1,000 Palestinian prisoners were exchanged for the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. As part of the release agreement, Badran was exiled to Qatar where he now oversees funding and operations for Hamas.

 

At the “remarkable” Doha conference, this supposed ‘man of peace’ Corbyn described contributions from recently released “brothers” like Badran as “fascinating and electrifying”. I felt sick to my stomach at these words.

Badran’s targets included restaurants, discotheques and a Passover seder. The killings were as indiscriminate as they were cowardly. An Israeli-Arab restaurant was considered fair game. It was at this restaurant that my 16-year old cousin Orly Ofir was murdered. 7

Orly was having lunch with her sister and mother at the popular Israeli-Arab restaurant Matza in Haifa, when the Hamas suicide bomber detonated his explosives. Packed with screws and debris for maximum carnage, 16 people were fatally wounded.

 

The bomb blew the roof off the building as deadly shards of glass and metal pierced flesh and bone. The blood spattered into the street. Orly didn’t die immediately.

With her mother and sister, wounded but alive, there was hope she too would pull through. She was rushed to hospital where surgeons tried desperately to save her. After 2.5 hours of agonising wait, my uncle Yossi was given the grimmest news a loving parent could ever get.

According to a 2002 New York Times report of the bombing, “Hamas ignored the presence of Israeli Arabs in the restaurant and celebrated the bomber for exploding ‘his pure body in a crowd of the thieves of our homeland.’”

 

Badran, and many others like him behind these terrorists acts that have destroyed families like mine, Corbyn associated with, sat on panels with, ate takeaway meals with, taken selfies with, praised and called ‘brothers’ and ‘friends’.

Many of my Jewish friends are terrified about what’s happening. My daughter is nervous to speak Hebrew in public. I have been afraid to speak out for fear of censure from my own Left community. But after I learned about Corbyn’s Doha trip, I could stay silent no longer.

I know it’s hard for many of my friends who came out in support of Corbyn and who want to see a Left government come to terms with all this. But what are principles if we only ever apply them when it’s easy?

How can anyone on the Left sit idly by while this infectious strain of antisemitism takes hold. I’ve written about this over a decade ago in New Internationalist magazine, and it feels like it has only gotten worse since. https://old.newint.org/features/2004/10/01/keynote/ …

And now, since Corbyn’s leadership, it has gone mainstream. I hold Jeremy Corbyn and his enablers in the highest contempt because of this.

I will never forgive Corbyn for providing moral cover to the man who orchestrated the murder of my cousin and the pain and suffering her family carry with them over her loss. He is no ‘man of peace’ and I will no longer stay silent.

 

 

ADDENDUM: Thank you to everyone who's reached out and shared this. My concerns about Corbyn have to do with his responsibility for the antisemitism crisis ('socialism of fools') and his ideologically adolescent Manicheanism ('anti-imperialism of idiots').

This is not about the rightness or wrongness of each side in a complex decades-long conflict in Israel/Palestine. This is about a man who supports terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah and lends them moral legitimacy despite their immoral tactics and ideological extremism.

Do not use my words to bash Muslims or Palestinians. There are many heartrending stories of Palestinian children victims of this conflict too. As my old friend @markballard27 wisely said, "there is no way to peace over the bodies of dead children."

If there is one good outcome of the antisemitism crisis in the Labour party, it is the solidarity between Muslim and Jewish groups and individuals and other minority groups who understand the dangers and effects of othering and demonisation.

Thank you to everyone for your kind words and solidarity. If there is one thing I will agree with Corbyn on (even if I don't think he embodies it), is that he is right that we would all benefit if political discourse and disagreement were kinder and gentler. Peace."

 

Corbyn should stop moaning about the media and instead stop meeting with murdering terrorists, and apologise for his past behaviour. There is no difference between somebody bombing people in Israel and bombing people in Manchester, blaming ordinary people for political and religious historic problems and trying to polticise their causes. Imagine for a second he started campaigning for the terrorists behind recent UK bombings, meeting up with them, and demanding their release from prison... because that is something he has a history of, supporting terrorists bombing UK citizens and campaigning for them.

 

Labour is deluded in pretending none of this exists, or believing the ends justifies the means. That's what Blair believed, and we know what Corbyn thinks of him.....

The Zionist comment video is apparently edited down. His initial comments were more a bit more comprehensive, if this transcript is accurate:

 

https://twitter.com/AdamWagner1/status/1033467298135322626

Yes. I could have told you that but all my posts keep getting deleted! :angry:

 

This is nothing more than slander. It is disgusting to call a non racist racist whilst racism thrives in the Tory party. 1984 is here.

It's not a controversy. It's a right wing mud slinging conspiracy

It's not a controversy. It's a right wing mud slinging conspiracy

 

Have you actually watched the video? Ashok Kumar makes some very good points in it which I think you'd agree with!

No I'm giving no airtime to thr bbtory and its COOONSTANT incessant anti Labour shit.

Frank Field has resigned the Labour whip. Even in spite of his support of Brexit, he will be a loss to the Labour Party. Plus, it could get the ball rolling on the new ‘centrist’ party everyone’s banning on about.

 

Am on a pilgrimage in Spain at the moment, so unlikely to reply to this thread for the next few days, so probably won’t be able to moderate this topic for the next few days, regardless of the quality of the conversation.

Field was never a candidate for joining a new party though, so I don't think his decision makes that any more (or less) likely.

Disgusting there aren't rules to force an immediate byelection. Bye bye, landed gentry Tory in sheep's clothimg.

 

Vile beast of an mp.

 

 

Why are you doing the camino de santiago anyway??

 

He will ride the gravy train as long as he can. Unfortunately for him that is an extremely safe Labour seat lol. Bye bye mr Tory Pie!

No I'm giving no airtime to thr bbtory and its COOONSTANT incessant anti Labour shit.

It's SkyNews to be fair and actually pretty decent. Ashok makes a good defence of your pal Corbin.

Oh I'll watch it then

 

Speaking of the BBTory, look what the Ministry of Truth have been up to now to protect Big Brother:

 

https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-storie...vited-1-5673523

Frank Field has resigned the Labour whip. Even in spite of his support of Brexit, he will be a loss to the Labour Party. Plus, it could get the ball rolling on the new ‘centrist’ party everyone’s banning on about.

 

Am on a pilgrimage in Spain at the moment, so unlikely to reply to this thread for the next few days, so probably won’t be able to moderate this topic for the next few days, regardless of the quality of the conversation.

 

https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/politi...r-splits-launch

 

Well that's that then