Spare a thought for the racists. They’re having a really hard time lately. They keep trying to oppress Muslims in a liberal, rational way but accidentally end up looking like Nazis.
Take, for example, recent discussions of banning halal meat. On the surface, it looks perfect for the racists. It involves animals, which everyone loves, so they can dress up the issue as about the welfare of cuddly sheep and, because making meat tends to involve killing animals, they can blow up the issue so it looks like killing animals is an exclusively Muslim practise.
They feign outrage at halal slaughter – you can’t kill an animal by slitting its throat! You’ve got to chase it through woods and have it ripped apart by dogs! That’s the civilised way of doing things.
But, the thing is, Jewish and Muslim methods of butchery are pretty much identical. The traditions barely diverge at all, except for the languages in which prayers are said. Personally, I’m happy to see halal as basically the same as kosher and, unless a rabbi is willing to sanction a chicken house that will give me six nuggets and a can of Coke for £3, I won’t be convinced otherwise.
What that means is that racists – when they do try to attack Muslim eating habits – end up attacking Jews’ too. This puts them in quite an uncompromising position. When Jewish News recently asked UKIP how they could justify banning Jews from eating meat, their agricultural spokesperson, Stuart Agnew, stammered over the phone: “This isn’t aimed at you – it’s aimed elsewhere – it’s aimed at others. You’ve been caught in the crossfire; collateral damage. You know what I mean.”
Oh yes, Mr. Racist, yes we do. You’d like to persecute Muslims but – oops – some Jews just got in the way and made you look, well… like a racist.
I’m under no illusion that the racists don’t want to appear anti-Semitic because they actually like Jews. Far from it. They still hate us. It’s just that now we’re not numerous enough or obvious enough to be the principal target of their ire. Think that might be because we went through a bit of a genocide seventy years ago that we’re still trying to cope with.
And that’s why the racists don’t want to appear anti-Semitic. Everyone schoolchild learns the facts of the Holocaust and how awful the toxic combinations of nationalism and capitalism can be. Everyone – well, almost everyone – now agrees that it was one of the worst things Europeans have ever done. Jews are living reminders to those racists of where their policies actually lead. They can’t get away with doing it to us, because it just makes them look too obviously like Nazis.
Perhaps that’s why Scotland Yard were so quick to say that the white supremacist Joshua Bonehead probably couldn’t march through Stamford Hill. The police’s response was that “it is unlikely to faciliate an event that would itself faciliate someone breaking the law. Using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour… can be prosecuted as a criminal offence.”
Oh really? Where was this application of the law for ten years of English Defence League thugs storming through British streets? Why wasn’t that the case when the BNP and the National Front wanted to march?
I’m sure Bonehead’s White Power clan will still have a go at marching anyway, and I’m sure we’ll need to resist them anyway, but the utter hypocrisy from the police is astounding. On anti-fascist marches, I’ve seen police forces throughout the country casually facilitate racist thugs walking past mosques, through mixed residential areas and across town centres using plenty of threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour. In nearly every case, it was the people who came out to oppose them that were arrested, not the fascists.
I’m glad, I genuinely am, that the police want to take action to stop neo-Nazis in London. It makes a welcome change from them joining in and helping out. But it pains me that this policy is applied only to attacks on Jews, and not to all of Britain’s minorities.
This goes far deeper than obviously racist organisations like UKIP, National British Resistance and the police. Every lie in the establishment press that is told about Muslims today was told about Jews in the 1930s. Now, I’m not trying to be a hipster about this and say they’re copying our style, but the evidence speaks for itself.
The lie that Muslims are trying to take over the country? Told all the time about Jews in the 1930s. So pervasive was that belief that George Orwell dedicated an essay to debunking it.
The idea that Muslims are trying to impose their own laws here? Yeah, that’s exactly what the Jews were accused of too.
Even the claims of paedophile grooming gangs and gangsters are a re-hash from previous centuries. Dickens’ character of Fagin was based on pretty much that exact anti-Semitic trope. (Obviously there are Jews and Muslims who do such unspeakable things, as there are from literally every group on the planet – but if you’re looking for a private club that does them then colludes together to cover it up, I’d take a look at the Houses of Parliament and the Royal Family, rather than Britain’s minorities.)
Intelligent people would now never fall for such smears against Jews. They’ve learnt their history and they understand its lessons. So why do people continue to believe these lies about Muslims?
I think it’s clear that Jews need to step in to defend against the virulent Islamophobia in Europe. At every turn, we need to make clear that racists all begin in just the same way and that it will end up in just the same way. We need Jewish communal organisations to be at the forefront of fighting prejudice against Muslims. And if you’re not convinced by every moral and ethical argument there is, just remember: they’ll come for us next.
This is an excellent article, keep up the good work!
Yes!! Absolutely right!! Very good how you put point after point. And even funny, too. Compliment!
“I’m sure Bonehead’s White Power clan will still have a go at marching anyway”
They don’t exist. He’s well known for making things up, they won’t be trying to march. He’s never organised a march before.
Interesting, Jews are killed by Islamists in France and Belgium because they are Jews. You people seem not worried about that. You are worried about “Islamophobia”
Not bothered about it? It’s all we’ve written about all month.
What’s your deal then? You think one maniac in Paris justifies persecuting millions of Muslims? You’re actually having a stab at being anti-halal and pro-kosher? Or you just want to see if you can win bronze in the Oppression Olympics?
I can’t believe I just wasted my finger-tapping energy typing back to you.
Excellent article and absolutely true. But I believe Bonehead should be allowed to have his march, just for a laugh. It’ll be funny watching him march on his own and eventually realising you can’t have the equivalent of the Nuremberg rallies with a 1000 fake twitter accounts.
Im confused why “attacking” ritual killing of animals puts anyone in compromising position. Im not a racist. I dont care if you white, black or pink. I dont care if you’re poor or wealthy. Small or tall. Man or woman. Dont care about your religion of choice either. What matters is answering the simple question – is there a better way of killing animals? (if we really have to keep killing them). If there is and it is causing less animal suffering that it should be imposed and thats pretty much it. It doesnt matter that some desert wanderer few thousand years ago thought otherwise or that someone is convinced that “god” have no better things to do than telling humans how to kill a squirrel. Of course right winged morons will jump on the bandwagon and will twist it to achieve its own goals. Of course Muslims will start talking about religious freedoms while Jewish community will keep repeating “Holocaust” billion times as its somehow related. Its not. At least for me it isnt.
Toda Levi , both for the wonderful article, and for that comment to the bonehead commenter above. 🙂 Minorities should stick together and stand for each other.. Jews & Muslims in particular, against all odds, ought to stand together . Not just because of the similar religious and cultural traits that makes them stand out, and the seemingly conditions they are subjected to in Europe, but also because they are the same kind of crazy. Only we can understand each others’ craziness. 😉 Keep up the good work, and stay awesome!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/a-month-after-kosher-market-attack-french-jews-plan-an-exodus/2015/02/07/bf7fd644-abb9-11e4-8876-460b1144cbc1_story.html
This, this is all.
Not going to insult or ridicule, just leave this here.
Excellent article and i found myself agreeing with you at every turn – and it was funny as well – love it!
“What’s your deal then? You think one maniac in Paris justifies persecuting millions of Muslims? You’re actually having a stab at being anti-halal and pro-kosher? Or you just want to see if you can win bronze in the Oppression Olympics?”
I did not suggest to persecute millions of Muslims. I have only stated the fact, that Islamists are on a killing tour against Jews in Europe. And you people are not concerned about that, only about what could happen to Muslims. I wonder why you have the cheek to demand something from Jews, you do not demand from Muslims in Europe.
I am asking you, what do Muslims communities in Europe do against antisemitism rampant in Muslim communities?
@Dan I respect and appreciate how you feel about animal cruelty, but let’s take a moment here: is killing sheep actually cruelty towards animals? As a Muslim who studied the rules of slaughtering animals I can say that it is meant to be the least painful method to killing sheep. One of the rules for example is that you should not slaughter a sheep in front of another as to not frighten it. The process should be as fast and painless as possible. Now, you might wonder why do we have to kill sheep at all? My answer to this would be: survival. You must have heard about the food crises in the poorer parts of the world, some people can’t find enough food to sustain them, take cattle out of the equation and we would ens up with much less. And let me point out another important thing: people have been killing sheep for food for thousands of years, that didn’t put them on the brink of extinction, actually they still reproduce and increase in numbers. Now imagine if no sheep are killed for food, that is bound to offset the balance with too many sheep grazing on plants, then less and less plants until we’re in a real crisis. Hence, female sheep are kept for milk and dairy products while male sheep are killed for food
No the muslims who went around killing those Jewish people in the supermarket were not muslim because they were not obeying God’s command they are what muslims refer to as hypocrites and believe will be in the lowest depths of hell. Hypocrites are those who call themselves muslim but have no faith in their hearts and act contrary to God’s (Allah’s) directives. The staffer Lassana Bathily, who is a muslim who worked in the kosher supermarket was obeying God’s command as a muslim because he rescued the Jewish customers by hiding them from the assailants.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/paris-magazine-attack/paris-supermarket-attack-hero-lassana-bathily-receives-french-citizenship-n289451
@Karl “I have only stated the fact, that Islamists are on a killing tour against Jews in Europe.”
[Citation Needed]
Thanks for this most elucidating article and may all the racists and zios of the world choke on it. True Jews and real Muslims, not the Fake Isis kind, are brothers through thick and thin!
I would like to also point out that the they are not islamists they are termed hypocrites as in Arabic islam means peace, purity, submission and obedience. In the religious sense, Islam means submission to the will of God and obedience to His law. Call them hypocrites because they won’t like that. It is the deepest insult. These crazies are none of these. I would also like to point out they are not just targeting Jews but everybody including other muslims.
Samy, to label a movement “crazy” is a method to downplay what they are doing. German Nationalsocialists were also called by some “crazy”.
True most of the victims of the islamist fundamentalists are Muslims.
The Turkish journalist Burak Bekdil has written an article how to fight Islamophobia
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/how-best-to-fight-the-islamophobia-industry.aspx?pageID=449&nID=77840&NewsCatID=398
Samy I do not know what God commanded, however I trust a BBC director to know what is going on in the UK
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/bbc-director-danny-cohen-rising-uk-antisemitism-makes-me-feel-more-uncomfortable-than-ever-9940985.html
So the muslims do not impose their laws in my country?
British persons cannot cover faces in a bank, petrol station, school etc…
Muslims must be allowed to wear burkah.
However if i go to a muslim country i cannot drink as is a british tradition (and christian) and my wife must walk disrespectfully behind me.
Tell me honestly?
Since when did Islam become a race?
Oh boy, have you missed the point. Do Jews charge huge fees to have Kosher certification (seriously, I don’t know if you do or not). Muslims do charge huge sums to have EVERYTHING in Australia Halal Certified and WE STRONGLY SUSPECT where the money, or at least some of the money, might be going. Jews are not running around beheading people, are you? If so, you’ve been smart enough to hide that kind of activity. Or the rumour true that ISIS is Israeli?
No, it isn’t a matter of racism. (Islam is a religion by the way and I have even met Aussie converts)…it is a matter of liberty for the world. Don’t get yourself all mixed up about this.
@Pagey hmm actually with the Brits colonising the world. They enforced their drunken traditions and brought diseases, raped and oppressed the natives of Australia and the Americas. See the current (as of today) the high incarceration rates of Indigenous Australians because of alcohol problems imported by the Brits :), stolen generation, NT intervention. Also, they never left these countries instead calling it their own and telling every other immigrant to get out or not to come. So if it is a muslim country or any country you must respect the traditions of that country. Obey the laws and respect the customs of the country you are visiting e.g. China has its own customs and rules.
@pagey Tell a British nun to take off her habit in public then.
The concern is not about the method of killing, it is about the Halal certification companies enforcing ongoing payments for certification. Kosher foods do not need to pay to become certified. Cadbury chocolate seems to be learning their lesson (NOT) but perhaps they will soon.
@Pagey, most Muslim countries do allow drinking, although many do not allow it in public. You have bars and clubs as everywhere else. A few examples: Morocco, Turkey, Egypt, Dubai, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and the list goes on.
@Samy@”the high incarceration rates of Indigenous Australians because of alcohol problems imported by the Brits”
I found a much better explanation, why the incarceration rate is so high:
http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/law/aboriginal-prison-rates#toc4
I haven’t read anything this affirming in months. Solidarity.
Blame the colonialism, neoliberalism,zionism for inhumanity in the middle east, tell the world the mossad is to blame for IS barbars,
for jihadis and believe it yourself. Only brainwashed morons can believe such mantra
agreed, racists are really dumb and its funny watching them fumble around with this kind of ambiguity. collateral damage was hilarious.
“I am asking you, what do Muslims communities in Europe do against antisemitism rampant in Muslim communities?”
Karl, really? Anti semitism? When Muslims are Semites as well?
But let me tell you this. During WW2 a small Muslim country by the name of Albania protected their Jewish citizens. Not one was taken to a German concentration camp. Not only that, but their Jewish population grew as they took in Jewish refugees from other parts of Europe.
Hatred of Jews is not rampant in Muslim communities. Besides many Jewish people themselves find the Zionistic approach by the Israeli government against the Palestinians appalling.
So here a “progressive” gives us the bullshit about a semitic race. Shame on your. There is not semitic race, there are only semitic languages. I do not make sweeping judgements but it is a fact that in Europe we have some muslims killing Jews just because they are Jews. Like in the Kasher Hypermarket in Paris and the Jewish community in Kopenhagen this year. Now let us see some Facts. In Libanon for instance somebody borne in second, third or fourth Generation is branded “Palestinian” and discriminated against. I did not hear any protest against that. I do not hear any protests against crude human rights Violation in Gaza and on the territory of the PA.
Esther Angel, you will have to agree the most peaceful Corner in the Middle East is today Israel. There is a blood bath going on in Syria, Iraq, Lybia and Yemen. But the only Country condemned by you and your friends is Israel.
The most peaceful corner in the Misddle East is Israel? I think the Palestinians will disagree with you as well as the Christians living within Israel.
Do you remember Lassana Bathily? He was the young Mali Muslim working in the Kasher Hypermarket in Paris because his religion asks this of him.
Esther Angel, tell me a more peaceful place in the Middle East than Israel! Are you representing all the Palestinians or only those wielding knives to kill Jews?
“The most peaceful corner in the Middle East is Israel? I think the Palestinians will disagree with you as well as the Christians living within Israel.”
Not to mention the Israelis forced to build bomb shelters in their backyards because of the incursions of the Palestinian state in reaction to the incursions of the State of Israel….