Saturday 25 August 2018

New day, new smear - Don't-appreciate-irony-gate

The sun has come up, so I suppose that must mean another dimly conceived attempt to drum up a scandal about Jeremy Corbyn.

Here it is:
Jeremy Corbyn claimed that Zionists in Britain “don’t understand English irony” in a speech that appeared to portray Jews as an alien culture. 
Luciana Berger, a Jewish Labour MP, said that the Labour leader’s comments, caught on camera at a pro-Palestinian event, were “inexcusable” and made her feel unwelcome in the party.
Link 
And here is the video of him making these 'inexcusable' remarks:


First, he's clearly talking about some very specific comments made by specific people who were present at a meeting.  We don't know how they acted, so condemning Corbyn when this important information is lacking is grotesque.  I might even say, it's inexcusable.

Also, Corbyn's point was that the people who go on about the "immemorial rights of Jews" to the territory of Mandate Palestine, the "Rights of Jews to a homeland," the right "self-determination" and the "Rights of Israel to defend itself" are attacking someone else for suggesting that Palestinians (the people who were living in Mandate Palestine before Israel and were dispossessed by the creation of Israel) might actually have these rights as well.

As he said, they don't want to study the history of the area - as far as they are concerned, it started in 1948, or possibly even on 1967.  And they don't get the absurdity of their position, demanding the suppression of one group's rights for the advantage of another's.  I'd go further than Corbyn.  I wouldn't call it a failure to appreciate irony.  I'd call it hypocrisy.

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