We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.

Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]

Samizdata quote of the day – the Israel edition

“Yet the idea that all British Jews are uncritical backers of the Israeli administration is fiction. There are as many vocal opponents of Benjamin Netanyahu and his hardliners as there are supporters. So why should they be blamed en masse for policies decided in Jerusalem? And why must it spill over into violence and vandalism? Indelibly ingrained anti-Semitism can be the only credible explanation.”

“After all, the Left — and it is almost exclusively the Left — don’t hold all British Muslims responsible for the excesses of the Saudi regime. Or attack Chinese restaurants over Beijing’s treatment of Uyghurs. Where are the protests outside the Russian embassy about the illegal war on Ukraine? What also baffles me is why the Left make common cause with fascistic, paramilitary organisations such as Hamas, which represents and practises everything they claim to abhor, including rampant misogyny. How can they make excuses for a terrorist group which rapes and kills women and children?”

Richard Littlejohn.

Part of the Left (and a few on the crazier ends of the Right) excuses attacks on Israel, and engages in this sort of moronic behaviour, because they are anti-semites. Anti-semitism is a moral sickness, the badge of under-achievers, losers and loons the world over, and has been that way for centuries. Another factor is that for a lot of Leftists, to be on the Left is to support “victims”, particularly if they have cultivated, nurtured and celebrated victimhood, as in the case of say, the Palestinians or wherever. Sometimes there are aspects of genuine justice in these stances, but in the main this is about a search for a cause with a group that is nice and far away, rather than to have to contemplate the more complicated facts on the ground. And another driver of Israel/Jew hatred is that Israel is a modern country in many ways, a tech powerhouse, and the Jewish people have over the centuries excelled in many fields when given the chance. If you are a Leftist, all this achievement cuts against the grain.

7 comments to Samizdata quote of the day – the Israel edition

  • Penseivat

    It has been said that, if Hamas and Hezbollah put down their weapons, there would be no more war whereas, if Israel put down their weapons, there would be no more Israel. That is the difference between the two sides.

  • lucklucky

    How many have been detained and sued for hate speech? if not why not?

  • Martin

    As Ben Sixsmith explains here, the far left are showing themselves to be quite clear what they’re about, even if it does show themselves in a completely vile light. The dummies are the soi disant ‘centrists’, like Sadiq Khan, like Larry Summers, like Kathy Hochul, who after years of welcoming mass immigration for decades from parts of the world where Jews in particular and Westerners more generally aren’t that well liked, are now shocked to find that they now live with actual anti-Semites who have been their political allies for ages, as opposed to the phantom ‘fascists’ (ie people who voted for Brexit, Trump, Orban, Le Pen, etc) they have been screeching about for many many years.

  • AndrewZ

    The most basic axiom of the far left is that the West is the root of all evil and the cause of every bad thing in the world. Therefore, they will support literally anybody who opposes the West, on the basis that the West must always be in the wrong. They view modern Israel as a Western intrusion into the Middle East because of the circumstances of its creation and its close relationship with the United States, so always opposing the West includes always opposing Israel.

    That’s not to deny that there is also widespread anti-Semitism on the far left. But underlying that, there is something more fundamental to their beliefs which would cause them to hate Israel even if it was the pagan or atheist state instead of the Jewish state. The anti-Semitism intensifies something that was already there.

  • bobby b

    (If this is OT, sorry, just delete.)

    Interesting Youtube coverage of the battle post-massacre:

    Part 1 – 20 hours ago

    Part 2 – 7 hours ago

    (Most interesting to me – and unconfirmed – is the statement that US Special Forces are taking part in the battles.)

  • Paul Marks

    The truth is that the government of “Bibi” has not been too strong – it has been too soft, much too soft.

    This whole “I oppose the excesses of the right wing government, but…” is based on the LIE that there is a government in Israel that has been too tough.

    No concessions to LIES – no “I oppose the excesses of the right wing government – but….”, partly because of the endless “protests” in Israel (stirred up by the Social Media Corporations – and it is a matter of public record that they work with the American intelligence agencies, and backed by certain billionaires whose loyalty is to the “international community” NOT Israel) the “right wing” government has done very little since it came into office last December.

    Cut off the water supply and allow the civilian population of the Gaza Salient (and it is a Salient – look at a map) to peacefully relocate to Egypt and the other nations of the Islamic world.

  • Kirk

    The “organized left” has been on the other side since day one. Along with a lot of the rest of those who fellow-travel and share the same belief systems.

    And, it’s not precisely a thing of the stated ideologies or goals, either. There’s a deeper rot, in there.

    Consider the basic drives behind the things they demand and attempt to enact. What possible reason do they have to disarm and render helpless everyone not on the side of the state? Why do they seek total state control over everything, everywhere?

    They’ve managed to do away with most forms of private charity, creating huge bureaucracies manned by their own, which prove to be totally ineffectual at actually addressing any problems.

    Across the broad swath of things, you are left being forced to conclude that it’s really all about the power and the ability to tell others what to do, which they’ve got a drive to do which is positively sexual… Most of the deeply committed and irrational leftists I know are, in my opinion, demonstrating behavior that you can easily look up in DSM IV, which then leads you to wonder whether or not they’re actually manifesting mental illness as opposed to political beliefs.