Obviously discriminating or hostility to Jews is wrong. It is important to understand what's prompted this post of mine:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36160135
This is what Mr Ken livingstone actually said....
Quote BBC: Mr Livingstone appeared on BBC Radio London defending [MP Ms Shah] and said he had never heard anyone in the Labour Party say anything anti-Semitic.
He added: "When Hitler won his election in 1932 his policy then was that Jews should be moved to Israel. He was supporting Zionism before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews."
Unquote.
Unsurprisingly, I couldn't quickly locate Ms Shah's comments in the UK media. They aren't hot on reporting, they tell "stories" for us. Her comments, broadly, were that Israel would be better relocated to the USA but no exact quote was given and no context of the remark, which is an old theme.
Anti-Semite: n.
One who discriminates against or who is hostile toward or prejudiced against Jews.
Anti-Semitic: adj
Prejudiced against or hostile to Jews.
But Semitic: adj
1.
relating to or denoting a family of languages that includes Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic and certain ancient languages such as Phoenician and Akkadian, constituting the main subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic family.
2.
relating to the peoples who speak Semitic languages, especially Hebrew and Arabic.
Note: Anti-Semitism has come to mean anti-Jewish which is not its literal meaning. It does NOT mean anti-Israel and it does NOT mean pro-Nazi. It does imply that one's motive is idle prejudice or ignorance.
When motivated by religion, I see circumcision as mutilating a child's genitals and a physical assault. I don't agree that religious faith is a good thing and suggest no Abrahamic religion is good. I see it as superstition best avoided. To that extent I could be seen as anti-Jewish (as I would say) or anti-Semitic as people in general would say. I am not violent and do not argue that the Jewish religion should be discriminated against or suppressed - obviously.
For various reasons, Zionism and Israel are controversial in the UK today. As regards the Ken Livingstone and Naz Shah controversies, I think suspending them is understandable and perhaps necessary given the loudness of the reaction (or how loudly the media are reporting it), but I think suspensions are probably unjustified by facts.
Many UK MPs are "Friends of Israel" but not "Friends of Palestine" and vice versa. I think there may be grounds for accusations of bias and prejudice there. Wiki stated that "80% of Tory MPs may be members of "Friends of Israel". If so, many seem to keep the fact hidden from the general public who seem not to care much anyway. Membership of "Fr of Israel" may also cause suspicion of influence using money or lobbying as that lobby is often presumed to be rich and influential in the UK.
I think people need to calm down and look at what is actually being said and communicated. Some people equate any criticism of Israel or Jews as being anti-Semitic (meaning anti-Jewish) and therefore Nazi-like. When anti-Semitism or Nazism are mentioned, listening and intelligent comment seem to stop.
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