Israel – a beacon for neo-Nazis and white supremacists
JVL introduction
On August 24 we posted an article from the Morning Star in which Julia Bard warned against the idea, gaining currency among some who advocate for justice for Palestinians, that British fascists depend on guidance and support from Israel. She wrote: “The fact that some funds backing Tommy Robinson have come from Israel or its supporters does not mean it is behind the riots.”
In the spirit of promoting debate on important issues, we publish here a contribution from Tony Greenstein who sent us a response which did not fit into our max 300-word comment limit. He suggests that Julia’s article downplays the links between Zionism and Islamophobia and reflects a tendency to turn a blind eye to racism among British Jews.
NWI
Zionism is an integral part of today’s Islamophobia
By Tony Greenstein
The story of Gary Mond, forced to step down as Senior Vice President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews in 2022 for anti-Muslim social media posts, is just one recent example of Islamophobia among leading UK Zionists. There was also censure of the Jewish National Fund because of virulent Islamaphobic comments by its chair Sam Hayek, including support for the Great Replacement Theory about the end of Christian majority culture in the West. Other supporters of this theory, include the former Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.
The Jewish Socialists Group, of which Julia Bard is a leading member, have a tendency to turn a blind eye to racism among British Jews. British Jews are not the same as they were 80 years ago – an ethnic minority experiencing the same racism as Muslims and Black people. Then they were the heart of the Communist Party and labour movement. Today they are largely supporters of the Right.
Julia ignores the repeated flying of the Israeli flag by the far right and their support for Zionism, which far outweighs their backing for Putin. Even Hope not Hate acknowledges that Israel-supporting fascist Tommy Robinson has ‘refrained from vociferously picking a side in the (Ukraine/Russia) war, instead retreating to the comfort of common ground…’
I assume the Morning Star carried the article because it chimes with their refusal to oppose Zionism.
Julia is on record as having called David Miller antisemitic and this seems to be a continuation of that theme.
David is clearly wrong to say that ‘“The riots show that Israel is trying to burn down the UK.” David has a habit of overgeneralising, but he is not antisemitic. Nor is Lowkey, a cultural icon who also comes in for criticism in the article.
I found Julia’s article confusing and lacking cogency. Is she saying that the riots we have just had were fascist riots? I disagree. Fascists were involved but they were the riots of the dispossessed who had bought into mainstream racist narratives as we saw over Brexit. What we are facing is not the growth of a fascist movement (at least at present) but popular racism.
Julia makes much of an image in one of David Miller’s videos showing Zionist counter-protesters at a London Gaza demonstrations draped in Israeli flags. Is Julia unaware that the English Defence League (EDL) and other fascist groups have repeatedly demonstrated with Israeli flags? I have photos of the EDL in Brighton to prove it.
It is also a fact that money from pro-Israeli think tanks and Zionist billionaires have poured into Tommy Robinson’s legal fund from groups like the Middle East Forum. The allegations of Russian funds trying to destablise Britain come from sources like Clinton democrats, Special Branch and the Guardian’s Luke Harding.
The relationship between the British far-Right and Zionism is completely different from its relationship with the far right in other countries. It is based not only on a shared ideology but on what Israel is doing in Gaza today and previously, i.e. killing thousands of mainly Muslim Palestinians. Israel is the embodiment of the desires and dreams of today’s fascists. Neo-Nazis like Richard Spencer admire Israel because it is their ideal of an ethno-nationalist state. Spencer famously declared that he was a White Zionist – not a White Polish nationalist or Indian Hindutva chauvinist.
Support for Israel/Zionism is an integral part of today’s Islamophobia. David Miller may exaggerate but he is not altogether wrong either. There is a symbiosis between the two.
When JNF trustee Samuel Hayek openly supported the ‘Great Replacement Theory” ideology, to suggest that the “white” Christian majority in the west was shrinking, and faced a vote of censure by the BoD, 36pct of the Board opposed it!
Julia speaks of Tommy Robinson’s belief that the “far left” is funded by George Soros. She describes this as ‘a classic fascist, antisemitic reference to the Great Replacement Theory which alleges that a shadowy Jewish conspiracy is replacing white Christians in the West with Muslims.’
I’m not sure this is a ‘classic Jewish conspiracy theory’ but I’ll let that pass. As noted above, Samuel Hayek is not the only prominent Zionist to express admiration for the Great Replacement idea. Former Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, is on record singling out Douglas’s Murray’s Strange Death of Europe for praise. Its title says that ‘Europe is dying — being murdered… by hordes of Muslim immigrants, aided in their task by craven liberal politicians.’
Let us remember that it was Sacks who accused Jeremy Corbyn of being like Enoch Powell! So what does Julia make of this? My take on it is that racism has seeped deep into the British Jewish community via Zionism. And not just in Britain. Many French Jews supported Le Pen rather than vote for leftwing parties. .
As for the left being funded by Soros. Does Julia not remember that appalling antisemitic cartoon posted by Yair Netanyahu showing Soros as the puppet master. It was endorsed by the openly Nazi Daily Stormer of American blogger Andrew Anglin.
Why does Julia pour scorn on the suggestion that the riots were Islamophobic? Clearly they were. That doesn’t mean they were dictated by Israel, though support for Israel played a part. Even if someone does detect Israel’s hand behind something, why is that antisemitic? Israel is not a Jew. The admiration for Zionism is not confined to Robinson or Spencer. Anders Brevik, the Norwegian mass murderer, was effusive in his support for Israel. Fascists do not see Israelis as Jewish.
Yes Robinson associates with right-wing Polish and Hindutva antisemites (the Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Gideon Falter also supports the latter) but he and his followers don’t parade with their flags. The links between British and European fascism and Zionism/Israel are far, far stronger. I also rebut the suggestion that Polish fascists are ‘anti-zionist from a right-wing perspective.’ They are antisemitic. Anti-Zionism is a form of anti-racism and anti-Zionist they are not.
Of course fascism isn’t a foreign import, but British fascism has historically been heavily influenced by German fascism in the 30s and Israel today. The British Union of Fascists changed their name in 1936 to include ‘and National Socialists’. The Anglo-German Fellowship was stuffed with MPs, aristocrats and corporate sponsors.
Julia speaks of ‘far-right Zionists’ and the ‘fascist infused Israeli government’. I hate to disappoint Julia but two-thirds at least of the Knesset is far right. What is clear today in Britain and America is how the Zionist movement has adapted to the presence of neo-Nazis in Israel’s government. The distinction between ‘liberal’ and ‘right-wing’ Zionists has become meaningless.
Yes of course the causes of the riots went far further than Tommy Robinson and his supporters. Mainstream racist scapegoating of refugees played a very significant role in what happened, especially the targeting of the boat people, but we should not forget that the core of those who tried to attack mosques and refugee hostels were Robinson’s supporters.
Julia believes that the old days of ‘left-wing’ Zionism are still with us. The days of Habonim-Dror and HaNoar Hatzioni are gone. Kahanism and Messianic Fundamentalism have sprouted. Israel has become a Mecca for the far right who, ironically never fail to pay homage at Yad Vashem. Whether it is the Ukrainian Azov Battalion or German AfD, Israel provides a pole of attraction to those who long for their own ethno nationalist states.
As Geert Wilders, leader of the largest party in the Dutch Parliament said ‘‘If Jerusalem falls into the hands of the Muslims, Athens and Rome will be next.’ Israel today is the beacon of light for European neo-Nazis and fascists. Julia needs to wake up both to the political changes in the Jewish community and the open embrace of fascism by a large section of the Zionist movement.
Just a FYI on these issues. In Manchester 2014 in response to the summer bombardment of Gaza which killed 2,220+ – including 551 children, there were protests outside the Kedem store in the city centre, which was selling produce from the Occupied Territories. There were repeated reports of the EDL being in the pro-Israel counter-demonstrations. E.G see –
https://www.mancunianmatters.co.uk/news/20082014-revealed-edl-invited-to-gaza-protest-forcing-manchester-pro-palestine-supporters-to-scale-back-demos/
As regards the broader issue of Israel and Fascist-Racist connections, it is worth recalling that if you are a right-wing, racist white south African, nostalgic for apartheid you need only convert to Judaism to then be welcomed to Israel – see Middle-East Eye et al.
On the other hand, if you are a Black Ugandan Jew born and brought up in the faith, you’ll be denied entry – see Haaretz.
Middle East Eye
“South Africans in Israel: A home away from home for white colonialists”
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-south-africa-home-white-colonialists
Haaretz
“Ugandan Jews Not Eligible to Immigrate to Israel, State Informs High Court”
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2021-01-25/ty-article/.highlight/ugandan-jews-not-eligible-to-immigrate-to-israel-state-informs-high-court/0000017f-f23d-df98-a5ff-f3bdeffe0000
I’m not equipped to opine on Tony Greenstein’s analysis as a whole – though it looks convincing to me. But I do know something about dispossession. This is an extract from a rejected letter to the Observer which I think reinforces his seventh paragraph: ‘Self-evidently, prosecution is a belated answer to violence: it is not a solution. Is it news that there are wider factors at play? Since rioting is largely though not exclusively a male prerogative, I looked at the Health Foundation’s map of male healthy life expectancy in Britain. I found that the riots took place predominantly in places with male healthy life expectancy below 60 years: Blackpool, Rotherham, Hartlepool, Middlesborough, Sunderland, Hull, Liverpool, Belfast. In Blackpool and Belfast, male healthy life expectancy is under 55. These are averages across local authorities, so that many neighbourhoods will be far worse’. Sure, racism is rife, directed by our friends in the media and their friends with political power. But the ground troops, a step down from the broad mobilisation for the narrow victory of Brexit, are the raging dispossessed, among the 200,000 identified by Marmot who each year die unnecessarily prematurely. It really does hang together.
Tony, you are spot on. It is no coincidence that the far right and fascist find comfort wrapping themselves in the Israeli flag. It represents everything they believe in: racial supremacism, the separatism and domination of colonialism and empire, and justification for violence toward anyone who opposes them.
When I read Julia Bard’s article I felt uncomfortable but I didn’t have time to analyse it and let it pass, Tony has done it perfectly – thanks.
He said “My take on it is that racism has seeped deep into the British Jewish community via Zionism”.
Yes, how many Christians and Jews now call themselves Zionists and do they realise that in so doing, they are racists?
Thank you for this Tony, it is incredibly helpful ✊🏼
‘Israel has become a Mecca for the far right who, ironically never fail to pay homage at Yad Vashem. Whether it is the Ukrainian Azov Battalion or German AfD, Israel provides a pole of attraction to those who long for their own ethno nationalist states.’ Just so….this is restraned for Mr G and all the more eloquent and convincing for it.
Perfect illustration of why The Morning Star and their Communist followers have always been regarded as a joke by 99% of the British Left.
Excellent contribution by Tony. We won’t progress until we discard Zionism, including the fantasy ‘left’ Zionism that some of the left cling to when history tells us that the so-called socialist/Labour Zionists were colonialists who were sponsored to subject the Palestinians Arabs to racism.
Israel today is a racist state with a hierarchy that extends from Ashkenazi downwards.
I take exception to Jewish exceptionalism when it comes to Zionism, which is what this has been about on the left – which is why I won’t join JVL… Socialists fight all real racism.
As for the British and other right, and connections with Israel/Zionism, you’d have to be very out of touch not to clock their long-standing endorsement of ethno-states and Israel especially, but not because they like Jews of course.
The issue is that Israel and the Palestinians is, whether you like it or not, a pivotal global issue. It’s not possible to completely separate imperialism from Zionism in my view and you do get people veering between them which is why some of the left don’t like David Miller, Lowkey etc. But engage them on the politics not ludicrous accusations of antisemitism, as Tony suggests.
Here’s an interesting, detailed discussion of similar issues, from David Hearst, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Middle East Eye.
https://braveneweurope.com/david-hearst-how-an-unholy-alliance-between-fascists-and-far-right-zionists-fuelled-uk-riots
It desribes how “supporting Israel’s slaughter in Gaza and anti-Muslim racism in the UK go hand-in-hand.”
Lawrence Fox has suggested Muslims should be removed from the UK. I wonder if his supporters are salivating over their property.
At this rate we may see the demolition of Al Aqsa and The Dome of the Rock in our lifetimes. If the kill rate continues on its current trajectory, and then that happens – what takes place after that could be of a different order of magnitude. Do the nut jobs expect a messianic event to protect them when they do this? They’ll need one.