Guardian Letter from 22 Jewish people Criticises False Allegations of anti-Semitism at Oxford University Labour Club

As I have already posted, Oxford University Labour Club – An Old Story – Support Palestinians Cry Anti-Semitism  a trumped up, fabricated charge of ‘anti-Semitism’ has been levelled at Oxford University Labour Club for having the temerity to support Oxford’s Israel Apartheid Week.

 

Its co-Chairperson, Alex Chalmers, resigned because he was unable to tell the difference between opposing Zionist racism and opposing Jews.  His lack of any intellectual prowess is not untypical of the upper class twits that inhabit Oxford University. 

 

It was therefore felt that Chalmers and the Zionists’ rent-a-gob Labour MPs, Louise Ellman and John Mann, were in need of some enlightenment, which is why 22 Jewish people sent a letter to the Guardian last week in response to their coverage.  The Guardian published the letter on the Internet today and it is copied below.

Antisemitic? Or just against the Israeli government’s oppressive actions?

Antisemitism is conspicuous by its absence in your article on “antisemitism” at Oxford University Labour Club.

Antisemitism is abuse, discrimination and hatred of Jews as Jews. Examples of such abuse might be the description of the US ambassador to Israel, Daniel Shapiro, as “a little Jew boy” by former Netanyahu aide Aviv Bushinsky.

If someone had suggested that people should follow the suggestion of the chief rabbi of Safed, Shmuel Eliyahu, that Jews should not rent rooms to Arabs but instead applied an equivalent policy to Oxford’s Jewish students, we could understand and would share the concern.

Perhaps MPs John Mann and Louise Ellman prefer another description for the situation on the West Bank whereby two systems of law operate – one for Palestinians and the other for Jewish settlers? Or why half of Israel’s Arab villages are “unrecognised” and liable to instant demolition, whereas Jewish villages and towns are always recognised?

Whether Israel is an apartheid state or not is a perfectly legitimate political debate. Jewish students can be found on both sides of this debate. It is not, however, antisemitic.


Those who deliberately confuse antisemitism and anti-Zionism give comfort and aid to the real antisemites in our society. Like the boy who cried wolf, they ensure that if antisemitism does rear its ugly head, people will assume that this is just another false accusation.


Tony Greenstein
Professor Haim Bresheeth
Professor Jonathan Rosenhead
Professor Steven Rose
Miriam Margolyes
Tamar Steinitz
Merav Pinchassoff
Amanda Sebestyen
Deborah Fink
Craig Berman
Susanne Levin
Leah Levane
Ben Young
Richard Kuper
Miriam Yagud
Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi
Beryl Maizels
Brian Robinson
Mike Cushman
Les Levidow
Miriam Scharf
Hope Liebersohn