Some of the more charming emails

john begley...canada

dear me...that IS upsetting....and the first genuinely antisemitic filth i've ever seen.....i had no idea you were Jewish nor did i know a Jew had to put up with this sort of thing....and on a regular basis ! i don't know what to say...what an unneccesary burden to bear...

Joshua

You are an exceedingly decent person, Mr. Begley, what we Jews of European origin often refer to as a real "mensch". I can assure you that there are few higher compliments (I doubt very much whether I would deserve it). I know I rarely hand it out. I do in your case because you have empathised with our plight without hedging or waffling and in an honest and straighforward fashion. The thing is you actually care. When it comes to the defence of the Jewish people that is something even rarer than the compliment I have just given you.

R.G.Guinness

Utterly shocking and moronic.Not sure how I would react if I were the recipient.Mr Pollard's reaction is dignified, thereby underlining the difference between him and his assailants.

IW

Stephen, if you still have that e-mail, you can pretty easily work out out who sent it. Your options would be to publish the sender's name, or take legal action, or both. Worth considering...

Recusant

He'd get a flea in his ear from Hilaire Belloc as well. Deeply contradictory though he was in his attitude towards the Jew, he was, in public, highly critical in his comments on those who spoke like your correspondent about Jews.

Lee Jakeman

Of all the immigrant groups that have settled in England, the Jews, in my experience, are the most creative, the most productive and the best behaved.

john begley canada

joshua....i thank you for the compliment altho i ain't perfect by a long chalk...but i judge a man and i judge a people by their actions...by their track record...their form...and there can be no doubt the Jews are the front runners in the human stakes....anyone thinks elsewise from the record is a liar AND a bigot.....i say let the Jews take over the whole shooting match...at least THEN we'd mostly have order logic compassion and thrift in whichever endeavour they put their hand to. curiously enough my great grandma is a Kissinger from Vienna....i often wonder if i'm of the tribe though i was raised Irish and Catholic.

Jim

If I sneered at a central Jewish festival, I would expect some highly unpleasant attacks from Jews, as well as some polite and well-reasoned rebukes. Despite his attempts to claim otherwise, Mr Pollard has sneered at Xmas and received the same from Christians: highly unpleasant attacks and polite, well-reasoned rebukes.

john begley canada

'well reasoned rebukes' are welcome...vicious irrational threatening knee-jerk scapegoating is not welcome... ..i wonder at how such minds are formed....how frail and impressionable a man is......how immune to sense logic and understanding...

Verity

Lee Jakeman - I agree, although the Hindus are coming up on the inside track. But they do not give as generously to charities or fund foundations the way the Jews do. They will soon equal Jewish medical scientists, though. Already, India applies for more high technology patents than any other country bar the US and Germany. I don't know, though, that anyone will ever equal the Jews for humour. But for being trouble-free, dedicated pupils and law-abiding, family-oriented adults, I think the Jews and the Hindus draw even. Interesting that neither religion (I realise Hinduism isn't actually a religion)encourages converts.

Verity

Jim wrote, reasonably enough: "Mr Pollard has sneered at Xmas and received the same from Christians: highly unpleasant attacks and polite, well-reasoned rebukes." John Begley Canada, who is busily assuming the role of resident cracker-barrel philospher - a particularly trying know-it-all character that we are mercifully free of in Britain - writing: "'well reasoned rebukes' are welcome...vicious irrational threatening knee-jerk scapegoating is not welcome... " Welcome by whom, Mr Begley? This blog belongs to The Spectator and I would imagine that in his role as host, Stephen Pollard is the one who makes decisions about what is welcome on the blog that bears his name.

Guessedworker

Actually, "Anti-semite!" is the the default slur for anyone brave enough to even mention the relentless group-advocacy of Jews. For example, there is a real and very well understood Jewish interest in cosmopolitanising our country ... another in locking-down descent through hate speech legislation ... another in establishing the Holocaust as the defining event of the 20th century. Our interests oppose all three, the first because cosmopolitanisation is plain genocidal to us, the second because ours is a tradition of free expression, the third because the Holocaust narrative is a blood libel against us. But complain about this ... complain that Jewish interests are self-evidently at the centre of political life, while ours are demonised and marginalised, and ... presto, one is by definition a "hater", "racist", "Nazi" and, of course, "anti-semite". It isn't good enough. And using an e-mail, Stephen, from a deranged individual does not excuse the situation. We English have a perfect right to resist ethnic activities which are harmful to us in this, our ancient homeland. It is anti-English to contest this statement.

Mrs.Josephine Hyde-Hartley

"Xmas"? ..more like "CROSSmas" (by which I refer not only to the torture stake and/or even the shape of the letter "X" but also to the bad temper of this horrible comment above) Never mind. Remember the old rhyme; "Sticks and stones break your bones, words will never hurt you". Happy Crimbo.

maria

Stephen.....there are no words to describe the rubbish that people send out. I won`t even try to express my outrage/disgust etc etc... over the e.mail as it would be giving it attention it does not merit. Ignore if possible and enjoy the festive season in a way that suits you and your loved ones the best. regards.

Tony Makara

As a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant male I regret to report that I've had to suffer racial abuse too. At one time I lived in an area with a large Asian population and I was very much in the minority. Walking home at night was often dangerous with racial verbal abuse coming from groups of youths. Of course I understand that the abuse I suffered was born out of ignorance. So it is with the e-mails that plague you Stephen. The question is how do we deal intellectually with ignorance? Is it best to just ignore it? Can we rationalize it away? Or do the wounds it leaves impair our respect for other communities?

J Hitch

Tony Makara: "The question is how do we deal intellectually with ignorance? Is it best to just ignore it? Can we rationalize it away? Personally, I've always liked Woody Allen's quote about resurgent Nazi thugs in the film 'Manhattan'..... Victor: "There was this devastating satirical piece on that on the op-ed page of the Times – devastating." Allen: "A satirical piece in the Times is one thing, but bricks and baseball bats really gets right to the point of it." Helen: "Oh, but really biting satire is always better than physical force." Allen: "No, physical force is always better with Nazis."

john begley crackerland

Verity ?....be a good girl would you and blow it up then out of your raddled pimply arse.. best love....johnny the barrel...

john begley canada

oh dear !...unless of course it's MR. Verity i am responding to ? ...whatever...the fact IS miss or mr verity that the spectator and mr pollard are MY correspondents.....and you are theirs'...but thankfully i am NOT yours... quite clear on the distinctions are we ? very well...carry on as you were whatever you pretend to be. as always best wishes...j. cracker...barrellandia....

Verity

John Begley Canada/Crackerland -I sensed something insincere and attention-seeking in your first post. I'm sorry Joshua failed to spot it. Your second post, when you were wriggling yourself in, was worse. Now the contempt and nastiness is out in the open. I repeat, Stephen, as the host of this blog which bears his name, is the one who sets the rules; not you. By the way, the word theirs does not carry an apostrophe. It is already a possessive. I suspect Mrs Josephine Hyde-Hartley is another of your personalities. Mrs Josephine Hyde-Hartley writes: "Remember the old rhyme; "Sticks and stones break your bones, words will never hurt you". This is a rhyme?

john o'cracker barrellandia

MR. Verity, howsabout THIS rhyme then ? you tend to "pity the plumage but forget the dying bird." as for hyde-hartley ? never met Josie...but i'd like to... best love....regrets...., jacques le craquellure.

Jeremy jacobs

Stephen, I've seen and heard worse. Lee, Thanks. Pity more like you don't speak up. Mind you Jews have always been here, even after York. But of course you are correct the vast majority came here in the last 150 years.

Johnathan Pearce

Stephen, don't let these cretins get you down. But you are right to report some of the emails you get to the police. I have been lucky to avoid getting hatemails due to my blogging. Have a great 2008, old chap and good luck with the horce racing.

JK, Helsinki Finland

I have been a somewhat irregular reader of this blog, but this Xmas row caught my attention and I could not resist the temptation to comment. First of all, the posting about Xmas displayed ignorance and lack of sensitivity. If this blog had been run on a leftist site, like the Guardian, nobody would have paid any attention. However, this is supposedly a website of a conservative magazine. If Mr. Pollard had apologized after the Xmas post simply by saying that he's sorry, the whole debacle could have been avoided. However, it seems that Mr. Pollard's vanity got the better of him. He could not face the fact that he had written an offensive post and recognize this. Instead, he went on and tried to prove that the assertion made in the original Xmas post was correct by quoting a Times article. Mr Pollard's mistakes did not end here. After receiving criticism (and seemingly some very vile and abusive emails), he chooses to play the victim card and publishes one of the worst emails. I really don't know a more effective way to destroy your own credibility than acting the way Mr. Pollard did. So far the only fault I have found in Mr. Pollard's postings is the fact that he's a Spurs supporter and occasionally likes to mock West Ham United. I can live with that but the kind of hypocrisy and dishonesty displayed by him lately is harder to bear. Regarding the abusive email, it tells more about the negative qualities of the sender than the intended target. By publishing it Mr Pollard tries to portray this debacle as an anti-semitic campaign against him, which, in my opinion, is dishonest.

Ted

What a vile message.

Re-read your original post on Xmas to try to understand the upset. As a Christian I couldn't see what the fuss was about. Have in the past at various times in in various countries had muslim, hindu and jewish friends join us for dinner on the day, exchanged gifts and celebrated friendship - without religious overtones; those were family or private. You merely pointed out the two aspects of Christmas/Xmas the religious, celebrated by fewer and fewer and the secular festival which is celebrated worldwide in countries of differing religions.

Hope you enjoyed your first Xmas and have a prosperous and Happy Year.

Ian C

Most religions, or sects within, are larger than the individuals who from time to time represent them. They have differing levels of current respect in their time and as one J Clarkson called him in Sunday's Times, a " five-star, paid-up member of the loony left" is not likely to be such a person. The more serious matter is the consequence of writing a piece such as your entry in the Times. The racist response is predictable and disgusting. The target you were aiming at was to close to be a meaninful contribution to the value of Christmas, or religion in general. But well done for provoking debate.

john begley canada

a "secular festival" ??...for the most part without a doubt.....as a non practicing R.C. i think how nice a lot of Jews partake and enjoy our Xmas Bacchanal.....perhaps their rather more stringent morality will influence and redirect the 'festival' back to some sort of religious relevancy. apropos nothing at all i can't help adding that i'd bet Verity is an "unpleasant feel."