The fault line on the left

InconvenientTruthiness

Dear Melanie,

The Left's pathological need to cast itself as the goodguy, thereby requiring the casting of badguys, is matched only by it's deep seated cowardice.

Therefore they will cast someone like Boris Johnson as a villain because they know he isn't going to issue a fatwah against them.

They take issue with Israel in a way they never would with a Russia or an Iran because they know that Israel isn't going to send radioactive isotope wielding assassins after them.

If I was going to appoint someone as my own personal moral saviour or whipping boy I too would pick someone that couldn't retaliate without falling into the trap of assuming the role I'd cast them in.

Ravi

Note the vile sewage of hate that Bright's article attracted so proving his case elegantly. Its all there. The Protocols are Back and this time its for real!!

Thom

Melanie,

A brave man indeed - the beginnings of wisdom I feel.

Issues with the government of Israel are perfectly valid areas of discussion, just as our own regarding NuLabour should be; it is the repeated attacks against the nationhood of Israel and the jews that we should vehemently oppose.

I occasionally get the feeling that you tend to cover all sins of the Israeli government - not a dig but a natural slant achieved only because the surrounding countries state leaders are inherently corrupt, making them look angelic by comparison.

InconvenientTruthiness,

Agreement is boring for debate but couldn't put it better myself. The right should put the swivel-eyed nonsense behind them and start to bear teeth, starting with us pointing out that socialists are considerably closer by defintion to fascism than they probably realise, the main difference being the level of governance in both systems which are very close. The second thing should be the appearance of men on the right with integrity, not the sorry set shower that were brought down with the Tories with Major in power.

Hondo

You must be blissfully and stupidly ignorant of Israel's policy of assassination, both targeted and untargeted.

Mike

We should be indebted to Melanie for this exposure of what Martin Bright wrote in his blog of May 15. Visit:

http://www.newstatesman.com/200805150026

But what is very interesting are the 75 (to-date) comments, in particular those from someone identified as 'writeon'. There are others, but for me he/she would surely be most welcome as a contributor on this thread.

'Writeon' enters the debate at 1900 on May 16.

michael

zzzz

Ian G

It's all about God. Israel is reminder that God keeps His promises. The atheist left (and right) can't stand that at all. The religious liberals have so compromised the faith (Jewish and Christian varieties) that they are trying to get God to do what they want. Israel doesn't fit into that scenario. That's why your best friends are the evangelicals - but watch out for the so-call 'social evangelicals', some of them will be against Israel. Of course, there are atheists who are for Israel, but not many. The nations that bless Israel will be blessed, but ultimately there are no political alliances that will help Israel. 'Put not your trust in prices nor in any of the sons of men.'

Ian G

Oops. Typo. It should be 'princes' and not 'prices'.

Joe

…For a long time Israel has been accused of crying wolf over surrounding countries that want to ‘drive it into the sea’. Now it has a neighbour whose president has not only made that threat explicit,

Just for the record, I am reasonably certain that both Nasser and Arafat also made this threat explicit. Something along the lines of dyeinghte Meditieranian red with the colour of Jewish blood.

th ebuild up to '67, 1973 and even 1948 were not "crying wolf" those existantial threats were real and put in to practice.

Commondog

The welcome, if yet faint, sound of pennies starting to drop.

Poor michael seems to have heard it but can't bear the truth and so is burying his head under the covers.

Bless.

MacZed

The Media in the US has decided that Obama is the reincarnation of JFK, RFK and MLK all rolled into one great black hope. His comparison of Islam's Iranian bomb to Khruschev's Cuban Missile Crisis today is proof that Obama has zero clue that the Mahdi seeking leaders are actually ok with a nuclear war...because our media will turn around and blame us for Hiroshima and Nagasaki if a nuke goes off in a US city. The Media is are all but daring McCain's camp to insult Obama's stint in a Madrassa or his association with Rev. Wright as two opportunities for the Media to call racism and crucify McCain publicly hour after hour on multiple fronts and fonts. What is becoming obvious to the reasonable people in the silent majority here in the USA is that the Media is determined to pay reparations to blacks for slavery, and is strangely determined to open all borders to all comers as an act of martyrdom to the cause of peace, knowing for a fact that nothing will come of it in the end, save the downfall of America, a downfall they will record in lust and wonder over as the chains of slavery clamp down without warning.

Graeme, Canterbury

The reason why the left hates Israel is this. Zionism stands for the nation-state; under Marxism, the withering away of nations is its mainstay. Zionists are nation statist ideologues and Marxists and their Liberal Left fellow travellers believe the complete opposite. Marxists regard the nation-state as a racist entity, hence the zionism is racism nonsense.

Jon_Boy

Why is anyone surprised that the left is anti Israel, morally bankrupt and pro Islamic fascist.

Forget one or two intellectuals who indulge in what can only be described as purile psuedo religious intellectual masturbation.

The real reason for the state aafiars we have today is a throw back from the cold war. The Soviet Union used Muslim/Arab terrorists as their foot soldiers in the West and used them to run their Western networks.

This allowed the total infiltration and then later domination of Islamist doctrine within the left wing networks the Russians previously fosterd and supported. Even the Yanks tried to use ruthless Islamists against the Russians as was well documented in Afghanistan.

Therefore why is anyone surprised that the political apparatus of the left is dominated by an Islamist agenda today? It was inevitable and process that had been going on for decades. At least prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union Muslim/Arab terrorists had to also do the bidding of the KGB on top of carying out their own agenda.

Andy Gill

First Nick Cohen broke ranks to expose the left's hatred of Israel. Now Martin Bright stands alongside him.

Both these courageous writers deserve our admiration for condemning the nazi-like hysterical portrayal of the Jewish state that so obsesses the British left.

Brian Pol

Surely it is just another piece of proof that 'right' and 'left' don't mean anything. They bear no relation in terms of ideology to what people called themselves 50 years ago, let alone 100 years ago.

Like Nick Cohen, I'd have to ask how anyone who claims to be 'Hezbollah now' is in any way left wing? (ie. very broadly-secular, pro women rights, economically egalitarian, pro minority rights, pro representative democracy etc)

Ann

Joe, Nasser did say it many times, so did Assad Sr. So did many other Arab leaders.
Martin Bright is a Johnny-come-lately who thinks he has invented the wheel, but is hardly a knowledgeable commentator.

John East

Those of us that see the left morping into fascim at the extreme of it's spectrum have no difficulty whatsoever in understanding why Israel is so vilified.

What I find more puzzling is their tacit acceptance of misogynism practice by their Islamic brothers.

Ian G

There's not much point in posting my correction if the original post is not published. Who's doing the moderating here?

Pete Hoskin

Ian G: your original comment had - for some reason - got lost in our system. It's been discovered and posted now (see above).

Annie gets her gun

"...but is hardly a knowledgeable commentator." As opposed to, say, you, eh Ann? (You really are becoming quite arrogant lately.)

London Calling

As a British Citizen, I have never allowed my Patriotism to cloud the truth. Britain has achieved great contributions in history, even if in our darkest history we enslaved our own people to do so, such as the satanic mills and workforce of children, of which thousands died.

It would seem to me that as in all situations there is no perfect round, the good has always been outweighed by the not so good and people will make their own assumptions as to what is the truth.

If someone said they hated me, I would want to ask why?

If we have only half the story, how can we then come to a more solid conclusion?

If both Israel and the Palestinians are both wrong and right in their views, then we must open up the discussion and see the whole picture of events that will hopefully lead to solutions for both.

I don’t know enough about who really is in power in Israel, but if Ehud Olmert's recent allegations of corruption charges are anything to go by, we really need to know more and be honest about who amongst us need toppling if they are unfit to lead.

Ann

Annie, do remind us which knowledgeable postings about the Middle East we have seen from you lately.
Oh, that's right: none.

Ann

Lord H, unless you are an Israeli voter it is not for you to say who is or should be the Israeli leader.

Blue_and_White_Avenger

"Lord H, unless you are an Israeli voter it is not for you to say who is or should be the Israeli leader".
Ann: I am an Israel voter. There is a dearth of talented & uncorrupted Israel politicians. Olmert is most certainly unsuited to be the PM of an embattled country; it requires guts, charisma, military awareness, stubborness, loyalty to one's folk & one's faith & moral rectitude.
Olmert fails on all counts.

Annie/Gun

But Ann - here's the difference. I'm not telling everyone how clever I am! Which you do all the time. So you grow tiresome and your arguments lose their credibility.

Evita

Er, I think anyone can say 'who is or should be the Israeli leader' - isn't that called freedom of speech? Of course it is only for Israeli citizens to VOTE on the matter! Someone seems to be drunk on her own delusions!

Joe Strummer

I've always been against the Left due to my own personal experience of their relentless joyless, negative attitude to life itself.

I'm sure peoples of all political hues suffer this affliction but the Left seem saturated in misery, always sad and depressed.

It may seem a simplistic view but the Left always seem such unhappy people full of hate, be it against others not like them or a hatrde turned inwards which can only be alleviated by medication, legal or illegal.

Who wants to go through life always in a state of perma-rage.?

Ian G

Thanks Pete, for rectifying it and the explanation. Much more than most blogs do.

Seraph

The left are not only joyless and negative, they are self-righteous and obsessed with victimhood. They love grievance theater and are constantly on the lookout for proof that life is just so unfair.

Israel used to be a darling of the Left and still has many holdovers from the the heady days of socialism. Yet, Israel's sin is that it has become too successful. It has not only survived, but against all odds, it has thrived.

This is simply unacceptable. Being a Leftist means that you must regularly embrace defeat and possess a pathological aversion to anything smacking of success.

Ann

And she's called Evita.
Darling, learn to read adult written discourse. Of course everyone has a legal right to express all manner of absurd notions. That's not the same as taking part in a sensible conversation. Just as Israelis simply have no business telling Brits who should be their PM - in a democracy, that is a matter strictly for Brits, and Israelis have to live with that, like it or lump it - so it is not Brits' business to tell Israelis who whould be theirs. It is, quite literally, none of our business.

Annie, we have never seen anything of substance from you, ever. Go back to your sticklebricks.

Blue-and-white: I take your point entirely, and do not dispute your judgement of Olmert in particular and of the majority of the others in general. Is there anyone at all you would go for?

Steve Lee, London

It's obvious why the left hate Israel - Israel is successful - ergo it's bad. The left are lifes losers, they cannot except the fact that some people (and cultures) are better than others and they are at the bottom of the pile so they try to bring everybody else down to their level.

North

Bright asks why do liberals hate Israel so much?

The correct question is why do leftists hate Israel so much?

Because Leftists hate anything successful. They beleive everyone should share their sense of self-loathing.