5:34pm
There's an excellent report in the Standard today about Ken Livingstone's relationship with Jews. I don't label him an antisemite; I just don't know.
Contrary to what some commenters here assert, I'm very careful about making such accusations, and only use that label when it is open and shut, such as with David Irving.
When there's any ambiguity or doubt, it's vital not to confuse making comments about Israel with comments about Jews.
But one thing has long been clear: the Mayor has an issue with Jews. Keith Dovkants' piece is thus especially useful in going back two decades and beyond:
At the height of his celebrity for Left-wing incendiarism, Ken Livingstone sounded an alarm that echoed around the world. There were in our city, he warned, "paramilitary groups which resemble fascist organisations". It was 1984, a date laden with portent. The IRA was active, as
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8:49am
How typical. There's been quite a lot of coverage in advance for what sounds like a fascinating Radio 4 documentary:
A rage in Dalston
Alan Dein uncovers a little known story of postwar conflict. For four years after 1945, London and the South East witnessed vicious confrontations between the remnants of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists and Jewish ex-servicemen organised in the 43 Group. Operating beyond the law, the latter were fuelled by rage, guilt at the fate of Europe's Jews, and British policy in Palestine. Their goal was to drive fascism from the streets and silence its message forever.
I was eagerly looking forward to listening, as I'm sure were many other Jews. (My uncle had a shop in Ridley Road market.) So when is the BBC broadcasting it?
Saturday 19 April 2008 20:00-21:00
Genius. This Saturday evening is the first Seder night (the first night of Passover) when not a Jew in the land will be able to listen. They really couldn't have found a worse time to broadcast had they tried.
I suppose the repeat is on Yom Kippur.
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7:59am
More on the man made food shortage. Victor Mallet is, at least in part, spot on in the FT:
It is tempting to assume that the problem is purely one of supply and can be fixed by genetically modified plants or investment in a new “green revolution” to boost crop yields. The three most productive solutions, however, are all matters of policy. First, there is an urgent need for a sustained liberalisation of agricultural trade. The immediate cause of this crisis is not – perhaps surprisingly – a shortage of food. The problem is the sudden reluctance of traditional exporters to sell their surpluses. As with credit providers in the seized-up credit markets, each producer is hoarding its own supply in case of hard times at home, because it suspects its trading partners will do the same. Trust in the efficiency and liquidity of the market has collapsed.
Farm
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9:05am
Robert Halfon has an interesting story at Centre Right about Ken Livingstone's campaign:
A friend went to the Criterion Theatre to see a play about Anne Frank's friend, Eva Schloss. Although in no way was this a party political event, Livingstone supporters were there handing out leaflets outside. Nothing wrong with that you might say, but then it gets worse. Deputy Mayor Nicky Gavron was invited on the stage to answer questions about her Jewish background. She apparently turned the occasion into a party political broadcast, urging the audience to vote for Ken - the response was booing and hissing from the audience. Given Ken Livingstone's previous embrace of extreme Islamists and his comparison of a Jewish journalist with a concentration camp guard, it does seem astonishing that the Mayor's team think they can exploit the holocaust for political ends and hijack an important theatre production for party political
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11:00am
Loyalty is almost non-existent in sport today. The likes of Ryan Giggs and Jamie Carragher, who stick at one club, are anachronisms. On the other hand, they earn fortunes and don't really need to move.
So the response of theswashbuckling Surrey batsman, Alistair Brown, to the IPL's offer of a three year contract is almost unbelievable, Brown - who is capable of some of the most destructive batting imaginable, and whose game is tailor-made for Twenty20 - is coming to the end of his career (he's 38); has only a one year contract with Surrey, his employers for the past twenty years; and is on no more than sixty or seventy thousand a year. And yet he turned the IPL's offer - which would have been way, way more than he is now on, and would have lasted three years - down....
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