Criticism is not Anti

First things first. Ken Livingstone is a fool. A pedantic, arrogant fool.

However, his ‘crime’, as far as recent statements are concerned, is not being anti-Semitic, but not being smart enough to accept that his claim of Hitler supporting Zionism was, at best, extremely badly phrased, and at worst historically inaccurate.

He has had a colourful political career, and that is from someone who helped his first parliamentary campaign back in the 1980’s. He has, over the years, met with a number of people who, at the time, were less than publicly acceptable. Members of the IRA, Palestinian activists.

But that was not proof of his anti-British sentiments regarding the IRA, or an anti-Semitic bias regarding the Palestinians.

It is the basic principle, which I have always presumed was a mainstay of the Labour Party, that there are two sides to a conflict, and for a resolution both sides need to be heard. Not supported, not agreed with, not even justified. But heard.

He has, for many years been a very vocal critic of some aspects of the behaviour and policies of the Israeli government, as have I. That doesn’t mean that he is anti-Semitic, or anti-Zionist, or that I am.

It means that we find some of the Israeli government sponsored or approved activities in relation to Palestinians and their lands are not fair or acceptable. This is an opinion held widely within Israel itself.

And yet not acceptable if held by Ken Livingstone.

I have read, and re-read his original statement, and subsequent comments. And there is nothing that is anti-semitic, unless you really want it to be.

It may be badly constructed, it may even be historically wrong, but some of the condemnation, even from normally measured individuals and organisations, smacks more of post-truth populism than any rational debate.

As I said, Ken Livingstone is a fool, but I have seen no evidence of anti-Semitism. Just a pedantic fool and an incredible over-reaction.

There may be a lot more going on behind all this than Ken’s idiocy, but I try hard to avoid conspiracy theories. After all, who would want to use this as leverage to remove Jeremy Corbyn?