Israel Matzav

The anti-Semitic discourse in Britain in 2009

Britain's Community Security Trust, which monitors anti- Semitism and provides security for the Jewish community in Britain, has published a 57-page report on Brtain's anti-Semitic discourse. It's not pretty.

“As in previous years, the report examines public discussion of anti-Semitism, Jews and Jewish issues in mainstream media and politics,” CST communications director Mark Gardner said.

“It is not the report’s intention to brand those who feature in it as being anti-Semites. Nevertheless, old anti-Semitic motifs remain remarkably persistent, especially in relation to Zionism and Israel, and it is hoped that this report will help explain why CST, the Jewish community and many other observers note and fear the ongoing development of this trend.”

At the heart of revived anti- Jewish sentiments, according to the study, is the “corruption and debasement” of the word “Zionism,” which is found not only in extremist discourse but more commonly in mainstream circles. The overlap of the words “Zionist” and “Jew” also manifests such corruption and reflects modern-day anti-Semitism, according to the CST report.

“When mainstream journalists and politicians use the word ‘Zionism’ in a pejorative way, it can be very difficult to distinguish their words from those of actual anti-Semites who conceal their anti-Semitism by swapping the word ‘Zionist’ for ‘Jew,’” the document states.

Read the whole thing. The British mainstream media is among the worst in the West.

And for those of you who commented the other night on the post where I said that Britain may be Israel's worst enemy in Europe, that wasn't directed at you - it was directed at your government.

Labels: British anti-Semitism, Community Security Trust

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:40 PM