That Famed British Charm
Societies with systemic and violent Jew-hatred do not just emerge out of nowhere. There are always lunatics and thugs. The kind of intellectualized, New anti-Semitism that's been sweeping Europe is conveyed by the snide, defensively self-righteous comments of sophisticates and the revelatory outbursts of public figures. So it is in Britain:
[London Mayor] Ken Livingstone was accused last night of having "lost the plot" after an angry confrontation with a Jewish journalist who, he said, was behaving "just like a concentration camp guard"... His "concentration camp" remark came after being told that the reporter was Jewish, it was claimed.
Anti-Semitic slurs do not remain in the circles of society's upper-crust. There is a direct relationship between a culture where civic leaders legitimize anti-Semitism and less nuanced expressions that occur downstream:
Violent anti-Semitic attacks in Britain have reached "alarming" record levels... The Community Security Trust (CST)... said on Thursday there had been 532 "anti-Semitic incidents"... in 2004, including a record 83 assaults. The total, which included abuse and threats, was a rise of 42 percent from the CST's 2003 figure, and well above the previous record high of 405 in 2000.
[London Mayor] Ken Livingstone was accused last night of having "lost the plot" after an angry confrontation with a Jewish journalist who, he said, was behaving "just like a concentration camp guard"... His "concentration camp" remark came after being told that the reporter was Jewish, it was claimed.
Anti-Semitic slurs do not remain in the circles of society's upper-crust. There is a direct relationship between a culture where civic leaders legitimize anti-Semitism and less nuanced expressions that occur downstream:
Violent anti-Semitic attacks in Britain have reached "alarming" record levels... The Community Security Trust (CST)... said on Thursday there had been 532 "anti-Semitic incidents"... in 2004, including a record 83 assaults. The total, which included abuse and threats, was a rise of 42 percent from the CST's 2003 figure, and well above the previous record high of 405 in 2000.
