« Get A Hold of Yourselves | Main | Saudi Men Like Islamic Fundamentalism, Positions of Privilege »

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.

Follow / Support Mere Rhetoric


Our Sponsors

About

  • Omri Ceren is a PhD candidate studying Rhetoric at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication. He lives in downtown Los Angeles.

    Email: omri@mererhetoric.com

    AIM: mererhetoricblog
    ICQ: 342854935
    gTalk: mererhetoricblog@gmail.com
    Y!: mererhetoricblog
    MSN: mererhetoricblog@hotmail.com

News Informer

One Jerusalem Radio

Search




Approbation

  • JIB 2007 Finalist

    Large Blog | Pro Israel Blog | News Blog | Right Wing Blog | News Post | Right Wing Post | Overall Post | Series of Posts | Specialty Contribution


    • The best blog going -- Larry Greenfield, Claremont Institute Fellow

    • One of the best blogs in the known universe -- Robert Avrech, Seraphic Secret

    • A must read... the new shining star of the Blogosphere -- Alexandra von Maltzan, All Things Beautiful

    • I read Omri and... you should too -- Meryl Yourish, Yourish.com

    • So damned good, it makes me want to pack up and leave the 'sphere -- Elder of Ziyon

    • Only Omri... could write a sentence like this -- Lynn B, In Context

    • Gets the gold star -- Anne Lieberman, Boker Tov, Boulder!

    • Stellar analysis -- Rick Richman, Jewish Current Issues

      Premio Apache Badge

    Disapprobation

    • [IsraPundit's] token fascist -- anonymous Democratic official
    • A clearly radical blogger based in Southern California -- Brown Daily Herald

    Powered By

    Hosting Matters
    Movable Type
    Google Analytics Tracker