Jesse D Serrins
Well-known member
k-punk said:No, what's 'offensive' - and why 'offence' is held to be the WORST THING ANYONE COULD SUFFER is worth a whole thread in itself - is that the journalist did indeed use precisely the same excuse that Nazi guards laid claim to in the postwar period. What's 'offensive' is trivializing racism to a matter of 'he called me a name': especially when the one insulted deserved it. If Livingstone's guilty of anything, it is hyperbole, but in a sense that's all the worse for the journalist, since no-one is coercing him into doing that badgering job, he won't be shot if he gets another one. What is being said? That someone who is Jewish couldn't be guilty of cowardice (in the Sartrean sense), i.e. couldn't go along with the status quo for the sake of a quiet life? That's just preposterous.
K-Punk- I understand what you're saying, and I almost agree with you, but I do believe there's something you're not saying behind this, I mean, it's a pretty loaded subject. Or, if I'm not quite on the mark, nevertheless: if the dude's name is Finegold, and the Guardian transcript is accurate, then the bottom line is, comparing someone who's Jewish to a concentration camp guard is intensely inflammatory, not just for the individual but for a community of people. In my book, the same goes for all ethnic/religious groups, etc. It's interesting that you said that you think this is a uniquely British situation, 'cause the anti-semitism thing is fairly out and about on a global scale. Now what I agree with is the sense that there are much, much bigger deals going on in terms of immigration laws and such, i.e., policies that hurt much more than just feelings and can be and often are covertly (or not so covertly) extremely racist. And indeed, the anti-semitism watchdogs can be absurdly reactionary- this troubles me all the time. That doesn't mean anyone needs to sit back and just take it, or more so, that anyone deserves it. There are plenty of other analogies that can be made, why the Nazi one? I guess I'm just saying: correct me if I'm wrong, but there's a bigger reason you threw immigration law and overreactionary claims of anti-semitism together in the start of this thread.