Tag: Intolerance

European Antisemitism

Tuesday 18 October 2022

Many on the political left — and I say this as a socialist — quite enjoy the illusion that antisemitism is a disease of the political right, and it is popularly assumed that Jewish people themselves cannot be anti-Semitic. But nothing could be further from the truth. Antisemitism — or ‘Jew hatred’ — is a deep-seated form of racism which permeates European and North American, Western, culture and society, and one that can be and often has been internalised and reproduced by Jews in the West. Even today, 75 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, we encounter antisemitism everywhere. … More European Antisemitism

The Origins of Genocide

Thursday 6 October 2022

Not only is this about history — about something that happened in the past, the Holocaust is a warning for our future. With right-wing racism on the rise, with racist and intolerant parties and personalities again entering the mainstream of European and American politics, the Holocaust stands as a terrible reminder of what happens when we use hatred and intolerance as instruments to achieve our own patriotic and nationalistic political ends. The Holocaust remains the most important lesson of the twentieth century — and Trump, Brexit, and the war in Ukraine only serve to remind us that this is a lesson we need. … More The Origins of Genocide

The Horror of Ukrainian Nationalism

Thursday 24 March 2022

There is nowhere else in the world where ideological Nazis enjoy the legal and political protection Nazis in Ukraine do. In January 2018 the Kyiv city municipal council signed an agreement with the ultra-nationalist C14 group, allowing them to form a ‘municipal guard’ — an auxiliary police force — to work with the Ukrainian national police, and twenty one other towns and cities have relationships like this with the far-right. … More The Horror of Ukrainian Nationalism

Putin is Not the Only Monster

Saturday 19 March 2022

Over the last ten years or so western governments and media outlets have been waging a full spectrum propaganda war against Russia, with a particular interest in monsterising Vladimir Putin in the popular imagination. And, in all fairness, most of what they have said about him is true — and yes, he does deserve to be seen as a monster. He is a monster. … More Putin is Not the Only Monster