Adam Wagner Profile picture
Sep 23, 2018 7 tweets 4 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
12 whole minutes (from 40:40) of #Marr questioning Jeremy Corbyn on antisemitism. No really expression of remorse, apology or empathy - all are absolutely crucial to resolving the antisemitism issue bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod…
Corbyn won’t even accept, after all that has happened, that the mural of Jews sitting on the backs of the oppressed is antisemitic. For people who say this issue is about being able to criticise Israel, it’s not. It’s about insight and empathy and Corbyn hasn’t shown either #marr
Corbyn can’t even bring himself to confirm that had he known members of Black September (who carried out the Munich Olympic murdered) were to be commemorated that he wouldn’t have gone. No insight or empathy. On this performance, he will never budge an inch
He is incredibly stubborn or hasn't learned a thing. How much would it take to say:
1. The mural is antisemitic. I made a mistake. I'm sorry.
2. I wouldn't/shouldn't have attended a ceremony commemorating Black September
3. I was clumsy in my words about English irony. I'm sorry
I think @MikeSegalov got it right back in March - if you can't see antisemitism, it's time to open your eyes. Clearly from the #Marr interview, Corbyn has not opened his eyes. What are Labour going to do about their leader who *still doesn't get it*? theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
People responding "grow up", you're "alienating" people who should be on side, focus on Tories - and I can't help feeling that if Corbyn himself had shown an ounce of empathy towards Jews the behaviour would filter down. But the signal he sends is very clear. Don't give an inch.
Just one more thing on this. I have met and spoken to over the course of the past few months a number of very senior Labour movement people about antisemitism. Every single one demonstrated more insight and empathy than Corbyn in that #Marr interview. They get it. He doesn't.

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More from @AdamWagner1

Jun 16, 2019
We need to wake up to the incredibly serious implications of the President of the United States actively promoting the far right racist and Islamophobe Katie Hopkins.

For those (particularly US people) who are meeting her for the first time, some things you need to know (thread)
She started out as a harmless attention-seeking reality TV star. But in 2015 she saw an opening around the emerging alt right ‘White people in Europe are being replaced’ movement.

She uses language which is common to students of genocide. Eg cockroaches in Rwanda
She is happy being called a racist. She admits she is one.
Read 17 tweets
Oct 8, 2018
1/ This is getting even more interesting - now @skwawkbox is positively reporting the collective action against an 100k-followers pro Corbyn (unofficial) FB page which has been posting antisemitic content
2/ Here is a quote from the SB post. Is this the first SB post (ever?) which doesn't deny or attempt to underplay the Labour antisemitism problem? Please do let me know if I am wrong and I will add to this thread.
3/ What does this show? Key parts of the grass roots Labour movement are suddenly acting on antisemitism *around* the movement. The effect is instead of the response being "this is all smears", it is positive and constructive. This is what an institutional approach looks like
Read 4 tweets
Oct 7, 2018
This is interesting. The largest Corbyn FB group (facebook.com/JeremyCorbyn4P… 300k followers)) has put out a warning for people who follow another huge pro-Corbyn group (facebook.com/BritainIsThePe… 100k followers) that it is antisemitic
The warning is clearly coordinated (which is good, and I don't mean this as a criticism) with various key movers and shakers such as Momentum and Owen Jones sharing it. The comments are interesting...
A mixture of denial (posts aren't antisemitic), support (sensible people saying this is a problem), questions about why the warning posts share antisemitic memes, and people saying that this isn't helpful to the Labour movement which is trying to show antisemitism doesn't exist
Read 10 tweets
Oct 5, 2018
This is a thoughtful and balanced piece by @robertsharp59 on the NUJ decision to rescind its invitation to Kerry-Anne Mendoza. This point particularly pertinent robertsharp.co.uk/2018/09/27/the…
I'm still a bit torn about The Canary, and if I am 100% honest feel somewhat stung by (what I saw as) being targeted by the editor unjustifiably, so don't 100% trust my instincts. I can see the double standards point as it is clearly a tabloid but is it worse than e.g. The Sun...
... or the Mail where despite lies and irresponsible journalism, journalists still get feted and are basically respected by wider society (and other journalists) because they 'just doing their job'? On the other hand, The Canary has a seriously woeful record on certain issues...
Read 5 tweets
Oct 3, 2018
I accept this criticism. I am no world expert on Israel Palestine and have never held myself out to be one. I have a reasonable understanding of how things are in the UK. I also don't think that the IHRA definition and CM are connected in any real way.
The IHRA definition is an imperfect attempt to explain how speech over Israel-Palestine can sometimes drift into antisemitism. No modern understanding of antisemitism can be without that. But it requires a highly sensitive and education-focussed framework to work within.
I am not insensitive to the free speech issues here - honestly I'm not. I am trying to navigate in good faith like many other people involved. I won't go into details but what I say and do here is not all that I am doing to try and build the bridges we need to move forward.
Read 4 tweets
Oct 3, 2018
Oh my goodness. I hadn't heard of 'Canary Mission' before this but just checked it out and it is a chilling, actually quite terrifying, US site branding hundreds of students and professors 'racists' their views on Israel Palestine forward.com/news/411355/re…
Some of the stuff there (I'm not going to link to it) is genuine racism but much is just strongly held and entirely legitimate political opinions about Israel Palestine. And the fact that it would be funded by Jewish charity (see above) is really awful.
I am slow to call something "McCarthiest" but that is exactly what this is - 'dossiers' on activists, professors, clearly focused on Muslim activists. And the fact that it's anonymous makes it even more chilling. I feel like I need to wash my computer after seeing this.
Read 6 tweets

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