Pootergeek Damian Counsell is definitely not a Frontpagemag-esque liar. When he says that he goes through his life (as a Brit in Britain) with colleagues and acquaintances exuding large doses of Yank-hatred and antisemitism, I believe him.
The anti-Americanism thing has been done to death on his site. But on the antisemitism… I’m always willing to talk politics with people, I meet quite a lot of people, I don’t come across as a PC shrinking violet, and nobody British-born and under 50 has ever expressed antisemitic views to me. Anti-Zionist perhaps, but even then not on the ‘Israel is a pirate state and should be destroyed and the Jews pushed into the sea’ level – the very worst tends to be supporting the Right to Return, and even that’s mostly among people who don’t really get what the Right to Return would do.
So am I incredibly lucky in my choice of acquaintances, or is Damien accidentally attending neo-Nazi meetings (in some plot almost worthy of a bad sitcom)?
I’m an American Jew who just got to London to study Middle Eastern politics at SOAS, and I’ve experienced far more anti-semitism here than I ever have either in America on in my travels, including significant time spent in Egypt, Jordan and the Occupied Territories.
I’ve had one person tell me I’m a ‘bad person’ for being a Jew and ‘not required’, whatever that means, because I’m an American; multipile people have told me the Jews were responsible for the holocaust because they ‘kept to themselves’ or ‘refused to integrate’, and I’ve heard several other indefensible misinterpretations of history such as the idea that Herzl was complicit in the Kishinev pogroms because he wanted an excuse for a Jewish state.
In addition to this sort of blatant anti-semitism, since I’m studying the Middle East (although my focus is not on Israel), everyone at school seems to want to talk exclusively about Palestine, specifically ending the evil Jewish Zionist genocidal apartheid colonialist occupation therein using any means possible. While these are mostly well-meaning people, they certainly have a markedly one-sided view of things, and the fact that I am Jewish unquestionably colors their perceptions of me and my opinions.
Bottom line — in America I was never particularly Jewish simply because no one ever asked; in the Middle East I was but it never became an issue; here I am, and it is.
One more thing: as I’ve said to numerous people at SOAS, who all seem to either have gone or be making plans to go to the Middle East for one purpose and one purpose alone, please don’t join the International Solidarity Movement. If you want to make a difference, volunteer for the Palestinian Red Crescent or work for one of UNICEF’s many programmes in the Territories instead of shouting at bulldozers.
My name is spelt "Damian".
I didn’t say that my colleagues and friends exuded large doses of Yank-hatred and antisemitism.
You are, however, correct to suggest that the plot of my life is worthy of a bad sitcom. Everyone is welcome to watch it unfold like a poorly-handled deckchair here.
Sorry. I should’ve looked at the link on my sidebar – corrected now. And I said "acquaintances" not "friends" – I wouldn’t accuse anyone of having Yank-hating, anti-Semitic friends. Well, unless I didn’t like them.
Alex,
Knowing SOAS quite well myself I’m deeply worried by what you write. There can be no excuse for someone calling you a ‘bad person’ because you’re a Jew, or for someone saying that Jews were responsible for the holocaust. That just crosses the line from the defensible to the plain stupid and/or very dangerous. The best way to combat this kind of thing, if you ask me, is for more of a fuss to be kicked up about such comments and for students at SOAS to be made aware that there are openly anti-semitic views being bandied about.
Regarding the more low-level expressions of waryness about Israel and America, I think you need to realise that SOAS is probably the prime location for those interested in anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist ideologies. That there should be a big difference between what students are interested in at a US university and SOAS doesn’t suprise me in the least. Think about it. But there’s also a difference between what most people in the UK believe and what SOAS students believe.
In any case, you also need to remember that people at SOAS (for all their occasional naivety) are interested in learning, they are interested in debate, and they are interested in doing the right thing. 99% of the people you meet there are not mindless terrorism supporters, they have simply taken the anti-imperialist message a little too far.
Keep posting, keep challenging anti-semitism, and if you fancy meeting up just send me an email (frank at memetank dot net)
I’m a fairly frequent visitor to London and just returned from four days there, where I hung out with quite a few Guardian and Independent-readers, some of them avowedly Marxist. None of them had any problem with me as an American, a Jew or a Zionist – we had some lively arguments, certainly, but none of them degenerated to personal abuse or "Israel is a pirate state" rhetoric. I’ve never encountered that kind of crap in the UK, although I’m sure it exists; there are idiots everywhere. The reception of Americans in London probably has a great deal to do with the particular people they meet.
Never met you but I can tell you right now that you are definietly NOT REQUIRED – who the f**k is ever ‘required’? I’m sure you are a bad person (you certainly don’t seem to be smart), however, this has nothing to do with being jewish or otherwise. It does, however, have a lot to do with being an extremely annoying, whingey, whiney muppet and your rather pathetic attempt to stir up discussion is beyond idiotic.
So some people don’t agree with your wonderfully accurate account of history (I suggest you publish what happened WORD-FOR-WORD and ACTION-FOR-ACTION in WW2 so we can all go home and memorise and learn from you …) that’s a problem (… for you!!).
Have a read of how stupid you are: “everyone at school seems to want to talk exclusively about Palestine” [muppet 2005; unpublished forum horsesh-i-t]. I for one could care less, either way.
What you need to do is somehow, found a way, of being less stupid than you currently are. Realise that those who are anti-semtic (by the way, it’s obvious your story is a load of horse-s-h-i-t but we’ll pretend that it’s ‘true’) are a bunch of morons, grow up and take in on the chin. There are many idiots in SOAS who like to play adult and think that by getting irate about something they know nothing about (have never experienced and never will have – or even if they took a 2 day holiday in the west-bank as a badge to ‘authenticate’ their sentiments, when push comes to shove, they’re still here and have down sweet F-U-C-K ALL), that is life my friend.
I’m a girl, and wear short skirts, on a Friday night morons make a grab for my c-u-n-t, life is full of idiots … like you …
SO JUST TO REPEAT: YOU ARE A MORON AND AN IDIOT BUT THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR FAITH … RATHER, BEING A YANK AND A MORON AND AN IDIOT IS PROBABLY THE CAUSE …