939 Gilad Atzmon blames Grenfell Tower tragedy on ‘Jerusalemites following mitzvot’ (regulations, rather than ethics)

Gilad Atzmon blames Grenfell Tower tragedy on ‘Jerusalemites following
mitzvot’ (regulations, rather than ethics)

Newsletter published on 2 November 2017

(1) Haaretz opinion piece calls Gilad Atzmon "a Grotesque anti-Semite
and Holocaust Denier"
(2) Labour’s Refusal to Shun Livingstone Normalizes anti-Semitism -
Haaretz opinion
(3) Gilad Atzmon blames Grenfell Tower tragedy on ‘Jerusalemites
following mitzvot’ (regulations)
(4) Mazal Tov to the Jewish Chronicle - Gilad Atzmon
(5) Harvey Weinstein, Sabbatai Zevi and Tikun Olam - Gilad Atzmon

(1) Haaretz opinion piece calls Gilad Atzmon "a Grotesque anti-Semite
and Holocaust Denier"

https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.819645/1.819645

Haaretz - Israel News

November 01, 2017.
Cheshvan 12, 5778

Why Are U.K. Progressives Still Celebrating a Grotesque anti-Semite and
Holocaust Denier?

When a publicly-funded community center hosted the Jew-hating Gilad
Atzmon, it blocked anti-racists on Twitter who challenged the decision.
For many on the U.K. left, the denial of anti-Semitism has become a reflex

Ben Gidley  Oct 30, 2017 10:30 AM

Last weekend, the small English city of Reading (population 156,000;
Jewish population 355) was the site of a book promotion event by
Israeli-born jazz musician and longtime anti-Semite Gilad Atzmon. After
the venue ignored complaints from the local rabbi and local councillors,
the event was protested by Reading Labour councillors and members of
Reading’s Jewish congregation.

The protestors pointed out that Atzmon is a well-documented Holocaust
denier and racist. The Community Security Trust (which monitors threats
to the U.K.’s Jews) described his previous book as "quite probably the
most anti-Semitic book published in this country in recent years." That
book argued that Jewishness (and not Zionism) is pernicious and that
Hitler will be vindicated by history.

At an event at Exeter University, Atzmon was reported as saying "Hitler
was right" and "anti-Semitism doesn’t exist." On his blog and Twitter
account, Atzmon recently blamed West London’s tragic Grenfell Tower fire
on the Jews; his tweet was headed with the neo-Nazi catchphrase, "The
Goyim Know". In an interview this summer, he declared "the music
industry is largely an extended Jewish syndicate." His social media
accounts in recent weeks have seen him retweeting and chatting with
explicit Holocaust deniers. His most recent book, which he was promoting
in Reading, is an attack on the "tribal" nature of Jewish and
"Jerusalemite" thinking, and is based on the work of the (Nazi)
philosopher Heidegger.

It is no surprise, then, that his writings are widely circulated on far
right websites, such Veterans Today or ex-KKK leader David Duke’s site.
Or that he should be widely condemned by Jews and anti-racists. A
socialist writer in The Guardian has described his writing as "a wild
conspiracy argument, dripping with contempt for Jews". A group of
left-wing authors told their publisher, who also published one of
Atzmon’s books, that "The thrust of Atzmon’s work is to normalise and
legitimise anti-Semitism." The U.S. Palestinian Community Network has
published a letter signed by several Palestinian activists condemning
him for his Holocaust denial and antisemitism, while another letter by
several prominent anti-Zionist activists makes similar points. The UK's
Palestine Solidarity Campaign has disassociated itself from him.

No surprise, either, that his speaking gigs would be picketed by Jews
and anti-racists, or that venues where he's due to speak decline to host
him on learning of his views.

In recent months, his appearance at the Vienna jazz festival was
cancelled when the city council, the festival’s main funder, saw that
his views were at odds with their charter against racism. In May, arts
venues in Newcastle and Edinburgh pulled out of hosting promotional
events for the book.

No blame should be attached to these venues for taking bookings; his
reputation is not big enough for his racism to be wide public knowledge.
They did the right thing, though, in swiftly admitted their mistake on
learning about his views.

But Reading RISC, the publicly-funded solidarity centre which hosted his
most recent event, and Albion Beatnik Books in Oxford, which hosted one
of his summer speaking engagements, took the opposite approach: refusing
to respond to critics, they doubled down and defended their decisions.

They can't use a defense of ignorance. A simple Google search provides
more than enough background on their speaker. And when the venues were
directly confronted on Twitter by anti-racist campaigners, RISC
responded by blocking and Albion Beatnik by mocking them.

Are these venues run by rabid Holocaust deniers? That seems unlikely. So
why do apparently progressive people ignore Jews’ and anti-racists’
complaints about Atzmon’s anti-Semitism?

It seems to me that the explanation lies in a culture of ignoring
anti-Semitism which has built up among many left-leaning people in Britain.

Since the start of the Second Intifada, which trigged a spike in
anti-Semitic incidents in the U.K., debates over anti-Jewish racism have
been overdetermined by the tense politics of Israel/Palestine, and
overwhelmed by the difficulty of drawing clear lines between
anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.

The intensity of feeling generated by the conflict – for most British
Jews, to whom Israel is central to their Jewish identity, however
critical they may be of Israeli government policy; and for many on the
left, to whom Israel has become the moral cause of our time, akin to
apartheid in the 1980s or the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s – means
talking about anti-Semitism rapidly escalates into re-enacting the
Israel/Palestine conflict.

Supporters of Israel are quick to see anti-Semitism behind every
criticism of the Jewish state, but anti-Zionists feel free to ignore any
charge of anti-Semitism as being made in bad faith in order to prevent
legitimate criticism. Instead of the reflex to believe the victim with
which the left rightly responds to allegations of other forms of racism
and oppression, many on the left have built up a reflex of denial when
it comes to anti-Semitism.

Since 2015, under veteran Palestine solidarity campaigner Jeremy
Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party, which has created a sharp
divide on the left, these arguments have become even harder, as many of
Corbyn’s acolytes see accusations of anti-Semitism on the left as being
"weaponized" by Corbyn’s opponents. While the right has indeed eagerly
seized on every instance of left-wing Judeophobia to demonize the entire
left, too many on the left take this as licence to dismiss Jewish
concerns as "smears".

For too many, no amount of evidence is enough to count when
anti-Semitism is found, as with Gilad Atzmon, in the most flimsy of
guises of anti-Zionism.

Atzmon has long since stopped regarding himself as Jewish. He infamously
tweeted: "I am not a Jew anymore. I indeed despise the Jew in me
(whatever is left)." But his Jewish background makes it easier to
dismiss charges against him. And this is useful for white supremacists
such as David Duke, who use the likes of Atzmon as both alibi for and
gateway drug to their hardcore racism.

As New York-based writer Arwa Mahdawi noted recently, "Far-right parties
have realized that strategically dangling a few gay people acts as a
sort of fundamentalist Febreze that dilutes the stench of their hatred."
Similarly, apparently Jewish anti-Semites such as Atzmon – even if they
are on record as despising their own Jewishness – serve to throw
progressives off the scent when it comes to Jew-hate and Holocaust denial.

Ben Gidley is a Senior Lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London, and
author (with Keith Kahn-Harris) of Turbulent Times: The British Jewish
Community Today and editor (with James Renton) of Antisemitism and
Islamophobia in Europe: A Shared Story? Twitter: @bengidley

(2) Labour’s Refusal to Shun Livingstone Normalizes anti-Semitism -
Haaretz opinion

https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.781684

Opinion Labour’s Refusal to Shun Livingstone Normalizes anti-Semitism

The former London mayor’s claims go well beyond lazy moral equations of
Israel with Nazi Germany ubiquitous in anti-Israel circles. They have
more in common with Holocaust denial. [...]

(3) Gilad Atzmon blames Grenfell Tower tragedy on ‘Jerusalemites
following mitzvot’ (regulations)
https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/atzmon-blames-grenfell-tower-tragedy-on-jerusalemites-following-mitzvot-1.447012

Atzmon blames Grenfell Tower tragedy on ‘Jerusalemites following mitzvot’

Lee Harpin

The Jewish Chronicle

October 31, 2017

Notorious author Gilad Atzmon insists Jews are 'doing way better than
anyone else' as he speaks at Reading festival

       Gilad Atzmon, the antisemitic author and jazz musician, has
claimed that the Grenfell Tower tragedy was the responsibility of
"Jerusalemites" who were "following mitzvot".

       Giving a talk at the Reading International Festival, he attempted
to blame the tragedy, which killed at least 80 and left hundreds more
injured, homeless and traumatised, on people who could be characterised
as those who followed "commandments".

       Mr Atzmon discussed what he described as a difference between
critical thinkers – who he labelled Athenites – and the Jerusalemites
who followed "mitzvot".

       He said: "How is it related to Grenfell Tower? Very simple.
People who think things through, who understand about responsibility and
morality and ethics don’t clad buildings all over the country with
flammable materials.

       "But when it happens – it is we were following regulations, we
were following mitzvot."

       He continued: "Athens and Jerusalem is not Jews versus goyim or
Jews versus gentiles.

       "Athens and Jerusalem is thinking things through as opposed to
following regulations, mitvot, commandments, laws.

       "The Ten Commandments is Jerusalem.  I don’t need you to tell me
I should not kill. Athens is ethics, Jerusalem is anti-ethics."

       "Jerusalemites" were not necessarily Jews, Mr Atzmon said.

       "It’s not Jews and gentiles because Tony Blair is not a Jew and
he’s a Jerusalemite."

       As the 90-minute speech continued the Israeli-born writer, who
has previously challenged Holocaust denial legislation, said: "Even the
democratic process does not really matter. If you vote Labour, the
polices are shaped by Labour Friends of Israel., if you vote
Conservative it’s CFI (Conservative Friends of Israel).

       "The same thing happens in America, in France, and even Turkey is
pro-Israeli now."

       He blamed "the Jews" for the collapse of the traditional
left-wing politics that he said once appealed to him.

       He said: "The Jewish lobby is a cosmopolitan lobby. It has turned
every person in the universe into a tribe who operates like a Jew.

       "Look at it – the gays are doing fine, the blacks are doing fine,
  the women are doing fine - but the Jews are doing really fine. They
have a state, hundreds of atomic bombs, they have F16s, F35s [fighter
aircraft].

       "How many gays have a state, an atomic bomb,  an army?  How many
blacks have a lobby that shapes American foreign policy so everyone is
tribal like a Jew?  But the Jews are doing way better than everyone else. "

       Mr Atzmon said his Athens and Jerusalemite talk was inspired by
the "very famous Jewish philosopher Leo Strauss, who is considered to
be" the father of the neo-con movement – so he’s not necessarily a nice
guy."

       Mr Atzmon’s talk took place on October 22 with congregants from
the Jewish Community of Berkshire and members of Reading’s LGBT+
community holding  a protest outside the event. They were joined by
Rachel Eden, a Labour councillor, who organised the demonstration, as
well as councillors Daya Pal Singh, Richard Davies, and Sophia James.

       Rabbi Zvi Solomons, of Jewish Community of Berkshire, said the
Jewish community was "horrified" by Mr Atzmon’s appearance and "gravely
disappointed that it went ahead despite attempts to have it cancelled".

       He described Mr Atzmon as "a notorious antisemite. He has
promoted Holocaust denial, compared Israelis to the Nazis.

       "He is not the sort of person any liberal outfit should want to
be connected to."

       Mr Atzmon also played two shows at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in
Soho, central London, on Saturday October 28.

       Pizza Express told the JC that the views expressed by Mr Atzmon
‘are not reflective’ of the company’s values.

       A Pizza Express spokeswoman said: "Gilad Atzmon is a musician who
has performed at our venues for over 20 years, and his gigs have always
proven to be very popular with our customers."

(4) Mazal Tov to the Jewish Chronicle - Gilad Atzmon

http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/2017/10/31/mazal-tov-to-the-jewish-chronicle

Mazal Tov to the Jewish Chronicle

October 31, 2017  /  Gilad Atzmon

Introduction by Gilad Atzmon: The following is today’s Jewish Chronicle
article. It was written in a desperate attempt to portray me as
an‘antisemite,’ but I actually approve the text and the references to my
work.

For the first time in two decades, the rabid Zionist outlet has managed
to quote me accurately. Not once before did anyone within the Hasbara
league attempt to engage with my recent book Being in Time – a Post
Political Manifesto. In the book I argue that the dystopia in which we
live is the direct outcome of the victory of Jerusalem over Athens.
While Athens is the city of reason and philosophy, Jerusalem is the
capitol of revelation, obedience and adherence to mitzvoth
(regulations). I suggest in Being in Time that for Western civilisation
to survive, Athens and its values must be reinstated!

It is rather obvious that the JC refrained from sharing the link to my
Reading talk with its readers. I guess that they were tormented by the
thought that more Jews may find my ideas appealing and flip, as I myself
did over a decade ago.  ...

http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/2017/10/25/athens-and-jerusalem-gilad-atzmon-at-reading-international-festival-video

Athens and Jerusalem - Gilad Atzmon at Reading International Festival
(video)

October 25, 2017  /  Gilad Atzmon

In this talk (22.10.2017), Gilad Atzmon delves into the crucial
dichotomy between Athens and Jerusalem. Atzmon argues that the dystopia
in which we live is the direct outcome of a Jerusalemite set of 'correct
ideas' over the Athenian search for reason, essence and logos. Tyranny
of correctness, Identitarian divisiveness, the battle against
historicity are symptoms of Jerusalemite thinking, they did little but
derail the Western ethos. To rescue ourselves and what we believe to be
our civilisation, Athens must be reinstated.

Despite some relentless Zionist institutional efforts to cancel the talk
(CAA, BOD, JC, local rabbi etc) both RISC and the Local Council stood
firm and made sure freedom and tolerance were sustained.

https://youtu.be/LfHVnhl_8Sk

(5) Harvey Weinstein, Sabbatai Zevi and Tikun Olam - Gilad Atzmon
http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/2017/11/1/harvey-weinsteinsabbatai-zeviandtikun-olam

Harvey Weinstein, Sabbatai Zevi and Tikun Olam

November 01, 2017  /  Gilad Atzmon

Short Comment by Gilad Atzmon

  The Daily Mail reports that "disgraced Harvey Weinstein believes he is
a saviour who was born to 'change the world' by taking the fall for
sexual assaults."

Sources close to the shamed producer said he has resigned himself to
being punished over the allegations 'as a martyr for social change.’

Weinstein could be seen as a follower of Rabbi Sabbatai Zevi, who
declared himself the Messiah in 1666. Zevi proclaimed that redemption
was available through acts of sin and he amassed a following of over one
million passionate believers, about half the world's Jewish population
during the 17th century. The shift from total sinner into the new
messiah figure was certainly rapid for serial predator Weinstein. But
this shouldn’t take us by surprise. Weinstein's regard for himself as a
‘martyr for social change’ is consistent with Tikun Olam – the misguided
Jewish belief that it is down to the Jews to repair the world.

I guess we are witnessing a radical shift in the world of criminal
defence. Jeffrey Epstein could just claim that in retrospective, he
helped to raise awareness of child prostitution. Israel can say in its
defence that its history of crimes against humanity made it into a
martyr for social justice proving how lethal choseness and chosenism
are. But, could Jimmy Saville do the same? What about Stalin? Let us
push it even further, could Hitler apply the same strategy in his
defence? Is he eligible to become an anti racism martyr?  I’ll let you
ponder that one…

To grasp the dystopia in which we live read Being in Time - A Post
Political Manifesto, Amazon.co.uk , Amazon.com and  here (gilad.co.uk).

938 Myanmar about to be Raped, with Geopolitical Consequences

Myanmar about to be Raped, with Geopolitical Consequences

Newsletter published on 23 October 2017

I've had a communication from a young man called Felix in Myanmar, who
works as a Development Consultant.

You've probably heard about the Rohingya conflict in Rakhine state. But
Myanmar has other, more serious conflicts in its peripheral areas,
conflicts in which artillery and aircraft are used. These conflicts have
been ongoing for decades.

Development projects in these peripheral areas are important for
stabilising the country, yet there are many hindrances:

- demarcation disputes between 'state' authorities and the federal
government

- demarcation disputes between local 'non-state' actors and the federal
government

These 'nonstate' actors raise funds by taxing enterprise in their area,
and disperse those funds via welfare services.

Because of the demarcation disputes, government development projects run
foul of the lines between 'federal, 'state', and 'non-state'.

Therefore, Felix believes that Private projects stand a better chance of
success.

Some are national, others by foreign companies, eg mining companies
based in China or the US.

Private companies from Western countries are not allowed to pay the
taxes that the 'non-state' actors demand. This is deemed 'corruption' in
the West, although the money is not going to rich dictators or Swiss
bank accounts. As a result, Private development projects are stalled.

The military regime tried to liberalise the economy, establishing a
national private sector and a developmental program; but sanctions
imposed by the West destroyed that private sector.

After Aung San Suu Kyi won the election, some economic sanctions were
removed, but others remain.

Aung San Suu Kyi has had no economic policy so far, except to rely on
foreign advisers who peddle the IMF line.

The IMF has recommended a Credit Squeeze, preparatory to opening the
country to large-scale Foreign Investment. And the Burmese Central Bank
has implemented that Credit Squueze.

Nikkei Weekly envisages trouble ahead:
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Economy/Myanmar-moves-to-stave-off-credit-crunch

This sounds like a recipe for Rape, as happened to Latvia and other
Baltic States in the wake to the collapse of the Soviet Union; and to
South Korea after the 1997 Asia Crisis.

Now the Military say that Aung San Suu Kyi is a tool of the West.

As you know, Myanmar is a frontline in the struggle between the US and
China. If Western companies are allowed to loot the country, the results
would be unpredicatble, eg military proxies could win the next election,
or there could be a coup.

Felix is in contact with all the major players in Myanmar. He believes
that the looming Credit Crunch will cause the currency to collapse, with
disastrous consequences for Myanmar, and is trying to head off such
events before it's too late.

What can be done? Two simple things, for a start:

Western countries could drop the remaining sanctions, which are harming
the economy. Such sanctions were implemented by the Obama regime on
'Human Rights' grounds; but the Trump regime, whilst not playing the
'Human Rights' card, has still not lifted them.

And Western countries could allow companies to pay the taxes 'non-state'
actors demand, dropping their interpretation that this amounts to
Corruption. It's simply the only way to do business in those remote
areas; and it DOES fund social services.

937 FIXED Harvey Weinstein at Algemeiner dinner: ‘I Am an Israeli in My Heart and Mind’

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