by Brian Bamford
Anti-Zionist Jewish demonstration
IN the NEW STATESMAN last week the former chief rabbi Jonathan Sacks said: ‘Jeremy Corbyn is “an anti-Semite” who has “given support to racists, terrorists and dealers of hate”.’
In 2013, in a speech to a meeting convened by the Palestinian Return Centre in 2013, Corbyn spoke about the importance of history and of how necessary it was for people to understand the origins of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
He then praised a speech he had recently heard by Manuel Hassassian Palestinian ambassador at a meeting in parliament, in which the Palestinian ambassador to the UK gave an 'incredibly powerful' account of the history of Palestine.
During the speech Corbyn had said of a group of British 'Zionists' that: 'They clearly have two problems. One is they don’t want to study history and, secondly, having lived in this country for a very long time, probably all their lives, they don’t understand English irony either.'
This so insensed Jonathan Sacks that he claimed it was as divisive, as Enoch Powell’s speech in that 'it undermines the existence of an entire group of British citizens by depicting them as essentially alien'.
Irony is described in the Oxford Dictionary definition as 'the expression of one's meaning by using language that
normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic
effect.'
When Ludwig Wittgenstein the Jewish philosopher considered the similar claim that humour was lacking in Nazi Germany he wrote in his notebook reflections 'Culture and Value' that:
''Humour is not a mood, but a way of looking at the world. So, if it's right to say that humour was eradicated in Nazi Germany, that does not mean that people were not in good spirits or anything of that sort, but something much deeper & more important.' [88e 'Culture & Value']
Probably Jonathan Sachs would find this comparison offensive, but Wittgenstein considered:
'What is it like when people do not have a sense of humour? They do not react properly to each other. It is as though there were a custom among certain people to throw someone a ball, which he is supposed to catch & throw back; but certain people might not throw it back, but put it in their pocket instead.' [95e 'Culture & Value']
When Ludwig Wittgenstein the Jewish philosopher considered the similar claim that humour was lacking in Nazi Germany he wrote in his notebook reflections 'Culture and Value' that:
''Humour is not a mood, but a way of looking at the world. So, if it's right to say that humour was eradicated in Nazi Germany, that does not mean that people were not in good spirits or anything of that sort, but something much deeper & more important.' [88e 'Culture & Value']
Probably Jonathan Sachs would find this comparison offensive, but Wittgenstein considered:
'What is it like when people do not have a sense of humour? They do not react properly to each other. It is as though there were a custom among certain people to throw someone a ball, which he is supposed to catch & throw back; but certain people might not throw it back, but put it in their pocket instead.' [95e 'Culture & Value']
In the context of
the current dispute in the media, I suppose Wittgenstein would say that some people
are not playing the ball.
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