November 23, 2011

Dean of Bradford calls for Atzmon's invite to be withdrawn

The Dean of Bradford has added his name to the growing chorus of outrage at the decision of Raise Your Banners to invite antisemite Gilad Atzmon to perform for them in Bradford on Friday. Atzmon flirts with Holocaust Denial, Holocaust Deniers and is an antisemite and as such should have no place on a progressive platform. This is not a question of Palestine and Israel, nor is it an attempt to stifle freedom of speech. It is simply us, as anti-racists, demanding that a racist and antisemite should not be given a platform. The fact that Atzmon, and his supporters in Raise Your Banners, use information obtained from the BNP to attack us should be reason enough to shun him.

Anyway, I will go into this in more detail later but for now I would like to post a comment sent to me by David Ison, the Dean of Bradford:
"The Cathedral authorities were completely unaware of the nature of this musician, and in any case did not invite him. Our premises were hired by Raise your Banners (who have been here before, uncontroversially) who booked for a concert but told us nothing of the nature of the concert of the performers. We were not aware of any issues with this until we were contacted a few weeks ago by the Council for Christians and Jews expressing concern about anti-Semitism in the Cathedral - a concern which we completely share, as the Cathedral is committed as a Christian organisation to truth, justice and equality.

"We do not countenance or give permission for any form of racism or fascism, including anti-Semitism, to be given hospitality at Bradford Cathedral. Having asked for more information about Gilad Atzmon, it has only been in the last few days that we have received clear evidence of the nature of his public statements. In the event, the concert in the Cathedral had already been cancelled due to poor ticket sales; but it seems to be taking place in a smaller venue in Kala Sangam which is not connected with the Cathedral and over which we have no control.

"I am writing to the authorities at Kala Sangam to ensure they are aware of the issues raised by hosting a concert with this musician."

David Ison

Dean of Bradford
Hope not Hate

37 comments:

La Di Da Gunner Graham said...

Now that's a very poor show, and shame on you for supporting it.

Free speech means nothing unless we uphold it for those we despise.

Anonymous said...

The fact that Atzmon, and his supporters in Raise Your Banners, use information obtained from the BNP to attack us should be reason enough to shun him.

Absolutely !

John P said...

La Di Da Gunner Graham said...

Now that's a very poor show, and shame on you for supporting it.

Free speech means nothing unless we uphold it for those we despise.

11:10 PM, November 23, 2011

"Shame on you", an interesting phrase that I've seen Griffin and Harrington/Sharpe used quite often recently. Not seen it bandied around for years and suddenly it's the current phrase of choice from up high.

Anonymous said...

Although Atzmon claims to support the Palestinians with his utterances he is in reality a complete liability to the cause. He draws from the reservoir of anti-Semitic tropes and effectively places the blame for the banking crisis on a few Jewish bankers or individuals. It is no wonder that he denies that there is any such thing as anti-Semitism or holocaust denial.

jofro said...

The issue of supporting / opposing Antisemitism and Hitler Idolification is sorting out the real antifascists from the single-issue tokenistic supporters, some of whom are Decembrist ex-BNP members.

Blawton said...

Rememberance Sunday was only two weeks ago, and already Adolf Hitler is beingh praised by a musician himself praised by David Fucking Duke.

Shame on anyone supporting someone who calls people "brave" to say Adolf Hitler is right.

Any friend of David Fucking Duke cannot be a friend of mine.

Anonymous said...

I think the supporters of Atzmon have stopped thinking as anti-racism full stop.

Hating Jews is just as bad as hating Muslims or Black People.

The far right supporters of Atzmon hate all three!

NewsHound said...

BREAKING NEWS: PCC DISTANCES ITSELF FROM RAISE YOUR BANNERS FESTIVAL: -

http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/blog/

soo said...

Everybody who supports the right of Atzmon to appear at a socialist music festival, should take a plane to Poland and VISIT AUSCHWITZ!

You can bet they won't think the same way afterwards.

Anonymous said...

For once, the rightwingers were sadly correct in talking several years of the supposed "leftwing" taking up far right territory...

If it goes on like this, the Lib Dems now Tories, Labour so quiet they are ignored, there will be nowhere for genuine socialists to perform.

tone from london said...

I believe that Atzmon is doing his utmost to discredit the Palestinian cause he claims to love by giving the Israeli Nationalist cause the chance to become general anti-Semities.

Thats the only conspiracy theory I really believe in.

If I was Raise My Banners Fest Id tell the Adolf Hitler apologist to go fuck himself and leave Palestinian awareness to non-racists who can make proper points about the persecution without resporting to crude gut-reaction racism.

Pratzmon The Nazi Apologist said...

On his own website, not misquoted, Atzmon has typed this:

"But then, one must admit that it is neither nationalism, racism nor totalitarianism that killed so many innocent human beings in Auschwitz".

RACISM DIDN'T CAUSE THE HOLOCAUST????????????????

He comes from the Sepp Blatter school of anti-racism. That much is for sure!

Pratzmon's either a racist, a racist apologist, or a complete looney/dumbass!

Anonymous said...

First of all, Gilad Atzmon appeared this week at Exeter University – where else? – to promote his racist book. He was met by a picket of young anti-racists.

It goes without saying that Atzmon employed his customary bullying and blustering style against one of the women protesting against him. She replies, calling him a “cowardly antisemite”: a description of him which is both true and fair.

(video on YouTube)

Anonymous said...

These endorsements represent a dangerous step toward legitimizing anti-Semitic rhetoric on university campuses. If respected professors endorse the views contained in Atzmon’s book as “brilliant,” “fascinating,” “absorbing,” and “moving,” these views—which include Jewish domination of the world, doubting the Holocaust, blaming “the Jews” for being so hated, and attributing the current economic troubles to a “Zio-punch”—risk becoming acceptable among their students.

These endorsements of Atzmon’s book are the best evidence yet that academic discourse is beginning to cross a red line, and that the crossing of this line must be exposed, rebutted, and rejected absolutely.

He brags that he has been invited to “give a talk on ethics at the Trondheim University” in Norway.

davey said...

Those organisations who host Atzmon, and the bodies who support them financially, should be aware that their platforms and support will be used by Atzmon to make the kind of grossly offensive and anti-Jewish statements usually only heard at neo-Nazi meetings. They need to consider whether this is an appropriate use of their facilities and funding, and whether they want to be associated with his views. This post will give examples of what he is likely to say in any public talk that he gives.

Anonymous said...

It is a mistake to think that Atzmon's work is a critique of Israel of Zionism. He makes it very clear that his critique is of what he calls "Jewishness". For example, in this interview with Argusoog Radio, a fringe online radio show in Holland:

Jewishness means supremacy and chauvinism and chosenness, and when it comes to Jewishness I am not a Jew because I am not a follower of Judaism...I deal mainly with Jewishness. What is Jewishness? Jewishness is different forms of tribally or racially oriented supremacy."

This theme of "Jewish Supremacy" is a constant in Atzmon's writing. In another article, he claims that "every single Jewish political discourse" is "either already supremacist or on the verge of becoming supremacist."

Anonymous said...

Aztmon's a bloody racist.

No platform for racists in Yorkshire.

Anonymous said...

The idea of "Jewish supremacism" is most commonly associated with American neo-Nazi and former Klan leader David Duke, who wrote a book of that name. Unsurprisingly, Duke has expressed his admiration for Atzmon's writings.

Atzmon also insists that any critique of Zionism or Israel only deals with the symptoms of a deeper problem, which is "Jewishness". For example, in the Q&A session after his talk at Exeter University, he said:

Israel must be, if you want to be politically correct, must be de-zionised, first, it must be de-zionised, but if you want to tell the truth it must be de-jewdified.

Anonymous said...

Atzmon argues, in his book and in his talks, that events in the Middle East may follow a hypothetical future path that leads people to conclude that Hitler may have been right about the Jews. For example, on p.179 of The Wandering Who? Atzmon discusses the possibility of nuclear war between Israel and Iran, and then writes:

I guess that amongst the survivors of such a nightmare scenario, some may be bold enough to argue that 'Hitler might have been right after all.'

He repeated this idea in this talk to students at Exeter University.

Anonymous said...

I hope there's going to be a protest at the venue.

No To Racist Scumfucks said...

Atzmon claims that he is not antisemitic, because he does not base his views on race or ethnicity and he exempts certain types of Jews from his criticisms. But as the above examples show, any talk he gives is likely to include many components of contemporary antisemitism: the idea that Jewish identity is racist; that collective Jewish behaviour is a negative force in society; that Holocaust Deniers are ethical people doing valuable work; that the future may show the Holocaust in a different light; and that Jewish sensitivities about antisemitism should be mocked. Because of this, he has been condemned as antisemitic by Jewish and non-Jewish anti-Zionists as well as mainstream Jewish organisations. This is not simply a case of harsh disagreements over Israeli policy.

If somebody else made similar comments about Muslim identity, or black British identity, they would be generally condemned as Islamophobic or racist. We see no reason why Gilad Atzmon should be treated any differently. It is entirely plausible that audience members, after hearing his ideas, will develop hostile attitudes towards the Jewish Society in their Student Union, or their local Jewish school, or active members of Jewish communities up and down the country. Anybody considering giving Gilad Atzmon a platform to spread these views, needs to ask themselves whether they want to help facilitate the spread of anti-Jewish hostility in this country

Anonymous said...

This issue will shed the pretend Anti-racist activists from the real mccoy. There's no nhiding from this issue. Either you hate all racism, or accept anti-Semitism.

There is nowhere for fence-sitters to park their arses on this issue!

midland red said...

Has anyone got the email address and phone number for the Kala Sangham Centre to send them polite complaints?

Anonymous said...

Allegations of antiSemitism are often labelled at the left, socialists and Muslims.

Having this Hitler-loving cunt as a guest at a socialist conference is a self-fulfilling prophesy for all the haters out there.

Maybe he's a set up like STY or NG to discredit socialism as being in league with fascism?

Anonymous said...

Hasn't it been cancelled yet?

Anybody emailed the arts centre where it's happening?

Anonymous said...

Any friend of David Fucking Duke cannot be a friend of mine

Anyone against free speech is no friend of mine.

B31 Antifascist said...

Now that's a very poor show, and shame on you for supporting it.

Free speech means nothing unless we uphold it for those we despise.

So, if somebody goes around saying its okay to rape women (as various BNP have already done so) and sexually abuse young kids, would you defend their right too??

The fact is Atzmon is the ambassador of an ideology that we fought and successfully defeated, and he's speaking in a proudly multiracial city in a country that fought his rotten system for six years from 1939 to 1945 with much loss of life at home and abroad. It is even more of a disgrace he's appearing at an annual event often frequented by ol' Braggy when it was in Sheffield.

btw midland red, love your name! reminds me of the good old hourly x92 bus between Birmingham and Ludlow that was, which thanks to Thatcherite deregulation followed by cuts has now been chopped up and in 2011 is no more.

B31 Antifascist said...

Would be a good idea Lancaster Unity to do a Bigoted Arsehole Turdbrain of the Year (B.A.T.T.Y) this year? Possibly exclude Nicholas Griffin Tommy Yobinson and Richard Littlejohn as they're bigoted arseholes every year.

For my nomination, I'd like propose Mr. Len 'Hate Thy Neighbour' Gridley of Crays Hill, Essex, followed closely by odious history twister David Starkey for knowing nothing about how our country has been shaped by immigration from the time of Boudica and the Romans.

NewsHound said...

LATEST NEWS: HALIFAX EDL RALLY, PICTURES OF MEN WANTED BY THE POLICE: -

http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/news/article/2028/halifax-edl-rally-wanted-men-cctv-released-by

Breig said...

Back in 2008, socialists had the guts to cancel Atzmon: -

http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=1488

Many left-leaning people do not give a shit now about racism, sadly!

Anonymous said...

Come on Raise Yer Banners. Give PRATZMON the FINGER!

Anonymous said...

Where Jewish anti-Zionists try to decouple notions of ‘Jewishness’ from Zionism, Atzmon’s unique selling point is precisely his attack on ‘Jewishness’: rather than Zionism and Israel. Indeed, anti-Zionists who promote their ‘Jewishness’ are Atzmon’s pet hate: because (he claims) they epitomise the secular and psychological depths of ‘Jewish identity politics’.

Miss E Holmes said...

COMPLAINTS SHOULD NOW BE TOWARDS BRADFORD DISTRICT COUNCIL'S ARTS DIVISION, AS THEY FINANCIALLY SUPPORT KALA SANGAM.

The Bradford festival is part-funded by the Arts Council and the Co-operative Membership, and will take place at the Kala Sangam Centre - itself supported by the Arts Council and Bradford District Council.

Those organisations who host Atzmon, and the bodies who support them financially, should be aware that their platforms and support will be used by Atzmon to make the kind of grossly offensive and anti-Jewish statements usually only heard at neo-Nazi meetings. They need to consider whether this is an appropriate use of their facilities and funding, and whether they want to be associated with his views.

Anonymous said...

Everybody is now speaking out against this Uncle Tom.

He's every bit as much an Uncle Tom as the tokenistic ("fingers of one hand") EDL Black and Asian members.

Abu Hamp said...

Free speech for all.

Anonymous said...

Free speech for all

Unless it's hate speech and Holocaust denial.

Anonymous said...

And so!... How did that gig go on!!?