The Twitter Parody Of “I’m Not Racist, But…”

Xavier Toby’s piece on Huff Post rings true:

“Here’s one quick way to work out if someone’s racist.

If they say, “I’m not racist, but…”

Then they’re definitely racist.

Really, that phrase should be outlawed.

If it actually worked, nobody would ever again be sent to prison.

In court all they’d have to say is, “I’m not a murderer, but… I accidentally mistook my husband for a knife holder thirty-seven times.”

And the judge would say, “While all the evidence indicates that you’re guilty, you’ve used the “I’m not but” defence. Which we all know is infallible. Therefore, case dismissed. Off ya go tiger. Try not to do it again, ya cheeky scamp.”

The phrase should be, “I am a racist, and…”

For example:

“I am a racist AND I only watch Channel Nine.”
“I am a racist AND I don’t own any bed sheets without eyeholes in them.”
“I am a racist AND I only eat the white marshmallows.”
“I am a racist AND follow me on Twitter @whitesupremacisttoteslol69.”

Now just say you suspect a person of being racist, but they’ve cleverly avoiding using the phrase, “I’m not racist, but…”

It’s not uncommon; some racists can be surprisingly crafty.”

Twitter provides a very useful resource around this topic. Almost on a daily basis it is possible to find such talking points, however, they tend to be formed along the lines of “I’m not antisemitic, but…”.

The persistence of open antisemitism on Twitter and the apathy towards combating it, is astonishing. Storify has proven itself by allowing these few examples of overt racism to be documented with relative ease:

Holocaust Denial at Anonymous.
More antisemitism at Anonymous.
Antisemitism at Anonymous Continues Unchecked.
Free Gaza Movement And Racism.

What comes through is a remarkably similar pattern to that highlighted by Xavier Toby. There is a denial of racism, a play on words and a negation of evidence. Anonymous would, in all probability, say “We are not antisemitic, but…”.

Nevertheless, they would fail to explain the racist content of the Anonymous Operations account or the lethargy shown by its 170,000+ followers. Equally, Greta Berlin of the Free Gaza Movement has already tried on those excuses:

”TWEET from the Free Gaza TWITTER account was posted several days ago that had a link to a lecture titled, “Zionists Ran the Holocaust and the Concentration Camps.” This TWEET did not come from Free Gaza, and does not represent FG’s position in any way whatsoever; in fact we condemn its content. It came from Greta’s private Facebook page and was to be shared with a group of people who were discussing propaganda and racism, and this link was an example of the terrible propaganda that could be spewed on websites. For some reason, Facebook connected our Free Gaza account to her personal Facebook account, and the link was posted. Greta has added, “I apologize that I did not watch the video before hitting SHARE on Facebook. I was in a rush to get to a book event and simply reposted. The fault is completely mine. Free Gaza had nothing to do with the post at all. “

But more worrying, it appears that Anonymous and the Free Gaza Movement have reached the stage where they no longer feel the compunction to apologise for racism emanating from their Twitter accounts. In the end, Xavier Toby was right when he said “some racists can be surprisingly crafty.”

The “Israel Apartheid Week” And “Don’t buy from the Jews week”

Over at Engage, David Hirsh’s acid wit skewers the Palestine Solidarity Campaign with, “Israel Apartheid Week” – Don’t Buy from the Jews Week.

I looked in at the PSC’s site, to see if they had covered the recent death of Palestinians in Syria, but alas couldn’t find anything. Conceivably, just possibly, something is hidden beneath the mountain of vitriol aimed at Israelis, but I doubt it.

I couldn’t see any genuine concern for Palestinians, outside of the West Bank and Gaza. Even Google couldn’t draw out any articles on the on-going slaughter in Syria from the PSC.

The PSC’s feed on Twitter was barren and bereft of any mention of Syria over the past month.

As Reuters reported a few weeks ago, some 10,000 Syrians have been killed since the start of 2013.

Still, the PSC were probably more interested in organising “Don’t buy from the Jews week” and must have missed what has been going on in Syria.

I think we know where the PSC’s priorities lie, all in all, David Hirsh was too kind to them.

Update 1: Liberal Conspiracy has surprisingly given Matt Hall the chance to put a persuasive argument, Pro-Palestinian activists are wrong to shut down debates by pro-Israelis.

Rev Stephen Sizer: More Anti-Israeli Than Pro-Palestinian

Rev. Stephen Sizer is once more indulging in victimhood and self-promotion. He has managed to convince some worthy individuals to write him references.

Ever shy and retiring Rev. Sizer has published them on his website.

They say, essentially, ‘he’s a jolly good fellow, not a racist, but a fighter for human rights’.

This is an extract from Rev. Dr. Don Wagner of Chicago:

“I have known and worked with Stephen for nearly 15 years and have the utmost respect for his writing, pastoral ministry, and his speaking around the globe on behalf of the victims of persecution and human rights violations. “

I suppose, in part, that might be true, however, Rev. Sizer silent criticism of the Assad regime is noticeable.

You might, not unreasonably, think that in 21 months of slaughter in Syria that Rev. Sizer could have made a critical comment of the Syrian government. After all, he’s immensely capable of criticising Israelis, but suddenly acquires writers’ block when it comes to Assad and Syria.

It is a symptom which seems to inflict many Western “pro-Palestinian” supporters, capable of criticising Israelis at the drop of a hat, yet barely able to muster any criticism whilst Assad is slaughtering civilians.

Just to be clear, I am not accusing Rev. Sizer of hypocrisy, racism or anything else. Merely observing that in 21 months he might have at least commented once on the hundreds of Palestinians killed in Syria.

Rev. Sizer has written on Syria, but I can’t find any criticism of Assad. In fact, the opposite when he uses a proxy to say in June 2012:

“Revd Awad insists Qatar and Saudi Arabia along with the US are funding mercenaries from Libya and Iraq to attack civilians in Syria and that the army are not responsible. He is convinced the President enjoys the support of at least 75% of Syrians. He insists none of Syria’s diplomats around the world has defected to the opposition. He is confident that the Kofi Annan report will exonerate the Syrian government and that the external forces seeking to destabilise Syria will not succeed. “

It drips of paranoia and defensiveness, but later on of that month, June 2012 invokes Robert Fisk to argue Syria: Its all about oil.

For want of his own opinions Rev. Sizer employs Elizabeth Kendal’s Syria: The Lies Being Told.

Unfortunately, it appears that Ms. Kendal is a conspiracy theorist and believes that the Houla massacre committed by the Assad regime’s forces was a contrivance:

“For more on the Houla massacre, now exposed as a false flag operation wherein Free Syrian Army forces disguised as pro-Assad ‘thugs’ massacred unsympathetic mostly non-Sunni families and blamed the regime…”

So as far as I can see Rev. Sizer has written nothing to criticise Assad or his dictatorship which brought about the events in Syria after massacring peaceful protesters in March 2011.

In August 2012, Rev. Sizer utilises the words of others and latterly employing a questionable photograph to hint at something else:

“The first reaction of President Bashar al-Assad was to initially respond with hints of reform. But soon he launched violent crackdowns that could have dispensed with the opposition if not for outside support. “

So what we see is conscious effort to blame everyone else, but the repressive Syrian government. The idea that people could rise up against a dictatorship, of their own free will, after being shot at, murdered and tortured seems to have escaped Rev. Sizer and these various proxies.

Despite 21 months of conflict Rev. Sizer can’t say a single word against Assad.

In short, Rev. Sizer is proclaimed as “speaking around the globe on behalf of the victims of persecution and human rights violations” yet I have not read one word from Rev. Sizer critical of Assad on the hundreds of Palestinians killed, the 40,000+ Syrians dead, hundreds of thousands injured and millions displaced within the country.

A curious omission?

Update 1: Whenever I post on Rev. Sizer’s antics the blog gets a lot of spam, incoherent or abusive comments. I would remind potential commentors to read, disgest and understand the Comments Policy.

Update 2: You might almost say “the world goes to hell in a handbasket whilst Rev. Sizer has other preoccupations”. Despite the mounting death toll in Syria, Rev. Sizer’s main concern is, somewhat predictably, Rev. Sizer.

More recently he has cajoled some friendly clergy into supporting him, Bethlehem Bible College, Canon Dr Mike Butterworth, Friends of Sabeel, Revd. Phil Hill, Manfred W. Kohl, Professor Scott Elias, Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church USA and Bishop Riah Abo El-Assal.

The excuse “some of his best friends are…” is threadbare by use, but I am sure these theologians will be able to explain why Rev. Sizer continually, regularly and mistakenly posted links to vile, hardcore, antisemitic filth.

Greta Berlin, Free Gaza And Racism

I have been away and missed the outburst of anti-Jewish racism from the Free Gaza movement via Greta Berlin.

Jeffrey Goldberg explains it:

“This last theory of his was largely forgotten until last week, when Greta Berlin, a co-founder of the Free Gaza Movement, published a message on the group’s Twitter feed: “Zionists operated the concentration camps and helped murder millions of innocent Jews.” It contained a link to a video of Mullins delivering his message.

The Free Gaza group, the leading edge of the international campaign to delegitimize Israel and bring about its end as the national home of the Jewish people, has always argued that it isn’t anti-Semitic, and is merely trying to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. The group came to public attention in May 2010, when it organized a flotilla of ships to attempt to break the blockade. Israeli commandos boarded the ships and were set upon by passengers wielding pipes and knives. In a terrible overreaction, they responded by opening fire, killing nine. The incident has nearly destroyed Turkish-Israeli relations, and helped make the flotilla cause popular across the Middle East and Europe.
…
Then Berlin’s Twitter message was discovered last week. Berlin said she posted the video without watching it, and that the message was meant for a private Facebook group. Her critics pointed out that the private sharing of Nazi propaganda doesn’t fall into a different moral category than the public sharing of Nazi propaganda, and so she then argued the message was meant to be part of a broader discussion about the nature of hateful propaganda. Free Gaza has officially disowned the post and taken it down.
But this isn’t Berlin’s first dalliance with purveyors of anti-Semitism. She has also endorsed the work of an ex-Israeli Holocaust revisionist (yes, such a person exists) named Gilad Atzmon, author of “The Wandering Who?” Atzmon has argued, among other things, that it was the Jews who persecuted Hitler, and that Jews who commemorate the Holocaust are followers of the “the most sinister religion known to man.”

Rev. Sizer, Please, Please Don’t Play The Victim

I suppose that I should be gratified that Rev. Sizer has linked to one of my previous posts, but I am not.

If you read the words of his post what you will see is obfuscation, rhetorical tricks and a desire to play the victim.

What he should have written was a simple apology for his linking, once more, to a racist website.

Rev. Sizer has made a habit of doing this: Palestine Telegraph: July 2011, Ugly Truth: 4 October 2011 Veterans Today: 1 March 2012, and more recently, WindowintoPalestine: 1 June 2012.

Now I can understand the desire to support the Palestinians, it is a most worthy cause, but it is not helped when its Western supporters link to anti-Jewish racism, for the fourth time.

It gives the impression that such Western supporters are more motivated by their animus towards Jews instead of a genuine concern for the welfare of Palestinians.

I am sure this is not the case with Rev. Sizer, however, his inability to distinguish between nonracist material and vile antisemitic garbage suggests that his judgement is faulty in these matters.

And, before he and his supporters drag out the most predictable, I should make it clear that I do not think that he is an antisemite, rather he strikes me as someone of poor judgement who swims in the effluent of modern “anti-Zionism” but can’t see an antisemitic turd when it steams towards him.

So please, Rev. Sizer, for the sake of your own conscience, make a habit of apologising when you are wrong, as in this case and please do not play the victim, it is unbecoming.

Still No Apology From Rev. Sizer Or His Supporters?

Years back, I was told that men of the cloth knew the difference between right and wrong.

And when you have done something wrong that you should apologise.

Sadly, Reverent Stephen Sizer did not learn that lesson.

True enough, Rev. Sizer has deleted the offending post, but it still available in Google’s cache and as shown below on Twitter:

It would be nice, if Rev. Sizer had the decency and depth of character to apologise for posting yet another link to a racist website.

I don’t expect that to happen.

Because, like modern politicians, many members of the clergy don’t seem to think they can do any wrong or see the need to show a degree of contrition when caught.

However, it would be far better if Rev. Sizer admitted he can’t tell the difference between racist and nonracist material.

He should openly apologise, instead of scurrying around and trying to delete the evidence of his misdemeanour.

It is not as if Rev. Sizer is shy or without the ability to argue his points, his blog has a constant stream of negative material on an almost daily basis.

Perhaps he should dedicate a blog post or two on “Why I, Rev. Sizer, should avoid racist web sites and their material”.

But that would presuppose that he knows the difference between right and wrong? Chance would be a fine thing!

Update 1: Interestingly, it appears that Rev. Sizer has pondered this point from a theological angle, How to do Right When You’ve Been Done Wrong (Psalm 26).

I do, however, wish he’d make the next step in the real world and apologise for his own mistake.

Rev. Sizer Links to Racist Material Again.

[Apologies, by necessity this post has links to racist web sites, as a public record. Sorry.]

Rev. Stephen Sizer has an unfortunate blindness when it comes to racism, or more specifically racism towards Jews.

In the past, Rev. Sizer has linked on at least three occasions to racist material and more recently said he would be more careful.

Yet, like an habitual criminal, he returns to the scene of his crimes, or in Rev. Sizer’s case another racist web site, Window Into Palestine blog.

To anyone with anti-racist sensitivities the title of the piece, The BBC caught out with its Zionist run propaganda machine, would have rung alarm bells, but not for Rev. Sizer.

Had this exceedingly well-educated man of the cloth taken a moment or 2 to study the contents of the Window Into Palestine blog he would have surely seen conspiracy theories (AIPAC and the Zionist Hex on America) and downright claptrap (Jews tried to kill President Truman).

But leaving aside the wierd material which protrudes everywhere from that blog, Rev. Sizer could have browsed the author of the piece, Peter Eyre, and found one of his preoccupations was:

“I also believe that world politics are controlled by Wall Street and London Bankers with Christian and Jewish Zionist at its heart.”

Or searched Peter Eyre’s Space to find that the author believes that the 9/11 and 7/7 atrocities were “false flag operations” and a lot more nonsense besides.

Eyre’s WordPress creation is just as strange and disturbing.

The question is, why are intelligent people like Rev. Sizer drawn to this racist and twisted nonsense?

Update 1: The link seems to have gone dead but fortunately I kept a copy and will upload it shortly.

Update 2: I would hate Rev. Sizer’s supporters to deny that it happened! As Google has cached it as well, but in the first link Rev. Sizer uses http://www.windowintopalestine.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/bbc-caught-out-with-its-zionist-run.html

Update 3: Thanks to the well known antifascist, Luther Blissetts.

He points out that Peter Eyre rants on about the New World Order nonsense as well.

This is but one example of Eyre’s thinking, from the Islam Times:

“What you have just read is also happening in this country on a different scale. We have both political and financial spheres that are totally funded and controlled by Zionist who promote fraud and corruption as a norm.

Before continuing I just want to divert from this financial topic and show just how deeply embedded the entire Zionist run New World Order is in this country. It dictates and controls our politicians and encourages a continuous war against a non existent enemy that they call Al Qaeda or as George Bush put it “A war on Terror” or a war against “The Axis of Evil.”

This aspect is so important in the state of our economy for many reasons:
· It drains vast sums of “Tax Payers Money” and converts that into “Private Sector Arms Sales”
· It allows the New World Order to carry out their “Geo Political Plans.”
· It rockets the price of a barrel of oil to unbelievable levels.
· It acts as an investment for the “Pharmaceutical Industry”
…
Knowing now that the entire situation in this country is the brainchild of the Zionist NWO it is rather difficult to rectify this out of control movement… “

So what we see with Eyre is essentially an updated version of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

This is not the type of author or material that a serious antiracist, as Rev. Sizer suggests he is, should be reading, absorbing and regurgitating as if it is the unvarnished truth.

Update 4: Anyone in doubt about Eyre’s views should watch his performance on the awful RT [from 00:19 onwards]:

[00:19] “…this was no accident, it was a very planned exercise by the New World Order…”

[05:15]”…remember they can take out any country, financially or militarily, that they want to take to take out, this is a master plan of, what I call, the New World Order…”

Update 5: Eyre also believes that 9/11 was the Greatest Illusion Ever Performed. Yuck.

Update 6: I had forgotten that James Mendelsohn had offered Rev. Sizer some sage advice over three years ago, but it went unheeded, If I was Stephen Sizer, Christian Antizionist – James Mendelsohn.

Rev. Sizer, Best Take Michelle Obama’s Advice

After reading one of his recent posts I thought this quote equally applied to Rev. Sizer:

“Barack and I have been in the public eye for many years now, and we’ve developed a thick skin along the way. When you’re out campaigning, there will always be criticism. I just take it in stride, and at the end of the day, I know that it comes with the territory.”

I had hoped not to have to return to this topic, but it seems that Rev. Sizer and his supporters are keen to humiliate the Council of Christians and Jews and make them apologise.

I have argued elsewhere that this is silly and counter-productive, but my impression is that Rev. Sizer and his fan club are not particularly good listeners or interested in the views of others.

Pity, the speed of his actions and those of his supporters tend to cast doubt on the sincerity of Rev. Sizers’ apology.

In his latest post, Rev. Sizer makes much of the fact that he removed the offending link to the Ugly Truth web site. However, Rev. Sizer only removed it after the racist nature of the site was pointed out to him, several times.

Astonishingly, before it was pointed out to him, Rev. Sizer didn’t investigate the antisemitic content of Ugly Truth as the CCJ points out:

“We are conscious that The Revd Stephen Sizer’s contributions have caused widespread disquiet and hurt in both communities and led to confusion and polarization of views. We have paid particular attention to a link posted by Mr Sizer on his Facebook page to ‘The Ugly Truth’, an antisemitic website.

We consider this to be wholly unacceptable.

We cannot accept it was an accident, because Mr Sizer was alerted to the antisemitic nature of the website in November and again in December, but only removed the link in January when contacted by the Jewish Chronicle. “

[My emphasis.]

If, this unfortunate episode had been a one off, then Rev. Sizer would have had a stronger case, but he has made this same mistake at least three times, by my reckoning.

That is a lot for a highly intelligent man, an academic and community leader. Surprisingly, I can not find any apology from Rev. Sizer on his previous poor choice of material and certainly no embarrassment.

Still, as he reminds us about his “Jewish friends” I can’t help thinking that they might not have known of the extent of Rev. Sizer’s blunders?

Whilst I seriously doubt that Rev. Sizer or his supporters harbour any antisemitic feeling, there is not much evidence of them understanding the issues, or the need for a certain sensitivity.

It all speaks of a very poor sense of judgement in these matters.

Overall, what I see in these instances from Rev. Sizer and his supporters is a lack of insight, a desire to hit back and above all wounded pride.

It might be time, as Michelle Obama recommends, for Rev. Sizer to develop a thicker skin. Or for him not to link to racist material in the first place?

I Am Glad For Rev. Sizer.

Rev. Stephen Sizer has put out this statement:

“In response to the CCJ Statement, I welcome the news from Surrey police and CPS that, having “carried out a thorough and extensive review of the material in question” they have concluded that “no criminal offences have been committed. The matter has now been closed and no further action is being taken,” a conclusion which will come as no surprise to those who know and work with me.

My support for a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, based on international law and recognised borders, achieved by peaceful and democratic means, has unfortunately left me open to what can only be described as an unbalanced and targeted campaign from certain quarters, a situation which is deeply regrettable.

I care passionately about the safety of the Jewish people. I repudiate racism, anti-Semitism as well as Islamophobia. I would not have posted a link to a website I knew to be anti-Semitic. Having consulted a number of Jewish friends, I now keep a small list of websites to avoid in future. I will be more careful about the origin of material I post on my blog and Facebook, and welcome opportunities for discussion with members of the Jewish community to move forwards in a spirit of mutual respect. “

I am glad that Rev. Sizer has put out this statement.

I am glad that he says he’s going to be more careful in the future, and some might think it would be churlish to asked why he made those mistakes in the past, but let us look to the future.

I hope Rev. Sizer sets an example to others and makes sure not to link to racist or extremist material, directly or indirectly.

I have thought for many years that it is a great pity that the Palestinians’ cause is so often sullied by association with anti-Jewish racism. They deserve much better.

I should point out that criticising the Israeli government, in and of itself, is not racist, as long as dual standards are not applied, historical myths perpetuated or offensive imagery used.

The Israeli government should be open to criticism, as with every government, for their actions, however, it is, how you do it, that is the issue.

When Western supporters of the Palestinians’ cause associate with known racists or push their material they bring it into disrepute, as with Baroness Tonge and the conspiracy theorist, Ken O’Keefe.

Nor should we be naive enough to assume that anti-Jewish racists do not try to exploit grievances in the Middle East to foster hatred against Jews. They do, it is their agenda.

That is what Western supporters of the Palestinians’ cause need to engage with.

Some have belatedly seen the issue and try to repudiate it, which is to be commended, but as the PSC conference showed us there is still a problem.

Let us hope that Rev. Sizer, and like-minded individuals, will remember how racists will exploit any conflict with Israelis. That there is a serious need to become sensitive to anti-Jewish racism. To avoid any, however tenuous, connection to racists, extremists or their material. Finally, that ignorance is no excuse.

I welcome Rev. Sizer’s statement and hope others follow that example.

(H/T: Phil Groom)