Wake Up Bradford!

I am ashamed to admit that, for the first time in my life, I bought not only a copy of the Daily Mail but also the Daily Express. The 13th November 2023 front page of the Mail quotes its heroine Ms Braverman as arguing that “pro-Palestine marches” were “polluting the street with hate”, asserting further that this “can’t go on”. Presumably referring to the overwhelmingly peaceful marchers, rather than the counter-demonstrating fascist thugs, the then Home Secretary argued that the “anti-Semitism and other forms of racism together with the valorising of terrorism on such a scale is deeply troubling”. The Mail’s Comment carries the headline “Suella is right to take on the hate-mongers”. In his column, Dominic Lawson refers to Jeremy Corbyn’s address to the rally; referring to the latter’s invitation to “Hamas to a meeting in Parliament, describing them as ‘friends’”. Lawson adds the rhetorical question of Corbyn: “why doesn’t he give them a ring and ask them to stop firing rockets at Israel?”.

Like the Mail, the Daily Express calls on the prime minster to “Stick by Suella”, making no secret of its support for Ms Braverman’s comments on what its columnist Leo McKinstry calls “the anti-Israeli mob”. McKinstry mentions “one protester who openly declared that ‘Hitler knew how to deal with these people’”, but fails to inform his readers whether this comment was made by a pro-Palestine marcher or a fascist thug. Referring to the “current surge in anti-Semitism”, he goes the whole hog and calls for the dismantling of the “Association of Muslim Police and the Metropolitan Black Police Association” as they “create hierarchies of victimhood and feed division”.

I suspect that such ‘journalists’ would agree with the following: “The policy of the fully open door is not practicable…oppressed minorities should not assume that admission into this country is to be offered to all and sundry…it is clearly not possible for this country to provide the necessary refuge…once it was known that Britain offered sanctuary to all who cared to come, the floodgates would be opened, and we should be inundated by thousands seeking a home”. Such views, one might well assume, were expressed by Ms Braverman or one of her supporters toward people, often Muslim, crossing the channel in small boats in recent times. In fact, the above quotes are from British newspapers in 1938, when Jewish people and others were fleeing from the Nazis so as to avoid the horrors of the Holocaust.

With regard to the above mentioned pro-Netanyahu newspapers, it is important to point out that their sympathies were virulently anti-Semitic in the 1930s. They supported an anti-democratic hierarchy with white Anglo-Saxons at the top and others lower down the pecking order. Prior to WWII the Mail, for instance, supported Hitler’s Nazi Party, until the proprietor Lord Rothermere told Der Fuehrer that Jewish capitalists were threatening to withdraw their advertising and therefore the paper would have to tone down its overt support. Nevertheless, privately Rothermere continued to support Hitler as WWII broke out and beyond; letters and photos of the two together show their mutual admiration. Like many in the Conservative Party, including former prime minister Boris Johnson, more recently, the Mail has taken a thinly veiled anti-Muslim view, likening them to rats in a 2014 ‘cartoon’. This is significant because, in the 1930s, the comparison was made between Jews and rats, implying that, like rats, Jews should be exterminated. Suggesting its fickle affiliations, the paper’s ‘journalists’ offered support for the French fascist Marine Le Penn. The maverick journalist Roy Greenslade, who has worked for various papers including Rupert Murdoch’s Sun, writing in The Guardian a couple of decades ago, offered some comfort to Mail readers by pointing out that their rag “was not the only paper” to support fascism in the 1930s, “The Daily Mirror did too”. Greenslade might also have mentioned other papers, including The Times. On a lighter note, Greenslade reveals that two papers in the Mirror group “planned a beauty contest aimed at finding Britain’s prettiest woman fascist”. Although not conforming to the blonde Aryan stereotype, could I suggest that Ms Braverman might well be a strong candidate in such a contest. Sounding somewhat apologetic that the Express was similarly well disposed towards the Nazis, Greenslade describes these views as a mere “aberration”. In point of fact, during the 1930s such views were a commonplace, with significant sections of Britain’s power elites, including King Edward VIII, other members of the royal family and Lord Reith of the BBC all expressing sympathy with fascist anti-Semitism, accusing those who opposed Hitler of “war mongering” and support for Bolshevism.

With regard to Dominic Lawson’s reference to Jeremy Corbyn, as I was not there, I cannot comment on what he said on the demo in London. However, when he spoke in Bradford last Summer Corbyn called for peace talks. Could I suggest that Lawson et al study Netanyahu’s relationship with Hamas as reported in an earlier post.

Let us finish with the thought that we can only guess how the Mail, Express et al will react if, as most Bradfordians can only hope, the Israeli electorate get rid of Netanyahu, replace him with people having rather more humanity and begin peace talks with the Palestinian Authority. Who knows, maybe their dislike of Muslims will be toned down and anti-Semitism will again become their main focus.

Comment from a Jewish friend who no longer lives in Bradford

Have you had any feedback from any Jews there? I imagine (though this is not based on any evidence from there) that most would be opposed to Mr Corbyn given the events of his leadership 2015-19. If he is still referring to Hamas as “friends”, I don’t think many Jews would have time for him. What about Bradford’s MPs? I think at least two are Muslims. Did they stick to Mr Starmer’s line about truce rather than ceasefire? (see post on this) On McKinstry reporting the Hitler comment, you have a point about attribution – it is unclear who said that. I do clearly remember an earlier pro-Palestinian demo (perhaps a decade back) where one person in that demo carried a placard: Hitler didn’t finish the job. That is one strain in this element of the crisis. One can see why that would alarm Jews. Let me add, however, that demos such as London has seen must be allowed; it just requires police to intervene where there are actual crimes. You point out correctly the anti-immigrant opinions in the Tory and other press, a propos the Jews in the late 30s fleeing Nazism, and the language could definitely could 2023! I’d only say that that was 80+ years ago, papers do change their editorial position, and those immigrants were legal, as well as much less numerous than today’s illegals.