"British parliamentarian Denis MacShane, a Labour party MP with a history of Israel advocacy, has linked the recent killings in Toulouse to pro-Palestinian boycott motions in UK trade unions. Writing in The Jewish Chronicle, MacShane’s op-ed on “Jew hatred” contains the following paragraph, provided as part of the MP’s claim that “denial of antisemitism is now mainstream politics”.
There is little media or political concern when the National Union of Journalists or the University and College Union back boycotts of Jewish journalists or Israeli academics. The NUJ or UCU would never dream of boycotting Saudi Arabia or China, where human rights and core freedoms are ruthlessly suppressed. But when it comes to Jews in Israel, the double-standard of contemporary antisemitism prevails.
Even for someone who has invested so much in the “new antisemitism” discourse, this is still a shocking association to make. A few months ago, MacShane was on a panel at The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA)’s General Assembly, discussing “The Assault on Israel’s Legitimacy.” While the likes of JFNA throw money and resources at combating boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS), nothing beats fighting “delegitimization” the old-fashioned way: through misrepresentation and the favorite smear of all." (thanks Electronic Ali)
