Thursday, May 22, 2008

Which side are you on ?

Fascism in Britain didn't just go away after the Second World War, according to a recent programme on the BBC. It drew fuel from the situation of the British mandate in Palestine, where Jews were fighting "our boys".  Many Jews, with the sympathy of left-wing groups, took "direct action" against  fascist rallies.

Seven years after the war, Oswald Mosley returned to public life with a rally at which the chants could be heard: "Two four six eight, who do we appreciate?" "M-O-S-E-L-E-Y;" "One two three,  four five six, who will stop the Jew boys' tricks?"

Some British Jews soon went from fighting these now almost-forgotten battles in the streets of London to the impending struggle in Palestine, while a number of Mosley's supporters joined the "Arab Legion" to fight against the emerging state of Israel.

('A rage in Dalston', broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 19 Apr 2008)

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

China and Tibet

Nice to know there are still some unreconstructed Stalinists out there. A few weeks ago, I heard a radio interview with someone who was described as a senateur socialiste. A bit of googling turned up the name Jean-Luc Mélenchon. This is the report  from Le Figaro

The repression in Tibet, he claims, is all the fault of the US, who seek to provoke difficulties for their enemies at every turn. Reporters sans Frontières, apparently, are linked to the American neoconservatives. Besides, the Tibetans are so ungrateful, since Chinese rule got rid of a feudal system and brought such advances, in terms of life expectancy and increased levels of schooling.

Needless to say, I do not endorse these views. Needless to say, this is not the PS's official position. Previous remarks on unreconstructed Stalinists can be found here.