Opinion
Some of the best responses to Jeremy Corbyn's racist comments about 'Zionists'
Jews have been tweeting their thoughts on Jeremy Corbyn description of British 'Zionists'
August 24, 2018 11:57
2 min read
Jews have been tweeting their thoughts on Jeremy Corbyn description of British 'Zionists'
August 24, 2018 11:57Yesterday, a video of Jeremy Corbyn speaking in 2013 made its way back into the public's consciousness.
It was a speech to the Palestinian Return Council. And so, naturally, Jeremy Corbyn thought it might be a good idea to have a little dig at "Zionists".
The problem was that it wasn't just a little dig. It was racist. Full-on racist.
Here's what he said about a group of British "Zionists":
“They clearly have two problems. One is they don't want to study history, and secondly, having lived in this country for a very long time, probably all their lives, they don't understand English irony either.'
We've written elsewhere why that was racist. And since those comments came to light, Jews have been expressing their own thoughts on the matter.
We've put together some of the best tweets, so you can judge for yourselves whether "Zionists" - or "Jews" - have any trouble understanding "English irony."
1) The Linguist
I may not have “a sense of English irony,” what with being a Jew and all, but I do have about 50 different Yiddish words to describe Jeremy Corbyn and none of them are polite.
— Julia Kite (@juliakite) August 24, 2018
2) Jeremy Corbyn, British Zionist
If British Zionists don't understand irony, and Jeremy Corbyn can't see the irony in the fact that the leader of the party claiming to "build a society ...free from all forms of ...anti-Semitism" is in fact an anti-semite - does that mean he's also a British Zionist?
— Judy Silkoff (@judysilkoff) August 24, 2018
3) Irony Cross
Isn’t it ironic that Jeremy Corbyn’s mum stood by Jews at Cable Street and now her son is an antisemite who’s widely regarded as an Oswald Mosley type figure of the left by British Jews? #irony
— leekern (@leekern13) August 24, 2018
4) Jeremy Corbyn, renowned comedy expert
It is really...ironic that someone as humorless as Jeremy Corbyn would fault anyone else for lacking an "English sense of irony."
— Jamie Kirchick (@jkirchick) August 23, 2018
5) "Cheers"
Well, Tim. It's fine for you to disagree with me. If you'd said, though, "the reason you don't agree with me is that you don't understand my English argument, despite having lived here all your life", that would be not fine. It would be creepy, insinuating and racist. Cheers. https://t.co/0tiWlz0Akq
— David Baddiel (@Baddiel) August 24, 2018
6) He's "been on a journey"
TBF Jeremy Corbyn has been on a journey since making his “zionists don’t understand English irony” remark. Unfortunately the journey was to Tunisia to lay a wreath at a memorial for a dead terrorist.
— Paul (@greasydunlop) August 23, 2018
7) "Who you gonna call?" (from our very own Daniel Sugarman)
Are YOU an English irony expert willing to teach British... "Zionists", who despite "having lived in this country for a very long time, probably all their lives, don’t understand English irony" and who "need a lesson"?
— Daniel Sugarman (@Daniel_Sugarman) August 23, 2018
If so, Jeremy Corbyn wants to hear from you now! pic.twitter.com/kJQ5a9YsUO
Well, there you have it.
Jeremy Corbyn's office have responded to the anger over his comments, with the following statement:
"Jeremy is totally opposed to all forms of antisemitism and is determined to drive it out from society. At this event, he was referring to a group of pro-Israel activists misunderstanding and then criticising the Palestinian Ambassador for a speech at a separate event about the occupation of the West Bank."
So, no apology or acknowledgement he said anything wrong, then. I don't know about you, but I feel better already!
