by Paul Eisen
Sunday, January 22nd, 2012
Yes, PSC has hitched itself firmly to the Jewish supremacists – the ‘anti-Zionist’ variety this time but it won’t be long before dear old PSC is an open and full-blown hasbara mouthpiece.
I was never a very good PSC member. Never much of an activist, all that leafleting and politburo-style meetings, never did much for me. And since DYR and I were the very first casualties in the ongoing and current PSC witch-hunt, to stand outside the PSC AGM was something I viewed with eager anticipation but also trepidation.
My reasons for attending were four-fold:
I needn’t have worried. PSC members are every bit as lovely as I recall and those members of the Executive Council I saw and who saw me were also polite, if a little downcast. Sarah Colbourne pretended she didn’t see me but Betty Hunter did manage a strangled gurgle when asked cheerily why she wasn’t wearing her “Remember Deir Yassin‘ badge. And the that little Jews-only trio – Abe and Ros Hayeem and Deborah Maccoby – though visibly paling at the sight of me, had the good grace to shuffle hastily past. Even friend and brother Tony Greenstein managed to refrain from his usual foul and abusive behaviour as unloved, shifty and alone he entered the building. But the PSC rank-and-file were as the PSC rank-and-file always are – open, friendly and one hundred-and ten per-cent committed to the Palestinian people. .
I began to leaflet. For years, I was a market trader – not the money markets or commodity markets – but the real, get-your-gums-round-my-plums, markets – so I know a thing or two about shifting gear- and believe me, the principles of shifting gear on a market are much the same as pushing fliers at a PSC AGM – Pile ‘em high and make ’em cheap (in this case, free), never crowd the punter and, above all, keep going. Everyone loves a free badge so I gave out a lot. And there’s no doubt that Deir Yassin carries a lot of resonance for a lot of people– all the more so for the five year absence.
I didn’t see Francis make his speech but I read it beforehand. Honest, thoughtful and beautifully crafted, I can only assume it was as inspiring to hear as it was to read and I know it was received with modest but determined and warm applause. He lost of course but what did we expect?
And Gill’s motion? Well, Gill’s motion wasn’t called. It seems the AGM just ran out of time. And before all you conspiracy theorists get busy, Gill’s motion was not the only one not called. Course it wasn’t. If I was engaged in shady practices to ensure unpalatable ideas didn’t reach my membership, I too would make sure that Gill’s motion wasn’t the only one not called.
And finally, what of those critical ‘anti-racism’ motions? The ones that deal with all those pesky anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers. Well, the EC decided to ensure the future of its Star Chamber by hitching its motion with its childlike ‘building’ this and ‘the masses’ that firmly to Jews-only motion number 9. This one proposed by Tony Greenstein and Naomi Idrissi-Wimbourne was my favourite.
Firmly Marxist in its rhetoric, this motion above all, set out to protect and to excuse Jews from their crimes in Palestine.
They passed of course just like we knew they would.
Yes, PSC has hitched itself firmly to the Jewish supremacists – the ‘anti-Zionist’ variety this time but it won’t be long before dear old PSC is an open and full-blown hasbara mouthpiece.
But one thing I know. People aren’t so stupid and PSC activists certainly aren’t. So one question remains: Now the PSC has joined in oppressing precisely those people it was supposed to liberate, where will all those ‘open, friendly, one hundred-and-ten-per-cent committed and thoroughly decent’ PSC activists go?
Welcome to deLiberation.
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Jonathon Blakeley
January 22, 2012 at 12:00 pm
What is the difference between ~ the PSC ~ Anti-Zionist/CST ~ Zionist /LFI ~ Anti-Zionist/CFI ~ Zionist , LDFI ~ Anti-Zionist Not much, they are all very good friends of Israel.
The bottom line is the PSC can not be trusted, it has been taken over by crypto anti-zionists and known criminals such as Tony Greenstein. The PSC is a sham, its cover is supposedly to support by Palestine, but it does nothing of the sort. In fact it really is much more interested in defending Jewish and Israeli interests than championing the Palestinian cause. People in the UK should be warned as the PSC (Palestine Solidarity Campaign) is at best disingenuous, and at worst committing fraud on a grand scale.
Zarina Bhatia
January 22, 2012 at 4:01 pm
I couldn’t agree more as I began to find out how PSC is supporting Hasbara
tony greenstein
January 24, 2012 at 1:38 pm
‘Tony Greenstein managed to refrain from his usual foul and abusive behaviour as unloved, shifty and alone he entered the building.’ How many anti-Semitic stereotypes can you collect in one sentence?
I didn’t notice you Paul as I entered the building. Maybe you were hiding from me? I don’t recall ever having abused you, foul or otherwise. I did once challenge you to debate your holocaust denial views, but you shied away.
The ‘applause’ for Frances Clarke Lowes was anything but warm. It was barely audible!
So now you and Kaffash can go off and fight the Jews and the rest of us will get on and support the Palestinians. Fair?
somoe
January 24, 2012 at 6:22 pm
You’ve spelt Francis’ name incorrectly, again!
Just exactly how are you supporting Palestinians? It appears your key concerns lie in serving the interests of Jews – who are hardly an oppressed people by comparison.
Paul Eisen
January 24, 2012 at 6:31 pm
Where did I spell Francis’ name wrong? And where on earth am I serving the interests of Jews?
somoe
January 24, 2012 at 6:58 pm
Bless you Paul! I most definitely was not addressing you! but the pathetic excuse for a palestinian activist, Tony Greenstein.
Roy Bard
January 24, 2012 at 6:43 pm
Somehow I don’t think that was addressed at you Paul
Paul Eisen
January 24, 2012 at 8:01 pm
Sorry, I really haven’t mastered all this blog stuff.
somoe
January 24, 2012 at 8:33 pm
LOL:-D Well,as you’ve mastered having an opinion and having the courage to express yourself freely and coherently and they’re the key factors that matter in all this blog stuff, I think i’ll let you off!;-)
somoe
January 24, 2012 at 8:14 pm
I found the article itself, a more believable perspective to the one offered on that hotbed of misinformation – the Greenstein blog, which is (in my honest opinion)a complete waste of time. Your analysis of the goings on at the AGM is a welcome alternative, that shows us just exactly how far things have drifted off track in terms of solidarity with Palestinians.
Roy Bard
January 25, 2012 at 11:32 am
Tony asked: “How many anti-Semitic stereotypes can you collect in one sentence?”
Surely it depends on who is reading the sentence? It remains the case that the majority of accusations are disputed and rejected. Just as you reject the hundreds of claims of anti-semitism that have been aimed at you. However I am always fascinated by how liberally you continue to throw the charges about – despite being aware that abuse of the term undermines it fatally.
I found this report very interesting.
A pro-Israel campaigner had his cheek bitten. Dismissing the charge of assault against the man who admits biting him. The judge rejected the testimony of 3 pro-Israel campaigners.
“District Judge James Henderson said political points of view of the witnesses had affected “what they saw and what how they interpreted it.” ”
Is it possible that your political point of view might affect what you see and how you interpret it?
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