Jim Carroll:

You remind me a bit of the joke of the Irishman who sees a pair of brawlers on the sidewalk and asks "Is this a private fight, or can anyone join in?"

You almost, almost, I say, seem to be saying "I dare one of you yids to call me an anti-semite!"

I, for one, am not calling you nor anyone else on this thread, an anti-semite. I think several people have revealed much about themselves by their manner of posting, and that's just fine.

The field of anti-semitism after all, has a very long history with its own developmental roots and branches. Anti-Semitism itself is its own religion. I am tempted to expand on that but it would take this thread beyond its Original Post.

As far as the Labour Party is concerned I think some party members were quoted saying some ignorant and wrong things, and were properly brought up on them. Were their reactions satisfactory? That is a matter of opinion.

I generally prefer to hear people out and speak to their words, then see how intransigent they are. I try to allow for people to have the capacity to learn and grow. I hope I have that capacity for myself. Real anti-semites are all around, there are web-sites of them. But to allow oneself to be afraid of them or become like them is to lose. Americans in general are NOT anti-semitic and it is important to me to never go into a conversation with such an assumption. The English have a long history of anti-semitism which is its own variety. As I mentioned above, the English had it in for Jews, but not to outright genocide, and that matters ("An anti-semite is someone who hates Jews more than absolutely necessary").

In this forum it appears as if some pre-existing history between members is being thrashed out, and I am not going to get involved with it. I think there have been some informative posts submitted, even though I disagree with 'em, it's important to know how people's minds appear to think.

I do not think I've got more to contribute to this thread and I am grateful to all posters. See you on the "What does anti-Zionism mean?" thread!