I apologise (again) to other posters that this dispute has spread to yet another thread - I half expected to find this one closed this morning
This will be my last (general) word on the matter here, then I propose we take it elsewhere

"Racism"
It is impossible, in my opinion, to remove the term "racism" from any discussion about Israel as that, I believe is one of the main features of what is happening there at present - towards Palestinians by Israel, in the form of ethnic cleansing and vice versa, as Israel's use of the Jewish people as an excuse for their policies has led to an inevitable rise in antisemitism - the oldest form of racism/cultural hatred.
Removing the term from these subjects would be like the old radio game where the competitors are forbidden to use the words "yes" or "no" (wonder how many are old enough to remember that one!)
Far from banning the term, I honestly believe that racism should merit a thread of its own as it is becoming a common phenomenon, on this forum and in everyday life.

"Travellers"
I feel that if some of the ideas that have been raised here persist, "Travellers" will become as taboo a subject as has "Ewan MacColl" and "folk song" definition, which is utterly ridiculous on a forum whose raison d'être is folk and traditional arts
The Travelling People and the folk arts are inseparable and running the risk of distasteful arguments such as this every time they are mentioned is out of the question.
This particular row sprang to life when I mentioned the killing of a Traveller on the now closed thread about violence and gun crime - it should never have done so and would not have done if my bringing the killing had been accepted as I intended it to be.
Discussions on Travellers and our treatment of other cultures and races must be subjects we can discuss without this unpleasantness (and maybe the now all-too-regular ugly-head-raising of ageism can be added to this while we're at it).
I intend to open a thread on Travellers in the near future (if I can decide which section to do so) - I would hate that our animosities should infect the Folklore/music section

"Thread closures"
One of the other casualties of this dispute was the important discussion on how threads got closed - this surely deserves a perma-thread rather than a growing line of dead threads
We all need to consider how we react to each other aand how we deal with our own and other posters reactions to views we don's agree with - and in the long run, how persistent over-the-line-steppers are dealt with
If we don't, this section of Mudcat, or the forum itself, can serve no useful purpose

Now - can we move back to the subject of this thread please ?
If anybody has any more to say about these topics, can I suggest that they open a thread on them or PM what they have to say.
Again, I apologise for my part in this - I do not exclude my own behaviour from any of this
Jim Carroll