Joseph Finlay
@josephfinlay.bsky.social
1.9K followers 440 following 880 posts
Historian of British Jews and race relations. Composer and Musical Director. Socialist and דאָיִקער
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josephfinlay.bsky.social
I wrote a piece about the Manchester attack, on why the British state bears a degree of responsibility and how Jews and Muslim communities would be safer if they provided security for each other.

josephfinlay.com/weareeachoth...
We Are Each Other’s Security - Joseph Finlay
British Jews should reject the British state’s philosemitic embrace in the wake of the terrible Manchester synagogue attack.
josephfinlay.com
josephfinlay.bsky.social
There should be no doubt that Robert Jenrick is a racist. His disgraceful Birmingham comments would have seen him sacked by previous Tory leaders. It wasn't much noticed but this video from May is full of Judeo-Bolshevik tropes about Attorney General Ricard Hermer. www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE0P...
Jenrick's EXPLOSIVE takedown of Starmer's Attorney General for "defending Britain's enemies"
YouTube video by Daily Express
www.youtube.com
josephfinlay.bsky.social
But they were attempting to reach Palestine’s waters. A state which you have just recognised.
adambienkov.bsky.social
Keir Starmer’s spokesman asked about Israel detaining British citizens who were on the Gaza aid flotilla, while in international waters, replies that it is a “matter for the Israeli Government”
josephfinlay.bsky.social
The more I think about it the clearer it is: if you say that anti-genocide protests should be called off because of British Jewish sensibilities you are saying that British Jews support genocide. It’s disgraceful and it’s the kind of conflationist discourse that laid the ground for this attack.
josephfinlay.bsky.social
Since it's emerged that one of the victims in Manchester died from a police bullet it's clear that the existence of armed police in Britain is part of this story.
josephfinlay.bsky.social
British Jews are tired. Quite literally tired after 25 hours of fasting and intensive prayers. So please don’t expect quick and thoughtful takes on the Manchester synagogue attack from us. Give us a few days.
josephfinlay.bsky.social
If an international protectorate is such a great idea for Gaza why not apply it to the whole land between the river and the sea? Call it the Mandate 2.0.
josephfinlay.bsky.social
Longstanding rule of British politics: being racist is normal and understandable, calling someone else a racist is completely unacceptable.
josephfinlay.bsky.social
Is there a Labour Party accent? You don’t get anywhere in the party without that nasal twang
josephfinlay.bsky.social
I don’t think Hamas has much to gain from agreeing to this plan. There seems to be no full IDF withdrawal from Gaza promised which is a major red line. And Gaza is already destroyed. On the other hand, Israel needs a deal imminently; it is facing major international isolation and sanctions.
josephfinlay.bsky.social
The most notable thing about this plan is that clearly no Palestinians were consulted. It continues the longstanding tendency to assume the Palestinian people don’t exist, that they are generic ‘Arabs’ who should be happy to live anywhere and accept whatever crumbs the west throws them.
josephfinlay.bsky.social
Given that the plan is an incoherent mess with diverse and even contradictory parts the smart move is for each side to accept it and simply emphasise the parts that they like and play down the rest. It’s unlikely to be implemented in full anyway.
josephfinlay.bsky.social
I always said the only reason I would rejoin Labour would be to try to prevent Wes Streeting ever becoming leader. That moment may be approaching…
josephfinlay.bsky.social
So true, so frustrating, so counterproductive for Jews and for the anti-racist cause
joelhs.bsky.social
At my own college, we’ve been told we cannot do trainings for incoming students on other kinds of bigotries, but we can train students on antisemitism. But separating antisemitism from other forms of bigotry is ultimately an incoherent way of understanding antisemitism.
josephfinlay.bsky.social
He can’t be that stupid - can he?
Moving on to allegations of genocide levied at Israel, Netanyahu asks if a country committing genocide would plead with a population to get out of harm's way: "Did the Nazis ask the Jews to leave?"
josephfinlay.bsky.social
There's nothing like a fair and balanced book review. And this is nothing like etc.
On Antisemitism: A Word In History review – a book to comfort Jew-hate apologists at the expense of Jews
This historical account of antisemitism is a remarkable exercise in cognitive dissonance
josephfinlay.bsky.social
Maybe people would get behind it if digital ID meant a single login for tax, health records, benefits etc, but this is Britain, we’d never manage it. Instead all our data will be given to a tech company, they will get hacked and gvt will refuse to pay the ransom. We’ll then have to start again.
josephfinlay.bsky.social
Amen, but no camping for me