In the news

Antisemitism is mostly considered a form of racism. I'm sure you will find people that disagree but they tend to be on the fringes. Wikipedia has a UN source for example.

Racism - ethnic background

Depending on how you define Jewish then your ethnic background is the most important defining feature. There are plenty of synagogues where if you aren't born a Jew you can convert but will never be quite the same as someone who's mother (and her mother (and her mother...)) was Jewish.

Antisemitism is usually racist in its form though isn't it - you are more likely to suffer it if you look stereotypically Jewish, the prejudice is based on racist tropes at least as much or even more than religious hate.

Also secular Jews who experience antisemitism - it's because of their ethnicity not their religion.

But Jewish people who aren't religious still suffer it.

As I said above, it's legally classed as racism with Jews classed as a race due to a shared ethnic and cultural heritage.

My understanding has always been only black people can suffer racism, in the way only Jewish people can suffer antisemitism.

White people can suffer racial prejudice but not racism.

So it’s more nuance, Diane speaking from her live experience no matter what religion, or background, racism is overt.

It look like from her experiences, she doesn’t quite click that antisemitic can be classified as a type of racism.

So when I type define racism into a search bar, I get:

prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.

Racial prejudice is racism. That's exactly what it means.

Yes, it's often used as a shorthand for the specific collection of prejudicial, discriminatory and antagonistic behaviours aimed at black Americans. That's not a great basis for telling someone the racism they suffer isn't really racism like the racism you suffer.

My understanding has always been only black people can suffer racism

That's not my understanding. At all.
Also, Abbot's letter seem to base her argument on a scale of severity, not so much the traits of the target of racism/prejudice. If there was apartheid/segregation or slavery it would be racism. If not then prejudice.

My understanding has always been only black people can suffer racism.

Brown people? Ingenious? Etc?

I don’t think you get to disassociate yourself from your own words, really.

I’ve defended Diane Abbott many times, she so often gets held to a wholly unreasonable level of scrutiny and ridicule because she’s a black woman, but there’s no walking this back.

I don’t think you get to disassociate yourself from your own words, really.

Think I agree, it is terrible judgement. Her apology might be sincere but this is clearly her ill thought out view. She either didn't run it past anyone/ get it proof read or she is surrounded by people who hold the same views. I don't know how you can put yourself in this position knowing the level of scrutiny you are under as a Labour MP on this topic.

That's not my understanding. At all.
Also, Abbot's letter seem to base her argument on a scale of severity, not so much the traits of the target of racism/prejudice. If there was apartheid/segregation or slavery it would be racism. If not then prejudice.

I know you’re not defending her but you’ve picked out the key point, which is that even by her logic she has fucked this up - 6 million dead for being Jewish is hardly mere ‘prejudice’, and they were singled out for segregation and then extermination through clear ethnic/racial profiling.

Jewish is antisemitism rather than racism surely?

From a CofE upbringing I used think the same as I'd just fucked off my religion because it's all bullshit and thought similar of Judaism, but after listening to some people on here and as David Badiel said, Nazis ain't gonna care if you renounce your belief in God, if they consider you Jewish you're fucked, so racism.

If you ask the experts they combine all the bad stuff into one.

Here is a quote from Hitler that shows that religion was not much of an issue.

If international finance Jewry within Europe and abroad should succeed once more in plunging the peoples into a world war, then the consequence will be not the Bolshevization of the world and therewith a victory of Jewry, but on the contrary, the destruction of the Jewish race in Europe.
https://stevenlehrer.com/Hitler_threat.htm

Here is an interesting article about whiteness or race through history that show how much it changed, so you can't really use definitions from a few years of Youtube videos and project it on all of history.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/23/when-cleopatra-was-alive-she-wasnt-categorised-by-colour-of-her-skin

What was her intent in writing the letter? Disavowing solidarity seems like the general sentiment, which is a weird move.

Was there a reason for her letter being written (and published) today?

What was the motivation for her to write it now - it seems to have come out of the blue.

It was a response to an opinion piece in last weeks Observer, this one:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/15/racism-in-britain-is-not-a-black-and-white-issue-it-is-far-more-complicated

only black people can suffer racism,

Your understanding is incorrect.

Err, perhaps you’ve forgotten about people who aren’t black and white? Perhaps like the articles in question?

people who aren’t black and white?

You're just complicating things!

That's being fairly generous I'd say.

And also suggests that she has learnt fuck all through the various antisemitism scandals of the labour party in the past few years.

I didn't get an emergency tone. I am not going to be invited to one of the bunkers, am I.

Another unfortunate implication could be that if you’re not specifically calling for the enslavement or segregation of a group you’re not really racist. If someone has been fired for racist remarks against, say, travellers they should now be eligible for compensation. “I said travellers are ____, but I never said we should enslave them”

I’m in despair that it might just be the easiest time to be in opposition in the entire history of the UK and still this lot are desperate to fuck it up.

It’d be funny if people weren’t dying because they can’t afford to eat or heat their homes or get medical care.