Tuesday, 20th of July, 2004

Phil Doré is a leftist who was part of the Stop The War Coalition in Britain up until shortly after the war actually broke out. In an article at Butterflies and Wheels he explains why he finally left the organisation, and points out the cold hard facts that many of us who still passionately believe in the anti-war position were uneasy about: the extreme-left sloganeering, and the prevalence of irrelevant (to the anti-war movement) anti-Israel/pro-Palestine placards and leaflets at the anti-war rallies, not to mention similar rhetoric from many speakers at those gatherings.

Rather than reading the article, it’s worth perusing his entire site, http://www.stopthecoalition.com/. Whether they’re unreconstructed Stalinists or Trots, or simply apologists for Palestinian terrorism, there are a lot of elements of the movement that make one less than happy to be associated with it, and “Stop the Coalition” is one voice that’s leftist and remains anti-war, without giving in to such extremism.

Of course, “Green Left Weekly”-type socialists (and sadly, plenty of member of the Greens and activist organisations) are well-known for an unquestioning anti-Israel stance that excuses or ignores Palestinian suicide bombings (and other abominations of Islamic fundamentalism) on the basis that an oppressed people can do no wrong… It’s not just right-wing Jews who find this unsettlingly close to anti-Semitism. Indeed it’s not just Jews of any colour (given that I’m *ahem* a left-wing Green atheist Jew), as I’m sure Doré isn’t Jewish, but he has a page on “The Stop The War Coalition and Anti-Semitism”, which details just what kind of people the extreme left (and perhaps even the not-so-extreme left) are willing to align themselves with.
I should point out that, as Doré is meticulous in saying, opposing much of what the state of Israel does is by no means anti-Semitic in itself. That’s the opposite sort of extremism: criticise Israel - at all - and you’re an anti-Semite. It’s a position that I find a significant stumbling-block in the mainstream Jewish community. As Doré outlines depressingly, moderates end up villified by everyone, but we must keep on drawing attention to the appalling acts - and appalling rhetoric - committed by both (all) sides, without ever succumbing to racism and simplistic generalisations about anyone.

And by the way, Doré’s 7-Step Rehab Program for the Stop the War Coalition (extend to Green Left Weekly types, Teachers Federation quasi-intellectuals and so on) is a beautiful thing. Here’s a brief quote from his summing up (which is basically “Support an organisation that’s doing something productive, rather than chanting meaningless slogans like ‘End the Occupation’, why don’t you?”)

It’s my experience that there are social as well as intellectual bonuses to associating yourself with these NGOs. Spend an afternoon campaigning with Oxfam, Amnesty or Actionaid and you generally find yourself working in a well-organised group of intelligent, motivated, broad-minded people. Go to a meeting of the Stop the War Coalition or the SWP instead and you’ll be stuck with a bunch of clapped-out Stalinists, paranoid Trotskyists, mediocre academics, tofu-brained hippies and borderline lunatics.

Too right!
While you’re at Butterflies and Wheels, have a read of this (old but great) interview with Peter Singer, about his fantastic book A Darwinian Left, and many other issues.

3 Responses to “A well-reasoned moderate critique of the extreme left on the war and Israel/Palestine”

1. acb says:
   July 20th, 2004 at 1:14 am

   It goes beyond just Israel. For a lot of dogmatic leftists (typically adherents of various neo-Marxist belief systems), any despotism, no matter how brutal or corrupt, is better than the US/capitalism/liberalism, which is the source of all evil. You see, Robert Mugabe, Saddam Hussein or the Taliban are the authentic will of their local people, and thus vastly more democratic than the US could ever be. Also, human rights are just a capitalist imperialist social construct, which is why criticism of “totalitarianism” is meaningless.

   IMHO, some forms of cultural imperialism (such as the imposition of liberal humanist pluralist values) are good, and should be supported (though not uncritically) by anyone who calls themself progressive.

2. Michael says:
   July 24th, 2004 at 1:23 am

   In conversations like this the parallels between religeous belief and political belief are highlighted. There is a terribly “wet” bunch of believers out there, usually agnostics, half-hearted Christians or dreaded “new agers”, who support this view that all religions and all cultures have some innate worth that we dare not tread on, and should even protect at great expense, both financial and to our own cultural position.

   My immediate response to this sort of position is to ask “Where were you when Christianity stamped all over the (far more interesting and creative) pantheistic religions of Greece and Rome?” To which, of course, the answer is “Well, I wasn’t born.” But the point is, we all happily laugh and make jokes about Zeus, Thor, Odin, Jupiter and a hundred other “dead Gods”, but I’m suddenly insensitive because I think Aboriginal children should be taught about “The Dreaming”, but also taught that it’s all bullshit?

   A more confusing argument to put to these people is to ask them why they then believe what they believe themselves? If somehow we are meant to respect all cultures/religions/political beliefs equally, then what possible reason can you have for preferring your own beliefs over anybody elses?

   I honest and happy enough to describe my atheism as a “belief”, along with my left-ist politics and general secular humanist position. I feel that I have chosen all these positions because they are fundamentally the best positions to hold, both formyself and for the rest of the world. As such I also feel that the world would be a better place if *everybody* adopted this same position, even if this means “destroying” any number of other cultural systems. Said like that a lot of people think this is arrogance, but I believe it is something quite different… conviction.

   And if you don’t have conviction in your own beliefs, then why the hell do you hold them?

3. Phil Dore says:
   August 20th, 2004 at 12:46 am

   Just dropping by to say thanks for plugging my “Stop the Coalition” site. Good to know some people actually read it. I’ll be taking that site down soon, but I’ve just had another article published on Butterflies and Wheels.

   Since you’ve been reading my stuff, I’ve added your blog to my Livejournal syndication list so I can repay the compliment.