Muslim, Jewish and Christian representatives have a letter to the Guardian on the recent events in Bethnal Green and Bow:
Representatives of the faith communities of Tower Hamlets condemn the actions of a small group of people who attacked mourners commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Hughes Mansions disaster.
….The acts of a few mindless thugs must not be allowed to overshadow the work to promote mutual understanding, tolerance and respect in this vibrant and diverse borough. We remain committed to continue working together and will do all that we can to ensure that religious and cultural events of this kind are treated with tolerance by others, so that an incident like this never happens again.
A bit more straightforward than the weasel words Respect used in their letter the other day:
To date, there is no evidence that this egg-throwing was anti-semitic but, in any case, Respect does not condone throwing things at election candidates. Unfortunately, such episodes do occur, as happened to George Galloway, John Major, Tony Blair in parliament and indeed John Prescott, who, as we know, was quick to reply in kind.
Condemn or do not condone? Its a bit more than a semantic difference.