Stop the War is currently fighting on two fronts: indignantly asserting that it is the victim of smears and tittle tattle, while busily taking down the evidence that it is no such thing. Here is a reminder of its latest manoeuvres, many of them already discussed below the line here of course.
The starting point was its widely discussed and swift removal of the infamous ‘reaping the whirlwind’ post – now even the link to the cached version comes up with a 404 message.
Then of course there was the article which compared Daesh to the International Brigades. Though in some ways its claim that Isis’ jihad ‘takes the form of solidarity with oppressed Muslims’ was still more egregious, given its countless Muslim victims.
And now they have been tidying up their back catalogue too, seeking to get rid of still more evidence of their dodgy worldview. Their ability to zoom in so quickly on all the most offensive pieces suggests they were well aware of the earlier reactions and objections but chose to ignore them until put under the spotlight.
The ‘Time to go to war’ with Israel post has also been consigned to the memory hole. This was the focus of a very careful post by Steve Hynd which reached this well earned conclusion:
As I say, reading the article I couldn’t decide if the language was just sloppy or a purposeful provocation.
That was until I got to the very bottom and saw the author.
Richard Falk, professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, was, from 2008 to 2014, United Nations Special Rapporteur on “the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.”
I can’t believe that he would have been unaware of the context I have described or the consequences of his words. Which, worryingly, leads me to the only conclusion I can see available – it was a form of purposeful provocation.
There’s plenty of material on Falk in the HP archives. See for example, here, where he blames the ‘organised Jewish community’ for the confiscation of Palestinian land and rights, and indulges a creepy End Times awaiter. He has also endorsed Atzmon.
Returning to Stop the War’s deletions – ‘Soupy’ has usefully collated some of this damaging material. The Alison Weir post is particularly notable. It was absolutely foul, as might be expected, and as Gene noted at the time. Although Stop the War likes to give the impressions its only critics are war-mongering Tories (or Decents), here’s evidence that Alison Weir is seen as antisemitic by leftist antizionists too.
K B Player has identified a further victim of the purge which Soupy missed – a ‘poem‘ by Heathcote Williams.
And the Middle East is ground into dust
By history’s treadmill – a murderous contraption
Still controlled by Moloch, eater of children.
Two thousand years ago the Sicarii, Jewish zealots,
Targeted their Roman oppressors with knife attacksWhich brought forth the wrath of Rome and the destruction
Of Jerusalem’s Temple and half the city itself.
The so-called Holy Land can only be sanctified if it’s shared
And not monopolised by Israel’s tribal madmenTo whom the US gives ten million dollars daily,
Resulting in Palestine’s children coming to feel
That there’s little difference between life and death –
Harsh victims of Zionism’s very own holocaust.
And as Gene reported at the time (see the update to his post) one particularly offensive verse of another of Heathcote Williams’ efforts was quietly deleted.
Hat Tips to Gene, K B Player and Saul
Update: Here is a report of another significant deletion, this time of a post seeking to minimize the scale of the humanitarian crisis facing the Yazidi on Mount Sinjar
