“Konstantin Kisin attacks the woke right without realising he’s part of it.” Glenn Greenwald.
Some thoughts.
I listened to Glenn’s podcast for the first time and would like to convey some disagreement with the points he made.
Firstly, I thought he made interesting points and ones that I have thought over also. I’ve been on a journey throughout my time on substack. I’ve considered different opinions and have changed my mind based on the evidence before me.
Glenn talks about the concept of woke that commentator and author Konstantin Kisin opposes. Before Konstantin talked about the woke right, he predominantly criticised the victimhood mentality of the woke left.
Glenn criticises what he sees as hypocrisy, by pointing out that Konstantin is pro Israel and that Glenn feels the pro Israel side are also immersed in victimhood mentality.
My disagreement is that it’s one thing to be immersed in the mentality of victimhood and oppression. It’s another to actually be the victim in a situation.
Acknowledging the state of affairs and pointing out the instigator and target is not victimhood mentality. Furthermore, the events of October 7th was the second largest genocide of the Jewish people since the Holocaust and it needs to be talked about, particularly when there is a denial of the seriousness of the Hamas led attack. In fact just stating what I have is on some forums, like mumsnet, seen as Israeli propaganda.
Glenn talks about Konstantin being part of the establishment. He maybe part of an establishment and have the support of those who share his point of view but he’s not part of the mainstream establishment. When he goes on Question Time, he is not afforded the same grace and round of applause that pro Palestine commentator Ash Sarker receives. Ash’s views are part of the establishment but Konstantin’s are not.
When anyone comes on the BBC to talk about anti semitism, they’re interrupted with “don’t forget about Islamophobia.” Antisemitism is ignored for the very woke belief that the Muslims are more oppressed by virtue of their darker skin colour.
Mumsnet has a thread called Conflict in the Middle East. It is incredibly pro Palestine and the predominant belief is that Israel should just stop fighting. This is what Ash Sarkar says also. That the war has gone too far. Met with the question of Israel’s right to fight for their state and for their people whom Palestinian terrorist organisations would surely wipe out again, it doesn’t seem to matter to Ash, mumsnet and other establishment media.
In this case, not only do I disagree with Glenn when he says Konstantin is part of the establishment, I also see the position that Israel is in. If they’re not the underdog I don’t know who is. If they’re not underrepresented I don’t know who is. If more than 1,200 men, women and children killed in Israel on October 7th, aren’t a victim of a terrorist act, then I don’t know who is.
I can understand why people may show pro Israel bias in this scenario but there is also the matter of having principles. The idealism displayed on Mumsnet supports the childish sentiment of no wars and casualties ever but in reality, having principles doesn’t always translate to being kind. It means having to fight against an enemy that won’t leave you alone.
Glenn talks about the river to the sea chant. He dismisses this as college campus antics and implies that this doesn’t make a mark on the ideology of antisemitism. Whereas according to Wikipedia, “Usage of the phrase by such Palestinian militant groups has led critics to say that it advocates for the dismantling of Israel, and the removal or extermination of its Jewish population. The majority of Jews consider the use of the slogan to be antisemitic.”
Above displays why the chant is offensive but of course it’s downplayed as pretty much hysteria on the behalf of Jewish people. Denying the concerns of a group of people whose history is clear to see seems like a form of gaslighting to me.
You see, I’m not Jewish at all and so I have no allegiance to Jews. I have come to support them because of the situation they’re in. I also recognise it on the level of being in a narcissistic dynamic, whereby the narcissist claimed victimhood and denied their own behaviour which anyone who cared for the truth could see, that it was problematic all round.
I have criticised many people on different sides of the political spectrum in my writing. That includes those who say they are anti woke, like Jordan Peterson, Konstantin Kisin and James Lindsay. To say that they’re all funded by one side and that they’re sold out is to deny them their own brain. Surely, if they’ve picked a side, it’s with good reason. To deny that rather falls into the woke territory of assuming systems are evil and people support them only because they’re being bought.
In the end, I realised that I support the anti woke because they fight for democracy that’s built on Judeo Christian values that flow with the times. So, if I’m on a side, it’s because I align with their principles.
I believe in something Christopher Hitchens said, that it’s possible for any religion to become extreme if given enough power. So, in terms of having things like the antisemitism awareness act which Glenn says may become anti freedom of speech, I can see a problem if taken too far.
I hope that the antisemitism awareness act is different from the blasphemy laws and “Islamophobia” that forbids and penalises criticism of Islam. In fact, knowing how Islamists operate as per the news on most days, I would say most religions are far more moderate in terms of their global motives, compared to the ideology of Islam.
Woke has come to mean the opposite of what it should. It should mean awareness of injustice. Instead, it is to be only awake to your version of events and deny what is written in history. I don’t see Konstantin being a part of that.
Some links.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6090
Glenn’s podcast.
Wow timely. From the incomparable Melanie Phillips.
https://open.substack.com/pub/melaniephillips/p/enslaved-to-malevolence?r=1z31e2&utm_medium=ios
It’s really low to criticise Israelis for having a victimhood mentality. Mega eye roll, face palm.