Eman El-Shenawi: The anti-Zionist and the fascists enter England’s mayoral race

Thursday, 03 May 2012

Britain’s Labor party candidate for Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has been accused of anti-Semitism. (Reuters)

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By Eman El-Shenawi
Al Arabiya

Racial and religious tensions are shrouding Britain’s mayoral elections this month. They have leapt onto the electoral scene in a two-pronged attack; one concerning a left-wing mayor accused of overtly displaying an anti-Zionist attitude, the other is in regards to the recent rise of far-right movements across the country.

Former London mayor Ken Livingstone – a returning candidate at this year’s mayoral elections – has been accused of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism by the city’s Jewish community. Belonging to the left-wing Labor party, even Jewish Laborites have turned their back on him. Why? Because of Livingstone’s frequently reported “clashes” with Jewish communities, while his impromptu vow to educate the masses about the true meanings of Islam hasn’t been a favorable move for them either.

Speaking last month at the North London Central Mosque, Livingstone, who was previously mayor between 2000 and 2008, said he wanted to “educate the mass of Londoners” in Islam. “That will help to cement our city as a beacon that demonstrates the meaning of the words of the Prophet … I want to spend the next four years making sure that every non-Muslim in London knows and understands [the prophet's] words and message,” he added.

But there’s nothing wrong with that, I would think. If anything, it promotes a personal opinion many Londoners have anyway; a general “not-all-Muslims-are-terrorists” idea, or the “I realize Islam is not the fanatical religion splashed across the media” kind of statement.

However, while I was quick to pigeonhole his outspoken opinions as “personal,” I’ve inadvertently brought up the “political beliefs vs. personal opinion” debate, with the question: Does Livingstone really aim to largely focus his London mayoral campaign on his thoughts on Jews and Muslims, (his very own identity politics)?

The difference between Livingstone and the average Londoner (with similar views), of course, is that what Livingstone says at a mosque can, and has, been compared to the ranting of an Islamic cleric. The Times of Israel, for example, was quick to mention that the north London mosque which Livingstone spoke at was “formerly the base of the radical Muslim preacher and terrorist recruiter Abu Hamza.”

And then there are Livingstone’s controversial comments on Jews, which included a claim that the Jewish community would not vote for him anyway, as they are “rich.” And another famous Livingstone comment was in regards to Britain’s treatment of the Irish over the last 800 years, which he said had been worse than Adolf Hitler’s treatment of the Jews. Meanwhile, in 2005, he came under fire for calling Oliver Finegold, a Jewish reporter for the Evening Standard, a concentration camp guard, and comparing him to a German war criminal.

But while the shockers of Livingstone’s campaign trail has spotlighted his attention to Muslim minorities, while insulting or ignoring others, another race/religion wrangle to hit Britain recently has involved the rise of the National Front (NF), “an outfit that most of us thought had disappeared in the 1980s [but] has re-emerged due to splits that are currently ravaging the British National Party (BNP),” James Bloodworth of The Independent explains.

He goes on to explain the political outfit of the “British far-Right:”
“The British far-Right is concerned with foreigners only when they directly threaten the national interest. This includes foreigners dying at the hands of barbaric regimes.

“The far-Right believes barbarism to be a product of uncivilized peoples or cultures which cannot exist in this country unless imported from the outside. A far-Right government would see its role only as the protector of the British people from this perceived threat.”

And so, as the NF is planning on fielding 35 mayoral and local election candidates in May – the highest number it has fielded for 30 years – fears are mounting that the far-Right is profiting from a rising tide of Islamophobia. Well, we’ve seen it in continental Europe, where intolerant secularism is growing fast in popularity; the French presidential election has been tainted by Nicolas Sarkozy’s attempt to entice right-wing voters by calling for restrictions on halal and kosher meat, for example.

Meanwhile in the UK, both the Tories and Laborites are declining in popularity due to the years economic and immigration woes (which they have taken turns in blaming on each other) opening the doors for a rise in far-Right popularity. Particularly as they have claimed to have “grown up politically,” the current chairman of the National Front, Ian Edward, told the Independent. Edward says the NF would renounce violence in the event of the bloc winning governmental power.

“We would remove our guns, our bombs, our tanks, our finance and our influence from your country and you must remove yourself from mine,” he said. “Everybody has a democratic right to follow whatever religion they need to. But I do have a problem with someone who comes into my country and tries to enforce their religion on the indigenous population and that is the case with Islam,” he added.

And there you have it, juxtaposed against England’s mayoral backdrop is Ken Livingstone praising Islam, while the NF nationalist party slams the religion as being the reason their members believe they have become “second-class citizens.” Racial and religious tensions are now placing rigid strains on England’s electoral arenas; policymaking is striding back in the wrong direction.

(Eman El-Shenawi, a writer at Al Arabiya English, can be reached at: eman.elshenawi@mbc.net.)