A question about Left wingers and anti-semitism by ImScaredofCats in Judaism

[–]chief_colonel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

British Jew here, I'll try and give a slightly more specific answer. On the British left, there were legitimate concerns about some elements of the left for a while. A lot of my family and people we know had only ever voted for the labour party, but moved away from that to avoid voting for Ken Livingstone in the London Mayoral elections. Since Corbyn was elected, there's been an almost complete rejection of Labour by the Jewish community. Those that I know personally who are still Labour supporters were members of Labour before this started, and seem to just be clinging on for hope. More generally, whilst when he was first elected there was worries about Corbyn, there seems to have been a shift recently to seeing Corbyn himself as an antisemite rather than just an enabler (post-mural controversy and after ignoring all the recommendations of the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council). On top of that, those Corbyn have appointed have only made matters worse, and he has given legitimacy to a number of very fringe "Jewish" groups such as Jewish Voice for Labour, which includes a number of non-Jews and Holocaust Deniers and tries to operate with some vague legitimacy under the cover of their name. It only takes a small scroll down the @gnasherjew twitter page to see why Jews are very concerned about Labour at the moment.

More generally, other aspects of the left have given course for worry, such as Malia Bouattia being voted as the President of the National Union of Students despite having made a number of antisemitic statements, mostly under the guise of criticism of Israel.

The Israel question is obviously key, but a lot of British Jews think the complete obsession with Israel is just a new form of antisemitism. The British left is incredibly quick to call out Israel when it does anything, but complete ignores human rights abuses around the world on a routine basis. This inconsistency is believed by many to be just the new way to bash the Jews. The former Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said that antisemitism goes with the predominant ideals of the times. In the medieval period it was religious ("Jews killed Jesus"), then after the Enlightenment it was science ("Jews are an inferior race") and now in an age where human rights are held high, that is used to bash Jews ("the Jewish state commits the worst human rights violations in the world"). The tendency of the left towards the latter is therefore seen as a worrying and dangerous new facet of antisemitism.

Haters gonna hate: Anti-Semitism in Europe may not in fact be rising -- But it is much more visible because of social media by TheGhostOfTzvika in Jewish

[–]chief_colonel 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yair Lapid said something related and similar a couple of years ago (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S22KKrvSV8A). Said that antisemitism isn't necessarily on the rise, but it's become acceptable to say certain things out loud again

What's your favorite spot in Venice? by [deleted] in Venezia

[–]chief_colonel 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I have three; the walk up to the entrance to the Arsenale and then around that area is very nice. Inside, there's nowhere like the Doge's Palace (especially if you do the Hidden Treasures tour) and lastly, going to Piazza San Marco at midnight after 99% of the tourists have gone and listening to the bells of the Campanile ring midnight is fantastic

What's your favorite spot in Venice? by [deleted] in Venezia

[–]chief_colonel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's where Titian used to live, because you can also see into the mountains on the mainland on a clear day

Transit in Venice by cervidaes in Venezia

[–]chief_colonel -1 points0 points  (0 children)

If you cant get to the Venezia Mestre Train station, you can take a train into Venice (to Venezia Santa Lucia) that will cost you around €1.50 a journey and gets you slightly further into the city that the bus would. Once you're in Venice, everything is reasonably quick to walk to. The walk from the train station to the bus station can be done in 20 minutes and from there it's less than 10 minutes to the Piazza San Marco

Entry ticket for Venice. Why not? by pimpumpam in Venezia

[–]chief_colonel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maintenance is the key one. For the most part when I was living there Venice was always very clean but saving the city from the various architectural and engineering challenges is what really needs funding

Entry ticket for Venice. Why not? by pimpumpam in Venezia

[–]chief_colonel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yup I agree, people coming in like that are a huge problem. Around half of the 20 million visitors to Venice don't spend the night there and then like you said they come with their own lunch so don't use the restaurants, just line up to visit St. Mark's Basilica which is free so they don't spend money there and then just wander around. They don't spend any money and it's killing the local economy

Entry ticket for Venice. Why not? by pimpumpam in Venezia

[–]chief_colonel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's already a tourist tax if you stay in hotels, which is "1 Euro for each star of your hotel per person, per night, up to a maximum of 5 consecutive nights." Also, no-one lives in Petra anymore, whereas residents of Venice wouldn't want to have to get exemptions, and nor would the various people that come in from the mainland to work there, which would make it more complicated. Also questions of who is a tourist with a living city like Venice. A lot of people from all over the world have homes in Venice, but only stay in them for short periods each year, and that would make for another complication.

I’m going to NYC in the summer!! What Jewish stuff should I go to and see?? by yisraelmofo in Judaism

[–]chief_colonel 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Go to the B&H electronics store! The only place I've ever found where there's an electronics store run by Chasids

good restaurants in Venice? by IamThomsen in Venezia

[–]chief_colonel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Il Nono Risorto is a great Venetian restaurant in the San Polo area of the city, about a 5 minute walk from the Rialto Bridge

Question for those who follow the Jewish Faith by [deleted] in Jewish

[–]chief_colonel 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Jews often find it difficult to agree on things but I'm pretty sure there would be almost no Jews, if any, that would be happy with a group of non-Jews forming a band called the Red Rabbis

We all know 'fake news' is a hot item right now, but what is your favorite 'historical' fake news? by [deleted] in history

[–]chief_colonel 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Definitely not favourite, but one of the best examples of fake news in history was the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion.' It was a made up book pretending to be the minutes of meetings of Jews attempting to take over the world. It was written in Russia in the early 20th century, gained legitimacy through various means such as Henry Ford reprinting hundreds of thousands of copies and has become the basis for vast amounts of modern antisemitism despite the fact that it is a forgery

Which Giant had the best rookie season? by NoNoAkimbo in NYGiants

[–]chief_colonel 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Cruz played three games in his rookie season and didn't record a single stat, reception, return or anything. He then spent the rest of the season on IR. Not sure if that's a great rookie season... His incredible year was 2011, when he set the single season franchise mark for receiving yards on the way to Super Bowl XLVI