For some time now I have followed with great interest David Farrar’s ‘Kiwiblog’. I have found his posts to be both entertaining and providing a unique perspective about New Zealand politics. Mr Farrar is indeed an intelligent pundit with remarkable wit.
That is why it pains me to disagree with him. I admire Mr Farrar; his involvement with the Taxpayers Union and his dominance in the polling industry earns him his place as one of the most powerful political players in New Zealand.
Mr Farrar also styles himself as a free speech advocate. Hence his membership in the Free Speech Union and his posts defending Israel Folau, Speak Up for Women and the Listener 7. However, it seems even he has his limits, as evident from his defence of the banning of Pastor Steven K Anderson, describing it as “a justified banning” (which may be a reflection of the Free Speech Union as a whole). However, recently of late, while styling himself as one of the defenders of your right to speak, he has also publicly condemned the use of Nazi imagery by the anti lockdown/mandate/MIQ/vaccine movement. This is understandable as that event is something that should be taken very seriously. In addition, his Jewish identity means that he has a personal grievance to one of the deadliest genocides in history.
He is not alone in voicing these concerns. Jewish leaders around the world have condemned the comparisons that have been made between Nazi Germany and the current restrictions. The Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council condemned it in Australia. Even in New Zealand, there have been condemnations by the Zionist Federation of New Zealand and the Holocaust Foundation. Interestingly though, at the same time, there have been some Jewish activists in the anti lockdown/mandate movement such as Avi Yemeni who don’t mind it so much. Avi Yemeni was even willing to call the police Nazis when they came in to stop a Passover celebration.
Unfortunately, the Holocaust and Nazis have already been trivialised.
Words like Nazi have been used to smear right-wing conservative and libertarian activists and speakers. No greater example of this was Trump who has been called a Nazi and has been compared to Hitler by the media and left-wing activists. This is despite having a Jewish son in law and his daughter converting to Judaism. Where was the condemnation by the Jewish community towards the mainstream media and the left for this?
In an ironic twist, the Nazi label was also used towards Jewish conservatives such as Dennis Prager and Ben Shapiro (The Anti Defamation League only focused on the antisemitic attacks on Ben). Where was the Jewish community to stick up for some of their own?
The Holocaust has also been trivialised in recent times by Democrats to smear Trump’s policies. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez compared the ICE centres on the border to concentration camps. Where was the outcry from the Jewish community for this outrage? To be fair, AOC was later banned from entering Israel for comments she made about “Israeli apartheid”. In more recent times the label has also started being used by the woke mob against anyone that speaks out against the cult propaganda of the left. Several prominent examples of this include the Weinstein brothers (Eric and Bret NOT Harvey and Bob) and Dave Rubin.
Let me be clear here. This is not a defence of the protesters using Nazi imagery. But I find it interesting that it is only now that the Jewish representatives and leaders are outraged by the use of the words Nazi and Holocaust by the freedom movement.
It’s an interesting thing when it comes to the relationship between lobby groups and governments. It’s even more interesting when politicians endorse, support and even become members of those lobby groups.
The purpose of lobby groups is to scrutinise the government on a specific issue and to advocate for policy change. However, when given access to the government, lobby groups must learn to walk the fine line between maintaining a healthy relationship with the government, especially those politicians that support them, and the sectors or communities they serve. A recent example of this was the Taxpayers Union and their relationship with the Labour Party. Last year the Taxpayers Union wished to hold their annual ‘Jonesie Awards’ at Parliament which required the consent of our illustrious speaker Trevor Mallard. However, Trevor threatened to cancel their booking if they mentioned the $333,000 of taxpayers’ dollars he spent on his legal defence for defamation.
To be fair, the Jewish lobby has always been willing to call out antisemitism from anywhere. A report from AIR identified four types: far right, far left, Muslim fundamentalists and Palestinian activists. In fact, there is still debate among the Jewish community about whether Muslim extremism or white supremacy is more dangerous to the Jews.
However, when it comes to trivialising the Holocaust and the use of Nazi imagery, I find that to be a bit of a double standard. When conservatives and others on the right are smeared with the Nazi label there does appear to be tacit approval by the Jewish lobby, possibly due to their relationship with the political establishment. It also could be motivated by the many liberal Jews in Hollywood and the entertainment industry who are trying to control the narrative of who is and is not a Nazi. Something the left is good at is co-opting things to fit their political agenda (which is what the right is accused of).
It is here that I disagree with David. Yes, I can stand by him and condemn the use of Nazi imagery and trivialisation of the Holocaust by the freedom movement, as long as he is willing to stand by me in condemning the casual throwing around of the Nazi label towards anyone in general including the people that he disagrees with. All I ask is that he remains consistent.