10 Jul 2018

Nick Cohen – a critique

JVL Introduction

On Sunday 8th July 2018 the Observer published an article by Nick Cohen entitled Why has Labour run the risk of alienating progressive Jews?

In this opinion piece, David Pavett dissects Cohen’s argument and shows it lacking in substance. It makes you wonder what the Observer/Guardian thought it was doing in publishing the piece…

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Nick Cohen’s tour de force on Labour antisemitism

David Pavett writes:

On Sunday 8th July 2018 the Observer published an article by Nick Cohen entitled Why has Labour run the risk of alienating progressive Jews? The piece is a culmination of three years of constant repetition in the mainstream media of accusations of antisemitism against Corbyn supporters, the Labour Party and the left in general. This repetition has included the use of a tiny number of cases of alleged antisemitism some of which are factually incorrect. Once this type of evidence-lite commentary was established as a media norm some journalists felt emboldened to increase the scope of their exaggerations and the force of their vitriol against the Labour leadership. So it is with this article by Nick Cohen.

David Pavett’s critique of Nick Cohen [see text below] can be downloaded as a PDF which will be easier to read.

Since Cohen’s article purports to be a critique of the new NEC code of conduct on antisemitism, you might also like to consult that document here.

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David Pavett is a retired teacher having taught mathematics, physics, philosophy and computing science in Further Education and to secondary school sixth formers. He is an active member of the Brentford and Isleworth Constituency Labour Party. He has a particular interest in how Labour Party policy. Last year he organised a widely circulated collection of reviews of the policy statements produced by the National Policy Forum. He is currently doing the same for the current policy review drafts.

https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/blog/nick-cohen-a-critique/