Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Livingstone's London

London Mayor Ken Livingstone is going to face an official disciplinary hearing for asking a Jewish reporter in February whether he was "a German war criminal" -- though technically, he isn't being held to account for the anti-Semitic overtones of his remark, but for failing to "respect" the journalist.
Whether he is barred from future office (unlikely), told to pay a fine (?) or forced to apologise (halevai), I don't expect that he will ever truly repent or understand how offensive his remarks were -- he is simply too arrogant.
What I do hope, however, is that the disciplinary process will make Londoners -- and not just Jews -- more aware of the Mayor's anti-Jewish tendencies, and more angry about it. This city should be embarrassed, in this day and age, to have a Mayor who, time and time again, shows himself to be ambivalent (to say the least) towards Jews. That they're not is a source of much deeper worry than one anti-Semitic mayor.

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