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Martin Amis and Christopher Hitchens “Would’ve Stood Up to Hay Protesters”, Says Simon Schama

by Richard Eldred
3 June 2024 1:00 PM

His friends Martin Amis and Christopher Hitchens would have stood up to the protesters trying to silence debate at literary festivals, the historian Simon Schama told an audience at the Hay-on-Wye literary festival at the weekend.

The Hay Festival and Edinburgh International Book Festival have cut ties with sponsor Baillie Gifford after a campaign led by Fossil Fuel Books, which claimed that the asset manager invests in companies with links to Israel, as well as companies that contribute to the climate crisis.

Invoking his late friends, Schama told a Hay audience: “Book festivals are theatres for listening to each other. I don’t want to see festivals being trapped in some sort of purity test.

“I go back to dear friends. I’m going to the memorial service of my friend Martin Amis. Martin and Christopher Hitchens and Clive James and a lot of my friends who are not with us were absolutely committed never to have the hands of writers tied behind them.

“They were merry pugilists. They absolutely believed that you could disagree spectacularly with each other without requiring the silencing or worse of each other.

“That is the heart and soul of the Hay Festival and the other great festivals that we have in this country, and I don’t want to see them imperilled. All of you, along with me, have to stand up and fight for them.”

The writer and presenter is a professor of history and art history at Columbia University in the US, where pro-Palestinian students set up an encampment. “Jewish students are pretty damn scared,” he said. “In the weeks after Oct 7th, swastikas appeared in the corridors near their dorm lodgings… It is an extraordinary and awful thing that has been going on.”

Schama said: “With the demonstrations in London, there are certain things you can’t do if you’re Jewish in England now. You can’t safely go out with a kippah, a skullcap. You certainly can’t be seen wearing a Star of David on public transport. Jewish children have been vocally and sometimes physically assaulted on their way to Jewish schools.”

Worth reading in full.

Tags: Christopher HitchensMartin AmisSimon Schama

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11 Comments
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Mogwai
Mogwai
1 year ago

So once again, ”Worth reading in full” leads us to a paywall. Why does DS continue to do this when there’s a non-paywalled version of the same story available?
Anyhoo, seems that Khant has just recruited some of the Jew-hating Hamasshole yobs, going by the pictures. That’s my bet anyway. They have the exact same demeanour too. Well they do make up his voter base so he wouldn’t have to look very hard would he?

”TfL said the security guards wore plain, dark clothes while on the job and were also allowed to wear hats. 
It refused to comment on the guards wearing balaclavas and masks but said the use of mobile camera vans will be reviewed continually to ensure the Ulez was being enforced effectively. 
A TfL spokesperson said: ‘Our security workers are directed not to wear face coverings unless they feel threatened by being closely filmed. 
‘Wearing of medical masks is permitted. We will remind our contractors of the situations when they can be worn.

They added: ‘We have hired a small number of qualified security staff who are suitably licensed by the Security Industry Authority, due to ongoing criminal damage to Ulez cameras and vehicles. 
‘They are held to high standards of professionalism. 
‘Unfortunately, our contractors have been subjected to threats and abuse while carrying out their duties so they are advised to record any issues on body-worn cameras to deescalate conflict and if necessary, record evidence for police investigations.
‘Vandalism is unacceptable and all incidents on our network are reported to the police for investigation. 
‘Criminal damage to Ulez cameras or vehicles puts the perpetrators at risk of prosecution and injury, while simultaneously risking the safety of the public.”

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12868309/The-ULEZ-goon-squad-Sadiq-Khan-using-mob-masked-heavies-intimidate-harass-London-homeowners-protect-hated-cameras-Blade-Runners.html

59
-9
AethelredTheReadier
AethelredTheReadier
1 year ago
Reply to  Mogwai

The way to get around paywalls, Mogs…https://archive.is/

41
-3
Mogwai
Mogwai
1 year ago
Reply to  AethelredTheReadier

Cheers, Aethelred. 🙂 Just narks me a bit why we can’t just use a source that already exists sans paywall really…

31
-2
huxleypiggles
huxleypiggles
1 year ago
Reply to  Mogwai

When it became bloody obvious that the dinghy imports were young fighting age men I repeatedly made the point that they were being brought in as an alternative army. I see no reason to change that opinion.

162
-1
Mogwai
Mogwai
1 year ago
Reply to  huxleypiggles

But wouldn’t we have heard something more definitive about that if it were the case by now? There’s no doubting that they’re all young men and juvenile males arriving, but if there were some sort of clandestine operation taking place, surely some information would have leaked or there’d be some eye witness accounts somewhere, but all we really have to go on presently are rumours and guesswork. I know you mentioned John O’Looney ages back but I’ve not heard anything from him in a long while. I’m not saying it’s not a possibility but we need something more to go on than just theories.

If all of these young guys were being trained up for something it’d all have to be being done in top secret, right under our noses, and these men wouldn’t have the opportunity to be going out and committing the crimes they do, and we have the evidence for this. This would also be an ideal opportunity for some secret intel to be leaked; if one of them committed a crime and it came out that he was here as part of some government initiative to be trained up for some operation. But with the lack of anything much to go on it just doesn’t really stack up for me.

I think they’re simply here as our replacements and the idea is, the men/boys do the arduous journey to get a foot in the door and set up here then they apply for family reunification, then shed-loads of relatives come over. The whole ‘asylum seeker’ farce is nothing but a Trojan horse. So whether your theory is true or not, either way our governments are screwing us over, whichever way you look at it.

Last edited 1 year ago by Mogwai
59
-2
huxleypiggles
huxleypiggles
1 year ago
Reply to  Mogwai

Your point of view is more than plausible Mogs. I still see malicious intent behind the import of the dinghy hordes.

50
-1
transmissionofflame
transmissionofflame
1 year ago

“security were held to high standards of professionalism, and had been told they should hide their face only if they feel intimidated by being closely filmed.”

Ah, so “high-standard” “professional” security are so easily intimidated that they don’t like close-ups from a camera. Hmm. Nothing to hide, obviously.

151
-1
Mogwai
Mogwai
1 year ago
Reply to  transmissionofflame

My feeling is that, with the sole exception of the Bladerunners, whenever anybody dons a mask they turn into an absolute arsehole. Yes, ‘bare-cheeked’ arseholes are still ten a penny, but there’s something about the transformation that takes place in a person’s character that emboldens them to behave in a seriously anti-social and hostile manner. The evidence of this is all over the internet, in footage on social media, for all to see. I have literally yet to see, during any type of protest or crowd gathering, people on the *right* side ( that’d be the decent, reasonable folk ) wearing masks. No matter the context it is always the screaming banshee, aggressive lunatics that get up to no good and in people’s faces who wear a face covering. We need the input of Dr Sidley on this observation, STAT! 😮

90
-1
transmissionofflame
transmissionofflame
1 year ago
Reply to  Mogwai

If I see men, especially young men, anywhere near me, individually or in a group, and their faces are covered in some way, I consider my options and expect trouble.

104
-1
Mogwai
Mogwai
1 year ago
Reply to  transmissionofflame

Well that’s it. 1) They’re mentally ill, or 2) They’re up to no good. That’s my thought process anyway. Fortunately I’m seeing zero masktards round my way.

76
-1
huxleypiggles
huxleypiggles
1 year ago
Reply to  transmissionofflame

Ditto.

35
-1
transmissionofflame
transmissionofflame
1 year ago
Reply to  huxleypiggles

They either have something to hide, or are about to something they should not be doing, or they are trying to look hard and may be easily triggered.

52
-1
Spiritof_GFawkes
Spiritof_GFawkes
1 year ago
Reply to  transmissionofflame

Or they could be feeling intimidated, since that seems to be an acceptable reason for hiding one’s face according to the Mayor of London 😉

27
-1
transmissionofflame
transmissionofflame
1 year ago
Reply to  Spiritof_GFawkes

Leaving these “security guards” aside, if someone feels intimidated on the street and wears a mask it tells me they are possibly edgy and likely to kick off – steer clear.

36
-1
Boomer Bloke
Boomer Bloke
1 year ago
Reply to  transmissionofflame

Well, Khan’s performance when being held to account for his actions and their outcomes particularly his refusal to answer questions do not exactly inspire confidence in his motives or agenda.

34
-1
huxleypiggles
huxleypiggles
1 year ago

A dump but an important one – the culling of the elderly in 2020. Paul Weston calls this mass murder. I might have used the same words myself occasionally.

https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/a-beginners-guide-to-the-great-covid-con-part-3-manufacturing-excess-deaths/

55
0
RW
RW
1 year ago
Reply to  huxleypiggles

I recommend that everyone reads this article. It’s a very succinct account of an absolutely horrific event.

21
0
huxleypiggles
huxleypiggles
1 year ago
Reply to  RW

Thanks RW.

7
0
huxleypiggles
huxleypiggles
1 year ago

“the security were held to high standards of professionalism, and had been told they should hide their face only if they feel intimidated by being closely filmed.”

Which is tantamount to saying – “this is your excuse, ‘I felt intimidated.’

A bit like saying they can do what they want.

Who decides ‘high standards of professionalism?”

75
0
sskinner
sskinner
1 year ago

“Masked security “goons” hired to guard Sadiq Khan’s Low Emission Zone cameras have been accused of assaulting and intimidating locals.”
As the ULEZ scheme was not asked for by the citizens of London and Khan is using thugs to protect his instruments of extortion this is looking like a very clever coup.

76
0
transmissionofflame
transmissionofflame
1 year ago

Also assuming the picture is of one of the actual “security guards”, it’s good to see that their high professional choice of mask is a horror mask designed to frighten and convey aggression. Quite appropriate really.

84
0
Spiritof_GFawkes
Spiritof_GFawkes
1 year ago

All the hallmarks of a fledgling totalitarian state. Impose some rules and then use the heavy mob to enforce them.

103
0
AethelredTheReadier
AethelredTheReadier
1 year ago

Surely these goons can’t guard every single camera? I mean the ones they can’t ‘protect;’ will be subject to things like wear and tear, unexplained tornados, meteors, Bermuda Triangle disappearances etc. And, out of scientific interest as I certainly wouldn’t suggest it or promote such behaviour, if someone smeared an epoxy resin over the lens surface, wouldn’t that make it all blurry?

64
0
WyrdWoman
WyrdWoman
1 year ago

And where is the money coming from to pay for Khan’s version of the NKVD?

43
-2
GroundhogDayAgain
GroundhogDayAgain
1 year ago
Reply to  WyrdWoman

No doubt the funds will come from ULEZ ‘fines’.
Beria would be so proud!

17
0
Jabby Mcstiff
Jabby Mcstiff
1 year ago

This is going down. Doesn’t make me happy because the world after won’t be any better than the world before but at least there is some resistance.

16
0
Corky Ringspot
Corky Ringspot
1 year ago

“…claims a security guard purposefully ran her over…”

‘deliberately’ or ‘on purpose’ – not “purposefully” (which means something quite different, although likely to be true of these fascist bastards)

9
0
The Real Engineer
The Real Engineer
1 year ago

The thing to do here is simply call 999. These are not proper licenced security people, they are threatening thugs. This is a criminal offence, and if Khan has hired them he should be in court. Security people are not allowed to hide their identity, in fact they have their license on the arm, if not they are thugs.

21
0
VAX FREE IanC
VAX FREE IanC
1 year ago
Reply to  The Real Engineer

Oh if only that would work. The police if they arrived, would start on the locals. Thats where we are now. There will ultimately be a more ‘vigorous’ response to this stasi reincarnation.

6
0
VAX FREE IanC
VAX FREE IanC
1 year ago

Drip, drip, drip. I fear we may actually be on the verge of true anarchy.
The signs are there.
There will ultimately be a more ‘vigorous’ response to this stasi revival.
What then? Escalation becomes inevitable as more and more of the general population see and feel the effects of ALL the multi faceted crocks of sh1t surrounding them.
They will become more…’enthused’ and more inclined to start looking out for their own best interests.
How did that go with the original incarnation of the Stasi?
All part of much bigger malfeasant plan?
Are ‘they’ awakening a sleeping giant?
I know what I think.
Time will tell.

ORWELL-SURPRISE-2200
3
0
JXB
JXB
1 year ago

Employing mercenaries. I see the war is advancing towards the shooting stage.

3
0

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