Rotherham: They'd like it to be simple, but it isn't

Rabbi Yosef Feldman

Several unpleasant exchanges with the Kipper cult have yielded little enlightenment, compounded by a godawful piece by Melanie Phillips in which she argues "The refusal to acknowledge that grooming gangs are Muslim has had a catastrophic effect".

"It’s not Pakistani Christians, Hindus or atheists who are involved in these crimes. Nor is it just white girls who are targeted: Sikhs have been complaining for years that their girls are attacked by Muslim men." says Melanie.

Bringing the article into focus is an announcement of arrests in Halifax relating to the same phenomenon, where the names of the culprits are published in full. Very much Kashmiri (Mirpur) names, in common with the Rotherham cases.

The majority of Muslims in the North hail from there, and they are disliked and detested by nearly all other UK Muslims - and not especially well liked in Pakistan either as I understand it. Every nation has its Roma, just as France has its much resented Algerians, where you'll likely find some parallels with Rotherham. We're looking at criminal exploitation of children by men in alien subcultures, existing beyond the reach of authorities who lack informants and intelligence - and exploit a lucrative opportunity. That's all. The same the world over. Especially if you're a UN peacekeeper.

One wonders how Melanie Phillips would square her absolutist circle, insisting Islam is the central factor, when confronted with this case of systemic abuse, by Jews in Austrailia.

According to Manny Waks, the halachic concepts of mesira and Loshon hora serve to deter victims from reporting their experiences. Mesira refers to a Talmudic ban on informing on a Jew to gentile authorities, while the Biblical ban on lashon hara prohibits gossip and damaging statements.

Australian rabbis continued to plead ignorance regarding the proper procedures for handling suspected cases of molestation on Friday, during testimony before a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Yeshiva Center’s Rabbi Yosef Feldman – appearing before the commission a day after his father, Rabbi Pinchus Feldman, admitted he had neglected to inform the police a suspected pedophile was about to flee the country – said he was aware that the same suspect, identified as AVL, had massaged an underage boy. Feldman is reported to be related to AVL.

Doesn't say much for the "It's all about the Muslims" narrative does it?

The pig-ignorance and bigotry from Ukipists is almost forgivable. My expectations are so low they would have to work hard to disappoint. Their intellectually challenged cult has not the wit to examine the wider context or the possibility that similar might be happening abroad. But Melanie Phillips is an international journalist, and one who has in the past shown the capacity for self-awareness, but in this instance she has resorted to dog-whistle politics. I don't understand why. Perhaps, like many in the bubble, she has had too many telling her how wonderful she is for too long and has lost her touch. It happens to the best of them eventually.

But essentially we see Ukips fundamental parochialism on display here, and their determination to believe what they want to believe. It is therefore unsurprising they are often lumped in with the far-right. Whether they know it or not, they are guilty of the same bigotry. Confront them with the facts, muddy the waters of their simplistic narratives and up go the walls. Had they not already unpersoned me on other matters, I expect I would be packing my bags for a trip to Coventry right about now.