The October Declaration
The October Declaration signatories stand in support of British Jews and condemn acts of antisemitism. We unequivocally condemn the terrorist attack in Israel on 7 October 2023. We ask the media to call Hamas what it is: a terrorist organisation.
britishfriendsofisrael.org
The 'October Declaration' was organized by Laura Dodsworth and Allison Pearson, who provides some background in this article:
Allison Pearson -
It’s time to take a stand for civilisation - Telegraph (archived)
Here's an x-twitter thread about them by Bob from Brockley
archived as a web page here
Allison Pearson may well be familiar because of her right-wing newspaper columns, but Laura Dodsworth may not be. She is an 'author, journalist, photographer' who produced a series of books 'Bare Reality: 100 women, their breasts, their stories', 'Manhood: The Bare Reality' and 'Womanhood: The Bare Reality' juxtaposing photographs of breasts, penises and vaginas respectively with the thoughts of those photographed.
Laura Dodsworth: Why I photographed 100 vulvas - BBC News
The pandemic appears to have led her down somewhat of a conspiraloon path. In 2021 she produced a book 'A State of Fear: How the UK government weaponised fear during the Covid-19 pandemic'
This is a book about fear. Fear of a virus. Fear of death. Fear of losing our jobs, our democracy, our human connections, our health and our minds. It's also about how the government weaponised our fear against us – supposedly in our best interests – until we were one of the most frightened countries in the world.
'A State of Fear is dark, compelling, determined and heartfelt. A timely and fascinating read'- Neil Oliver, writer and broadcaster
And this year has co-authored a second, 'Free Your Mind. The New World of Manipulation and how to resist it', with behavioural scientist Patrick Fagan, formerly 'Lead Psychologist at
Cambridge Analytica'.
'A State of Fear' was taken apart by David Aaronovitch in the Times:
A State of Fear by Laura Dodsworth review — a covidiot’s guide to the pandemic - Times (archived)
It's tempting to see a line of continuity between an art project photographing 100 vulvas and penises, and a petition collecting the signatures of many well known middle and upper class people, but there is also quite an interesting connection between Dodsworth and Pearson. As Bob from Brockley points out, they are both fans of Italy's far right prime minister Giorgia Meloni.
Allison Pearson -
Giorgia Meloni isn’t far-Right – she just says what we all think - Telegraph (archived) (28.09.2022)
x-tweet by Dodsworth (
link):
Laura Dodsworth @BareReality
Meloni electrifies the crowds. Not because she creates and exploits hysteria in the way genuine ‘far right’ leaders do but because she speaks to a thirst for freedom and self-individuation.
10:42 AM · Sep 26, 2022
There is a strand of right wing thought in this country which sees Meloni as a role model:
Camilla Tominey -
Meloni and Sunak are the power couple that could save Europe from oblivion - Telegraph (archived)
The pair have much in common, both vilified by Leftists for seeing the threat to Western nations from illegal migration
These are people, not unlike Mussolini stans in the 1930s, who long for a regime in which undesirables are dealt with, the trains run on time and train drivers know their place.
Given Pearson's long history of Islamophobia - 2018 '
Don't ban Boris... ban the burka!' (archived) - it is hardly surprising that the October Declaration refers to the rise in antisemitic incidents in the UK since the attack by Hamas, but not the rise in
anti-muslim incidents.
Many of those signing the petition will be doing so out of horror at Hamas' action. As to it's organisers, however, it is hard to disagree with Karam Bales (x-twitter
link) :
A Declaration organised by ppl who have spent the past 3 years equating lockdowns, masks and vaccines to the Holocaust are probably more focused on attacking Muslims than showing concern for Jewish people
www.nbcnews.com
