Aaronovitch can surf

In case anyone out there thought that David Aaronovitch was completely useless, it turns out that he does know how to copy and paste from internet sources. In fact reading "his" article on Gilad Atzmon's proposed appearance at the SWP's Marxism 2005 you might think that Aaronovitch could be the next Alistair Campbell.

Not a few left-wing Jews who style themselves "anti-Zionist" have been horrified by the Atzmon-Eisen-Shamir business. And a couple of weeks ago they began to exert pressure on the SWP to disinvite the over-fearless tirader. But the SWP — it of "smash racism" — has refused. The party issued a statement. It was, it admitted, a bit worried about Atzmon, because: "We think that some of the formulations on his website might encourage his readers to feel that he is blurring the distinction between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism." But, it nevertheless concluded: "We do not believe that Gilad should be ‘banned’ from performing or speaking. ‘No Platform’ is a principle that the Left has always reserved for fascists and organised racists."

So there we have it - David Aaronovitch: not quite first with the "news".