Richard Sennett @richardsennett

writes on cities, labour, and social policy. Joined March 2011

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Simone Rodan-Benzaquen @srodan

a month ago

There is a claim that keeps circulating, presented as sophisticated analysis: antisemitic violence is caused by Israel’s actions. If Israel behaved differently, Jewish communities around the world would somehow be safer. This argument is not analysis. It is a moral inversion. And it collapses the moment you apply it consistently. When China imprisons Uyghurs, does anyone warn Muslim communities in Paris to expect attacks? When Russia invaded Ukraine, did anyone tell Russian restaurants to brace for violence? No. Never. The causal chain between a government’s actions and violence against a diaspora is only ever constructed for Jews. Every other minority is extended the basic moral courtesy of being treated as individuals rather than proxies. Now look at what the data actually shows. The SPCJ, which tracks antisemitic incidents in France in coordination with the Interior Ministry, has documented a consistent and damning pattern: it is antisemitic violence that inspires more antisemitic violence, not Israeli policy. After Mohamed Merah murdered Jewish children at point-blank range at the Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse in 2012, antisemitic acts surged by 200%. There was no Gaza operation. No Israeli military action. The massacre of Jews in France produced more attacks on Jews in France. The same logic held after the Hypercacher attack in January 2015: antisemitic acts increased by nearly 300%. Massacres of Jews do not shock antisemites into restraint. They embolden them. They signal impunity. They normalize hatred. And everyone in a position of responsibility knows it. Which brings us to October 7. From the day of the Hamas attack, antisemitic acts in France increased by over 1,000%. A daily average of approximately 25 antisemitic acts was recorded in the 30 days that followed, reaching nearly 40 on some days. In the three months after the attack, the number of antisemitic acts equaled those recorded over the previous three years combined. And here is another detail that makes the “Israel causes antisemitism” argument impossible to sustain: the spike began on October 7 itself, the very day of the attack. Israel had not yet responded. Not a single soldier had entered Gaza. Interior Minister Darmanin sent an urgent message to prefects that same day asking them to immediately reinforce protection of Jewish community sites. Synagogues. Schools. Community centers. By October 10, 10,000 police officers had been deployed to protect 500 Jewish sites across the country. Before any Israeli response existed, the French government already knew that Jewish communities needed protecting. Not because of what Israel was about to do. Because of what had just been done to Jews. Antisemitic violence has one cause. Antisemitism.

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Helen Lewis @helenlewis

a month ago

I haven't been this depressed about British politics since the post-Brexit period, when it was similiarly clear that every potential course of action involved huge, painful trade-offs, and so all the parties just spent years on displacement activities instead.

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Anna Soubry 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇺🇦🇪🇺🖤🤍 @Anna_Soubry

2 months ago

Lock him up

Bill Kristol @BillKristol

2 months ago

Impeach Trump.

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Richard Sennett @richardsennett

2 months ago

Moment of Truth newyorker.com/magazine/2026/…

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Jvnior @Jvnior

2 months ago

Israel ARRESTED this 13 year old Palestinian girl. According to the law just passed, she could now be executed “legally” in the prison. Please don’t let them kill her. Repost this.

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Ami Stenson @AmiStenson

2 months ago

@Abdullah_Om3r03

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Abdullah Omar🇵🇸 @Abdullah_Om3r03

2 months ago

#The heroic doctor Hossam Abu Safiya is among the prisoners scheduled for execution 💔

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Michael Crick @MichaelLCrick

2 months ago

From reading Paul Holden's statement, the BBC does seem to be guilty of very shoddy journalism here. Whoever the most senior person is in the BBC right now, they need to get a grip on this story at once - today, Monday - no faffing around.

Peter Oborne @OborneTweets

2 months ago

A shocking statement from Paul Holden. Both Laura Kuenssberg and the BBC have serious questions to answer and owe Mr Holden at the very least an apology.

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Stephen Hough @houghhough

3 months ago

My dearest friend, Robert White, left us yesterday. I was with him only a couple of hours before he died as he sank into a deeper and deeper rest. He was a great musician and singer, a devoted teacher @JuilliardSchool a generous host, a wicked raconteur, a perfect dinner companion, wildly funny, deeply sensitive to beauty of all kinds. The album we made together many years ago for @hyperionrecords remains one of my favourites. New York will never be the same.youtu.be/45xCtXFTw0k?si…

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Dr Mario Trabucco della Torretta @elginmarbles

3 months ago

This is just unbelievable: the Senate of Berlin wants to close the Archaeology Institute of the Humboldt University because of budget constraints, saying that there is another in the city anyway. A pillar of academic excellence in teaching and research, active for more than 200 years may be just wiped out with a flick of a pen. Incredible as it may seem, we need to explain to those people that certain things need to be preserved and that when they are gone, they're gone, killing hopes, projects, careers, and traditions. You dont bring that back like flicking a switch if the money comes back. I have just signed, please do the same: weact.campact.de/petitions/schl…

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Bill Kristol @BillKristol

4 months ago

Shut down Dilley. thebulwark.com/p/kids-arent-a…

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Mark Seddon @MarkSeddon1962

4 months ago

This has all of the potential to become the mother of all scandals. Again, some of us warned about this and the Palantir NHS contract at the time. It really doesn't take rocket science!

Dr Ellie Chowns MP @EllieChowns

4 months ago

The govt is refusing to commit to an inquiry into the MOD's contracts with US-based spy tech giant Palantir despite the web of shady connections between Mandelson, Epstein, and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel - this absolutely stinks.

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Bill Kristol @BillKristol

4 months ago

“If a newspaper’s publisher makes a bunch of decisions that lose money, and then the owner keeps the publisher while firing the staff who puts out the paper—none of this is really about the money, is it?” open.substack.com/pub/thebulwark…

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Fred Guttenberg @fred_guttenberg

4 months ago

NEVER FORGET THIS PHOTO. THIS MAN WAS MURDERED BY A CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE CURRENTLY OPERATING OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE.

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David J. Bier @David_J_Bier

4 months ago

The Pink Jacket lady who filmed the killing tells a court that she is terrified to go home because she’s heard the federal agents who murdered a man in front of her are looking for her! Oh my god.

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Richard Sennett @richardsennett

5 months ago

Donald Trump is mentally ill, and has dementia. This has been evident for a long time. Today it became clear that Keir Starmer is becoming co-dependent on him, as unskilled carers for the mentally ill often do, by trying to appease people who are sick.

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James Dreyfus @DreyfusJames

5 months ago

When she was making enormous donations to groups such as the Terence Higgins Trust. I was sat one seat away from her in 2004 at a THT event. So lord knows how much she’d given prior to that. The point is she’s done more than you’ve ever even attempted. Sit back down.