When Rosie met Jim: the anti-hate snap that wasn’t
AFTER LAST weekend’s Black Lives Matter demonstrations, a heart-warming picture emerged on the internet. A kind-faced, suit-clad, elderly white man with a sign saying, ‘Racism is a virus, we are the vaccine’, sat deep in thoughtful conversation with a young black woman. The image went viral as an apparent beacon of hope against racism.
One minor issue. That kindly, elderly man? His name is Jim Curran, an Irish nationalist and regular attendee at meetings of the far-right/left crossover group, Keep Talking. This extremist organisation was recently exposed by the CST and Hope Not Hate. They detailed how extremists from across the political spectrum met to obsess over antisemitic conspiracy theories: from the ‘Jews did 9/11’ to outright Holocaust denial.
I tweeted at two top accounts who were sharing the picture to explain Jim Curran’s background. Their response? To block me. And not just me, but everyone raising the issue.
When I tweeted the woman in the picture, Rosie Smith, she said: “He is an activist and a beautiful man. Spoke some real deep truths”.
And then – chillingly – “His words brought me to tears. He said the genocide the news [sic] went through, was nothing on slavery and what black people endured and are still enduring”.
Jim Curran had literally been dripping Holocaust denial into her ear, at an anti-racism rally.
Ms Smith went on: “I…judge him on our convo and from his vibe and his work. The jews are not innocent, #israelosnotinnocent they deal with mad racism!”. She then blocked me.
Despite the concerns flowing around social media, a series of prominent organisations ignored the truth. Momentum posted the picture on their Facebook page with the caption “more of this please” and a leading figure in Amnesty UK shared it.
Pro-Europe organisation, Best for Britain, at first defended their decision to promote the image, saying: “Some people have identified that the old gentleman in the photo is a Holocaust denier. We believe that this fact makes it even more important to share this image.”
The following day, however, the organisation apologised, deleted the comments and said disciplinary action would be taken against the staff responsible.
Twenty four hours after the march, ITV News hosted Mr Curran and Ms Smith on their “and finally” segment. They are now deleting comments on their Facebook page which raise concerns — and have made no apology.
We’re at the stage where actual Holocaust denial is dismissed or downplayed for “the greater good” or because it’s inconvenient to “the narrative”. The romance of the picture more important than the truth. Something as a campaigner with Labour Against Antisemitism I’m all too familiar with. Corbyn fraternising with the IRA and Hezbollah? Mere details. Jeremy is a good man, a life-long anti-racist.