On November 30, British columnist Owen Jones published a statement on his X (former Twitter) account possibly threatening legal action. He wrote that he is taking legal advice and he shall not refrain from taking action against the hate commenters. As a response to this a Jewish Screenwriter, Lee Kern, posted a video encouraging Jones to sue him. Here’s a brief explanation of the issue.
Owen Jones allegedly threatened legal actions
British columnist, Owen Jones is well-known for being a left-wing activist. He has also contributed to pro-Palestine journalism while covering the Israel-Hamas war. Recently he published a statement announcing that he is taking legal advice for possible actions against some people.
He did not mention the names of the said people but did highlight the issues that led to it. Firstly, he clarified that he believes everyone has a right to criticize him and his views. However, this doesn’t extend to false allegations which can have serious consequences.
He mentioned that the harsh reactions he has been receiving recently have crossed a line and it can threaten his and his beloveds’ safety. Additionally, he mentioned the past attacks on him from alleged right-wing extremists (who have since been prosecuted) to explain the reasons for his actions.
Oscar Nominated Jewish Screenwriter Respons
Lee Kern, best known for ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,’ posted a response to Jones’s tweet. In the video, he alleged himself as one of the Jones’ possible legal action targets, because of his previous video criticizing Jones’s reaction to the Hamas Massacre film.
In the former 18-minute video, Lee Kern gave a cut-by-cut response to Owen Jones’ reaction to the Hamas Massacre film. The screenwriter criticized Jones for throwing a conspiracy shade over the footage of the Israeli Defence Force. He also accused him of showing antisemitic sentiments and poor journalist standards.
All the clips have gone viral over social media and are garnering polarized responses. On one hand, people are criticizing Jones for his choice of words while describing the IDF screening and the film. On the other hand, people are supporting Jones stating that his statements in the video don’t justify the harsh reactions he has been receiving.
The center of this issue is Jones’s statement ‘I haven’t seen the footage’ about not seeing any video evidence of the death and violence of the Hamas Massacre that happened on October 7. Many have taken the statement as Jones’ doubts in the factuality of Hamas‘ attacks, while many believe the statement simply means that he hasn’t seen the footage and not that it never happened.