Anti-Semitism in the Labour Party

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ToDo: Note: this title should be more about the Labour Party and its links with the Israel lobby
"Anti-Semitism is not a real phenomenon within the Labour Party or any of the other major political parties. There are anti-Semitic incidents but they are usually related to Israel's behaviour, Israeli brutality. So every time there is an Israeli attack on Gaza – and there have been 3 in the last 7 years – there is a rise in anti-Semitic episodes and incidents in Britain. Fundamentally, Israel and the Israeli propaganda machine and Israel's friends in England and the Israel lobby in Britain deliberately confuse or conflate, and I stress they do it deliberately, anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism. Anti-Zionism is nothing to do with Jews. Anti-Semitism is hatred of the Jews as Jews. Anti-Zionism is opposition to Israel as a colonial power and as an exclusive Jewish state."

Avi Shlaim, Israeli Professor of International Relations at St. Anthony's College, Oxford

Articles

  • Aug.02.2018: David Rosenberg on The 70 Rabbis Attacking Labour and the Tories. David Rosenberg has posted up a very interesting piece on his blog about the party political dimensions surrounding the latest screams of ‘anti-Semitism’ directed at Pete Willman, the prospective NEC candidate, who blew his top the other day at the letter signed by 70 rabbis alleging that Labour was now intrinsically anti-Semitic and was a hostile environment for Jewish members. And so the usual Blairite and Zionist mischief-makers, like Luciana Berger, have been making the usual accusations and demanding action against him. The Thatcherite infiltrators and the Israel lobby also went berserk because Willman said that the people making these accusations were ‘Trump fanatics’. Rosenberg is a Labour member, and states that he doesn’t know Willman except as a name. He says: "I do know that there has been an all-out War against Corbyn-led labour, and one of the battalions, alongside the Tory Party and the Pro-Tory press, and pro-Israel lobbyists, has been a narrow group of right-wing pro-Zionist Jews, some of whom are absolutely open in their support and admiration for Trump. And I do know that antisemitic posts have been outed as being from fake accounts pretending to be Labour members/supporters, so I don’t think it is at all outlandish to contribute that to the debate with those thoughts. It is not how I would do it, and his badgering question to his fellow NEC members: “How many people have seen antisemitism in the Labour Party?” was not so clever, but we are getting to the point where certain quite reasonable questions are being dismissed as “antisemitic” in themselves". He goes on to discuss anti-Semitism in the Labour party, stating that he has only encountered it once since he rejoined the party in 2015. He’s sure it exists in pockets, like it does in wider British society, but notes that other Jewish members haven’t encountered it in the Labour party. The release of the tape a week after the meeting but after the NEC elections has begun, was meant to result in one less seat for the pro-Corbyn slate and too late to put in someone else. At least that failed. Beastrabban\'s Weblog.
  • Did Hitler support Zionism:
  • May.09.2018: Labour councillor rejected definition of antisemitism. Zena Brabazon, who is Jewish, declined to support the attempt led by the local party to adopt the definition last July. The motion was passed unanimously, but Ms Brabazon abstained and instead went up to the public gallery where activists, understood to be linked to Momentum, heckled the Labour council leader who introduced it. Ms Brabazon told The Times that she objected to the motion because she felt it confused two separate issues: legitimate concerns about Israeli govt policies and condemnation of antisemitism. The definition, from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, states: “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities”. Haringey council. Lucy Fisher, The Times.
  • Apr.20.2018: Labour Party broadcast star Lassaad Laouini called Jews ‘evil’. Lassaad Laouini, 47, the general manager of Leeds Grand Mosque, appeared in a film shown on ITV and the BBC last week discussing homelessness. The Labour Party has said it is reviewing the production processes for the promotional films after being alerted to Mr Laouini’s social media comments and those of a former supporter of the British National Party who appeared in a previous broadcast. The film was made by Josh Cole, the founder of the non-partisan Rize Up campaign that was launched last year to encourage young people to vote. Mr Cole also made Labour party political broadcast screened in February that featured a former British National Party supporter who has made offensive comments about Muslims. ... ... David Brown, the Times.
  • Apr.17.2018: The antisemitism debate is not about partisanship — it’s about freedom. The HoC will today host a general debate on ... antisemitism. Following Jeremy Corbyn’s election as the leader of the Labour party, antisemitism has been driven to the top of the political agenda by 2 years of incidents within Labour’s ranks, ranging from the ill-judged to the decidedly racist. Three weeks ago, I joined dozens of Labour and Conservative MPs in Parliament Square along with 1,500 members of the Jewish Community to deliver the message that enough is enough. Several Labour MPs spoke forcefully about the need to stamp out antisemitism within their party and their bravery cannot be understated. They risk the wrath of local Labour parties, some of which have sought to pass motions condemning their MPs for even attending the rally, while others have vehemently dismissed it at as an attack on the party leadership. My concern, however, is that these MPs have little power to enact the changes that are so desperately needed. How many more blatantly antagonistic actions from within their own party must they stand before they say enough is enough and deny Jeremy Corbyn and Labour their support in parliament? Mere days after that same rally, Mr Corbyn chose to spend a Passover dinner with Jewdas, a fringe group who not only espouse the sort of far-left vitriol that has become common currency in the Labour party, but who expressly lambast mainstream Jewish communal organisations. It is actions such as this, and through a recent interview with the Jewish News — where Mr Corbyn refused to condemn Jewish Voice for Labour, the organisers of the bewildering counter-rally against those protesting antisemitism last month — that he has made his real views abundantly clear. The current party leadership cannot be trusted to address this issue properly. Mike Freer MP, The Times.
  • Apr.05.2018: Peers report pro-Corbyn Facebook pages to police for antisemitism. A group of peers, including Alan Sugar, have written to the Metropolitan police commissioner, Cressida Dick, to report antisemitic abuse on Facebook pages backing Jeremy Corbyn. The peers who have signed the letter included the crossbencher Lady Deech, a former member of the Jewish Leadership Council, and Labour’s Lord Turnberg and Lord Beecham, as well as the former Liberal Democrat Lord Carlile. Ros Altmann, the former Conservative pensions minister, has also signed it. Lord Sugar, who this week was criticised by the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, for tweeting a made-up picture of Corbyn attending a Nazi rally, doubled down on Twitter on Thursday, tweeting a derogatory poem about the Labour leader that called him a "dangerous fool who is antisemitic". Sugar, a Jewish peer and former Labour member and donor until he left the party in 2015, has been highly critical of Corbyn’s leadership, particularly over the party’s handling of antisemitism. On Wednesday it was announced that the two largest Jewish bodies had agreed to meet Corbyn to discuss his efforts to tackle antisemitism, which Corbyn said would be held according to an agenda proposed by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and the Jewish Leadership Council. Jessica Elgot, The Guardian.
  • Mar.31.2018: Labour poll says antisemitism row is exaggerated. Nearly eight out of ten Labour members believe that accusations of antisemitism are being exaggerated to damage Jeremy Corbyn and stifle legitimate criticism of Israel, according to a YouGov poll. Sam Coates, The Times.
  • Mar.29.2018: The Anti-Semitism Smears and the Tories' Long History of Racism. On Monday, the Jonathan Goldstein of the Jewish Leadership Council and the President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Jonathan Arkush, wrote a letter complaining that Corbyn had done nothing to tackle what they claimed was the rampant anti-Semitism in the Labour party, and that Corbyn had consistently sided with anti-Semites against Jews. This was accompanied of a mass demonstration outside parliament organised by the two organisations. The real issue here, which Arkush and Goldstein’s smears of anti-Semitism are meant to cover up, is Corbyn’s attitude towards Israel. They claim he’s anti-Israel and anti-Zionist. He isn’t, but he is pro-Palestinian. But this is too much for the Israel lobby, who smear anyone, who wants justice and dignity for the Palestinians as anti-Semite. Arkush is a true-blue Tory, as well as a massive hypocrite. The Tories have, of course, taken all this as an opportunity to claim that Labour is riddle with anti-Semitism, unlike them. This covers up the fact that the Tory party has a very long history of racism and anti-Semitism going right back to the Die-Hards of the First World War. (...) Beast Rabban's Blog.
  • Mar.26.2018: Why Labour continues to struggle with antisemitism. Toxic subject returns to dog leadership despite internal inquiry, numerous suspensions and repeated apologies. Jeremy Corbyn’s period at the head of Labour has been punctuated by a series of rows about antisemitic episodes, a toxic subject that has continued to trouble the party leadership despite an internal inquiry, numerous suspensions and repeated apologies. The disputes are often fuelled via social media, or by trawling through postings from years ago – and made especially potent because the subject is frequently seen through an internal left-right prism, of loyalty or otherwise to the man who has led the party since 2015. It was not meant to be like this. A debilitating period of antisemitic rows had prompted Corbyn to ask Shami Chakrabarti to conduct a party inquiry in Spring 2016 in an attempt to draw a line under the issue at a time when over a dozen members had been suspended. One of those was Naz Shah, who had suggested relocating Israel to the US in a Facebook posting made in 2014 before her election to parliament. Soon afterwards, Ken Livingstone waded in, repeatedly and stubbornly arguing that “Hitler supported Zionism” at the time the Nazi leader rose to power. Dan Sabbagh, The Times.
  • Mar.24.2018: Corbyn "supported antisemitic mural". Jeremy Corbyn has been forced to apologise after initially defending his apparent support for a mural depicting Jewish bankers playing Monopoly on the backs of the poor. Last night Mr Corbyn said: "That is in no way comparable with the mural in the original post. I sincerely regret that I did not look more closely at the image I was commenting on, the contents of which are deeply disturbing and antisemitic. I wholeheartedly support its removal. I am opposed to the production of antisemitic material of any kind, and the defence of free speech cannot be used as a justification for the promotion of antisemitism in any form". Luciana Berger, MP for Liverpool Wavertree, had demanded an explanation for her leader’s apparent support for what she described as "one of the worst examples of antisemitic imagery". Wes Streeting, Labour MP for Ilford North and chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on British Jews, had said: "Silence is complicity, which is why I will continue to challenge antisemitism within the Labour Party, regardless of threats of deselection or abuse. When it comes to antisemitism, alt-left is beginning to smell a lot like alt-right". Kalen Ockerman, who is based in Los Angeles, denied that his mural was antisemitic but said he had "depicted the elite banking cartel known as the Rothschilds, Rockefellers, Morgans, the ruling elite few, the Wizards of Oz playing a board game of Monopoly on the backs of the working class". Francis Elliott, The Times.
  • Mar.08.2018: Vincible Ignorance Here we go again. The problem of antisemitism within Labour cannot be solved until its causes, depths and manifestations are properly acknowledged. Getting these properly acknowledged is the task of Sisyphus. David Paxton, DavidPaxton.com.
  • Mar.08.2018: Labour suspends party members in 'antisemitic' Facebook group. Jeremy Corbyn was active in closed group Palestine Live but says he did not see offensive posts and left in 2015. Some of the posts on Palestine Live appear to include links to Holocaust denial myths, allegations of Israel’s involvement in the 9/11 and 7/7 terror attacks and the training of Islamic State fighters, and conspiracy theories involving the Rothschild family. Corbyn posted several times in the group after being tagged in posts. He left the group in 2015, around the time he became Labour leader. Corbyn said his posts were limited to some replies, including “a suggestion on the vote on recognising Palestine, which I supported, and inviting a doctor to speak at an event”. Corbyn said he had not seen the other antisemitic posts on the group. “Had I seen it, of course, I would have challenged it straight away, but I actually don’t spend all my time reading social media,” he said during a visit to Derbyshire. The Palestine Live group was founded in 2013 and was set up in a way that allowed administrators to add people to the group without their consent. The Labour MPs Clive Lewis and Chris Williamson were members of the group, as were two former Liberal Democrat politicians, Baroness Jenny Tonge and the former MP David Ward. Jacqueline Walker, a former Momentum steering group member, is also a member of the Facebook group. Walker has been suspended from the Labour party twice over allegations of antisemitism. Palestine Live’s content was first revealed in a 250-page dossier looking at the posts and profiles of members of the group, compiled by the businessman David Collier, who said his blog was dedicated to “researching antisemitism inside anti-Zionist activity”. Joseph Glasman, of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, said the organisation would be filing complaints against Corbyn and Lewis to the Labour party.(Timeline in here) Jessica Elgot, The Guardian.

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