Labour’s first post-‘IHRA’ anti-Semitism accusations have been made – and they abuse the new rules
Remember when right-wing Labour MPs were screaming for the party to adopt the IHRA working definition of anti-Semitism with all its examples, including those that make it almost impossible to criticise the Israeli government?
Remember how those people swore blind that adopting these examples would not lay party members open to false accusations by those abusing the new rules?
Well, they lied.
(Or at least, they have been proved wrong.)
The first accusations under the new system are starting to come to light, and they are damning.
Consider the case of Eleanor Penny, a correspondent for Novara Media, who happens to be Jewish.
Apparently I've been reported to Labour for antisemitism. If IHRA means that even Jewish people are unable to speak openly in support of Palestine, if it makes the politics of solidarity impossible, then it’s not fit for purpose.
— Eleanor (@eleanorkpenny) September 10, 2018
For reference https://t.co/fxov7aqW2A
— Eleanor (@eleanorkpenny) September 10, 2018
It seems – and please correct me if I’m mistaken – that parts of this video in which Ms Penny states that it isn’t anti-Semitic to criticise Israel, holding it to the same standard as other countries, are being used as the evidence against her.
I hope that in this furore we can find a space for sensible conversations in which Palestinian and Jewish voices aren't expected to be enemies – in which Palestinian self-determination and Jewish self-determination aren't treated as a zero sum game.
— Eleanor (@eleanorkpenny) September 10, 2018
Jewish enough for antisemites but ‘not Jewish enough’ to have an opinion about it. What’s a gal to do.
— Eleanor (@eleanorkpenny) September 11, 2018
(This cuts both ways)
— Eleanor (@eleanorkpenny) September 11, 2018
Censorship doesn’t need to be the price we pay for protection. That attitude ultimately stunts our ability to have honest conversations about the contours of antisemitism in this country, and to do the necessary work of political education.
— Eleanor (@eleanorkpenny) September 11, 2018
Fortunately there are those among the rest of us who are not willing to lie down and put up with this nonsense:
This is getting ridiculous. Hope @UKLabour do the right thing and chuck out this complaint, and take a good long look at how IHRA is open to being abused to suppress legitimate political expression. https://t.co/iR3Ax8geLV
— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) September 10, 2018
Aka being abused to do exactly what its supporters insisted it wouldn't be abused to do. What a surprise.
— Martin Frowd (@caldyr99) September 10, 2018
People claiming to fight antisemitism now accusing left leaning Jewish communities & individuals of 'antisemitism'. A so-called moderate MP was recently caught making malicious allegations of antisemitism. Clue: the controversy isn't about antisemitism, it's rather more partisan
— Revolution Breeze (@SueJonesSays) September 10, 2018
For what my word is worth (not much at the moment, owing to my own suspension by Labour after allegations of anti-Semitism – a suspension that is now in its 16th disgraceful month), Labour should not just dismiss the complaint.
The party needs to make a sincere apology for allowing such an abuse of its complaints system to take place – as it should with other false complaints such as that against me.
And does the complaint itself count as anti-Semitism, as it is intended to create discrimination against a Jew?
Visit our JustGiving page to help Vox Political’s Mike Sivier fight anti-Semitism libels in court
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Here are four ways to be sure you’re among the first to know what’s going on.
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the left margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
The Bastille was used for the same reasons. Anyone who voiced an opinion against the regime was thrown into that prison and, literally, forgotten, which is why when the revolution came, the storming of the Bastille was one of the first things to happen. Now we have the equivalent, in the form of IHRA.
When was this complaint made, because I’m still awaiting a response to mine!
Was this witch hunt ever about anti-Semitism? I don’t believe so.
Any complaints about Tories – some of whom presumably despise Palestinians for just being Palestinians (sic) – ie a semite race?
Or in any of the other countries jelly-bellied enough to be bullied into signing this disgraceful document? Or is it just Labour members in UK who are targeted?
Just one comment (that I keep having to make): Although you are correct that Palestinians do indeed come from a Semite race, the word “anti-Semitism” refers ONLY to Jews. It was coined to express hostility and hatred towards Jews and may never – ever – be used to express hostility to people of other ethnicities. It would not be accurate.
I know it seems wacko, but it is the fact of the matter. Don’t try to protest about it because it doesn’t matter.
The replies have been inspiring, but I am unable to chart a course. Instead I wrote this on my FB Timeline. (Jill4gaza). Please use it to advertise your excellent suggestions for action in a way that is short, clear and simple.
The fake charity, Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a libellous petition on the Change.org website, to the Parliamentary Labour Party, calling for Jeremy Corbyn’s removal as party leader on the grounds that he is an anti-Semite.
This entire witch hunt has now resulted in the inevitable threats against Jeremy Corbyn’s life.
Somebody with as much experience of the holocaust, the Political Scientist, Dr. Norman Finkelstein – as could even unreasonably be expected – is frequently asked to broadcast – and to address audiences such as university students. He has written many books. This year he published ‘Gaza. An Inquest Into Its Martyrdom’.
The blurb states, “Finkelstein also documents that the guardians of international law—from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to the UN Human Rights Council—ultimately failed Gaza. One of his most disturbing conclusions is that, after Judge Richard Goldstone’s humiliating retraction of his UN report, human rights organizations succumbed to the Israeli juggernaut.”
It has happened before. It’s like the Gorgon’s heads.
It may well last until the planet dies. It would always be better to stand up against it as strongly as Dr. Finkelstein does so movingly on this occasion.
We know what HATE is. We don’t want it; from ANY direction.
We have now all succumbed to this bloody juggernaut.
Most of us have had enough.
Here is a video in which Dr. Finkelstein faces yet another sadly duped ‘student challenger’ who plays the same game that is now being played because of irresponsible behaviour by some in our dedicated Labour Party for Peace and Justice:
:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O5zgXeCynQ
Watch and be moved to act with determination and morality.
YOUTUBE.COM
Dr Norman Finkelstein at the University of Waterloo
Dr Norman Finkelstein on crocodile tears.