There may be another motive behind the resignations of all these Labour Friends of Israel
Collaborators: Joan Ryan MP was recorded meeting then-Israeli embassy officer Shai Masot. He offered her £1 million to procure support for Israel from Labour MPs. Was this tactic successful?
Luciana Berger, Mike Gapes, Chris Leslie, Joan Ryan, and Chuka Umunna, of the new Independent Group in Parliament, all split from the Labour Party claiming dissatisfaction with its handling of allegations of anti-Semitism.
They have all also been members of Labour Friends of Israel (LFI), as is Pat McFadden, who is said to be expected to join the group in the near future.
And long-standing LFI supporter Tom Watson was quick to issue an ultimatum to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, demanding a stronger response to allegations of anti-Semitism – or more Labour MPs will leave.
LFI works within the Labour Party to promote the state of Israel; fighting anti-Semitism is not one of its express intentions. It is the policies and philosophy of the Israeli government – whatever they may be – that LFI exists to support.
Jeremy Corbyn is a known critic of the current government of Israel – and his views have wide support at a time when there is a wealth of evidence showing that government persecuting the people of Palestine, stealing their land, shooting and bombing their children, and starving them of services and supplies.
We have documentary evidence of LFI chair (and now Independent Group member) Joan Ryan being offered £1 million by then-Israeli embassy officer Shai Masot; the money was to be used to send Labour MPs on trips to Israel, to enjoy that government’s hospitality. At the same time it was revealed that Ms Ryan smeared a member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign as an anti-Semite; video evidence conclusively proved that she was lying.
The Independent Group organises itself as a limited company, which means there is no legal way to compel its members to reveal who is funding them.
When I wrote an article asking whether Mr Masot’s claim to have people working for him – in LFI, the Jewish Labour Movement and other Labour-related organisations – would be investigated, I was smeared as an anti-Semite, suspended as a Labour Party member, and eventually expelled. To the best of my knowledge, no such investigation has taken place by the time of writing, two years after I asked the question.
The proportion of anti-Semitism known to have happened in the Labour Party since Mr Corbyn became leader is calculated to have involved less than 0.1 per cent of party members. Considering the behaviour of Angela Smith on television immediately after the formation of The Independent Group, it is likely that the amount of racism in general within Labour has fallen because of these MPs’ departure.
Put it all together and it is worth asking the question:
Is it really anti-Semitism that these MPs are fighting – or opposition to an oppressive, apartheid foreign government?
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Don’t forget Ian Austin and Angela Smith are also members of LFI.
Did Ian Austin join TINGe, then? As for Angela Smith, I couldn’t find evidence for that when I was putting the piece together.
Ian Austin has not joined TINGE. If the Squawkbox is right they hate him as much as the majority of the labour party seem to.
superbly surmised Mike.
predictive text summarised! soz Mike
This, and other articles written by Jonathan Cook put the A/S claims in perspective.
Anti-semitism is cover for a much deeper divide in Britain’s Labour party
21 February 2019 – JONATHAN COOK
Breakaway MPs hope that smearing Corbyn will obscure the fact that they are remnants of an old political order bankrupt of ideas
Middle East Eye – 20 February 2019
https://www.jonathan-cook.net/2019-02-21/anti-semitism-divide-britain-labour-party/
The anti-Semitism offensive orchestrated against Jeremy Corbyn
8 May 2018 Jonathan Cook
For months, a campaign has been aimed at destabilising British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, accusing him of anti-Semitism. The right-wing of his party, Tony Blair’s heirs, and pro-Israel circles are targeting both Corbyn’s left-wing line and his support for the Palestinian people
https://www.jonathan-cook.net/2018-05-08/anti-semitism-jeremy-corbyn/
Labour Party claiming dissatisfaction with its handling of allegations of anti-Semitism. load of tosh they greedie bunch of traitors who really shouldn’t be in this party
Tom Bower’s muck-spreader on JC is full of people’s opinions but without all that tedious supporting evidence. There is no Notes section at all.
Did you know that TB’s parents were Jewish Czech refugees from the Nazis? Surely, just a coincidence…
Have you got a link?
First, there is no such race called palestinian, or a place called palestine. They are muslims given the land by Israel for peace, a peace Israel has never had. These muslilms have no right to the land and Israel is not stealing land, or anything else, nor are they bombing kids. hamas the terrorists often put women and children in harms way in order to blame Israel. hamas hide behind women and children. Israel supplies free electricity, food and water, and medical care. There is not apartheid in Israel either. Shivers, you might want to get your facts straight and stop falling for muslim propaganda.
Wow. I’m amazed to see so many falsehoods grouped together at the same time. I take it this comment was for comedy value. A quick glance at history will put you straight if not.
There is also no Jewish race, according to several Jews, some prominent. Also, a visual examination will confirm that Jews are comprised of no single race, thaty is, of course, if you subscribe to the concept of race. With that in mind, what, exactly, are you saying about Palestinians? I’m not aware that anybody said that Palestinians were a race.
“No such place as Palestine” – it is claimed. Then how is it that Pinhas Rutenberg (of the Concessions) took pride in being the first Palestinian passport holder?
‘Rutenberg also became the first Palestinian citizen under the British Mandate, after the British had enacted a law creating Palestinian citizenship in 1925. Rutenberg received his citizenship papers in January 1926.’
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinhas_Rutenberg#In_Palestine.
Why did he call his company The Palestine Electric Company?
It never ceases to amaze me just how ignorant zionists are of the history of Palestine.
Israel does nasty things but the bad behaviour of the Palestineians is to blame for most of that.
No.
Think.
Nobody is in the right on the Israel-Palestine question. It’s just that Israel – as the far more powerful of the two – is more in the wrong. All you have to do is look at the casualty figures to see that. Palestinians throw rocks at the fence/wall the Israelis have built to fence them in and the IDF shoots their legs off. And you justify that by saying “But the bad behaviour of the Palestinians”. No. Have a sense of proportion please.
I don’t see how Palestinians are in any way to blame for anything regarding the Palestine-Israel question.
Meanwhile Mike, have you seen what’s going on in the USA?
https://theintercept.com/2018/12/17/israel-texas-anti-bds-law/
Then there’s this:
https://www.mintpressnews.com/the-senate-just-quietly-passed-a-free-speech-busting-anti-bds-bill/254408/
Makes you wonder, no?
Jim
I’m wary of vote-rigging. If there’s an election and this group hadn’t appeared it would be impossible to steal the win from Jeremy because his support is so strong, but this ‘split’ may be a way to claim the Labour vote was divided enough to stop Jeremy from winning. I don’t trust them at all as they’re so desperate to stop socialism.
They won’t steal Labour’s vote share.
They might steal some of the Tories’, though.
Especially given that none of them sees it necessary to fight a by-election. What do they stand for? We know what they don’t stand for but why should anybody vote for them? All the more reason for them to fight a by-election. IF they were my M.P.s, I’d be furious! Centre Party? What IS the Centre? EVERYBODY is claiming the Centre, right now!
There has been a concerted effort to get rid of Jeremy Corbyn, ever since he was nominated for the £abour leadership. This is but the last in a catalogue of, thus far, failed attempts. This is SO obvious! It will, sadly, do perhaps irreparable harm to the Party and its election prospects.
If anti-Semitism, within the Party, is as bad as it is claimed, the question must be asked, why? Given the attitude of some, “I say it is, therefore it is,” how much of what is reported actually IS anti-Semitism and how much is something else? I am not dismissing these claims, because I was not present but am trying to understand, because to me, none of this makes any sense. Many of the media examples, I do not see as anti-Semitic yet were reported as such. Also, the fact that I was unaware that most of these people were Jews (why should I know?), I am more than a little suspicious.
From the code of conduct of Members of parliament:
13. Members shall fulfil conscientiously the requirements of the House in respect of the registration of interests in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. They shall always be open and frank in drawing attention to any relevant interest in any proceeding of the House or its Committees, and in any communications with Ministers, Members, public officials or public office holders.[4]
Surely they either disclose funding or are not part of parliament.
Their funding is being channeled to them through a private limited company, which has minimal reporting obligations by law. All they need to do is to cite the company as a source of funding but that says nothing about who is giving funding to the private company. The Tories use similar stratagems to hide their sources of funding too.