Gone: Clive Lewis, the only Labour leader candidate who didn’t sign up to hand over his power to the Board of Deputies of British Jews, failed to get enough nominations from fellow Labour MPs. What does that tell us about them?
So now we know who will lead the Labour Party after the three-month election process is over.
Nominations closed on January 13, and five candidates secured enough votes to get through to the next round.
They are: Rebecca Long-Bailey, Lisa Nandy, Jess Phillips, Kier Starmer, and Emily Thornberry.
So we know that the next leader of the Labour Party will be…
The Conservative-dominated Board of Deputies of British Jews.
That’s right. All five of the leader candidates have signed up to the BoD’s 10 pledges to tackle anti-Semitism. One of those pledges – to engage with the Jewish community only through “main representative groups” as defined by the BoD is itself anti-Semitic as it denies a voice to anybody these Tories consider to be the “wrong kind of Jews”.
Other pledges may demand illegal action of the party.
And all five leader candidates have signed up to support all 10 pledges and do whatever the BoD demands.
Oh – and just so you know, at least three of the five candidates to be deputy leader have signed up to the BoD’s 10 pledges too. So it looks like the deputy leadership will be taken by the Board of Deputies of British Jews as well.
This organisation is a group of unelected (and therefore undemocratic), self-appointed political operators with an agenda to make the Labour Party unelectable. It has been succeeding quite well so far, but electing its puppets into leadership positions will put it in an unbeatable position.
So, what’s to be done?
Not a lot, it seems.
The satirists are already mocking the situation, drafting satirical job advertisements describing ways the new leader is likely to abuse their position:
To the best of This Writer’s knowledge, there’s no mechanism for the membership-at-large to reject all candidates chosen to stand in a leadership election by their elders and betters (as they clearly see themselves) in the Parliamentary Labour Party.
And, if you’re a party member, you have to ask: why not? Labour is supposed to be the party in which all members are equal.
But it seems clear that half a million party members are about to be railroaded by a couple of hundred political operators – presumably for reasons of their own.
I’m not currently a member of the party, but if I were, I would be demanding a chance to reject the Board of Deputies’ candidates before they do irreparable damage.
Wouldn’t you?
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Rogues’ gallery: Five of the six Labour leader candidates have signed up to the Board of Deputies’ undemocratic, divisive and damaging list of pledges. Only Clive Lewis has had the good sense to decline (so far) – and he is struggling to get enough nominations from fellow MPs to get on the ballot paper!
This is either an act of unutterable stupidity or a conscious betrayal of the entire Labour Party membership – and four of the five leadership hopefuls have committed it.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews – a self-appointed organisation claiming to represent Jews in the UK, believed to be composed mostly of Conservative voters – has released a list of 10 pledges – in fact demands – its members claim Labour must support “in order to begin healing its relationship with the Jewish community”.
The Board of Deputies has no right to claim that it represents all British Jews; it doesn’t.
As for the list – let’s have a look:
“1. Resolve outstanding cases: All outstanding and future cases should be brought to a swift conclusion under a fixed timescale.”
This is an insult to justice. Cases take as long as they take – otherwise more innocent parties will fall victim to miscarriages of justice, as has already happened in the cases of Jackie Walker, Marc Wadsworth, Chris Williamson and myself, to name only a few.
“2. Make the Party’s disciplinary process independent: An independent provider should be used to process all complaints, to eradicate any risk of partisanship and factionalism.”
And how is that supposed to happen? The Board of Deputies will be certain to demand a veto on any organisation chosen to carry out such work, ensuring that its disciplinary process could not be independent. This demand also conflicts with pledge 7, below. Come to that, it’ll be a neat trick marrying this up with pledge 10.
“3. Ensure transparency: Key affected parties to complaints, including Jewish representative bodies, should be given the right to regular, detailed case updates, on the understanding of confidentiality.”
This is a demand for access to confidential information about party members to be provided to people from outside organisations who may belong to organisations that oppose the Labour Party. I’ve already mentioned the BoD’s apparent preference for Conservative government; who else would want access under this unreasonable demand. And isn’t it contrary to the Data Protection Act?
“4. Prevent readmittance of prominent offenders: It should be made clear that prominent offenders who have left or been expelled from the party, such as Ken Livingstone or Jackie Walker, will never be readmitted to membership.”
This Writer is currently in the process of court action against the Labour Party over its decision to wrongfully expel me. If I succeed, then the party will be legally bound to readmit me, no matter what some third party like the BoD may think. This is simply an attempt to prevent Labour from reconsidering decisions to expel innocent members under false pretences.
First the @BoardofDeputies came for Jackie, who is Jewish. And I didn't protest loudly enough. When they come for me (whose uncle was on Schindler's List) I'll tell them to go screw themselves for having poisoned Jewish identity in this country. Forever. https://t.co/zRVn7vBwuj
So the new Labour and Board of Deputies Party will be EXPELLING anyone who supported @DerbyChrisW. Democracy and free speech has just gone right out the window.
But what happens when the allegations/accusations are made by bad faith actors, for political reasons and are false, Jon? Like the accusations made against @DerbyChrisW . False allegations/accusations need to be called out.
“5. Provide no platform for bigotry: Any MPs, Peers, councillors, members or CLPs who support, campaign or provide a platform for people who have been suspended or expelled in the wake of antisemitic incidents should themselves be suspended from membership.”
This is a blatant attempt to thin out the party, ensuring that it remains too weak to win any future election. All members who were falsely accused have supporters who remain members, but this means anyone saying anything remotely supportive will face automatic suspension and possible expulsion. It is a fascistic attempt to exert control. And if anyone signing up to this pledge becomes leader, it will probably be unnecessary as the exodus is likely to be thunderous. People who have supported me have already indicated their disgust with Labour’s behaviour over the last few years, and a willingness to leave of their own accord.
“6. Adopt the international definition of antisemitism without qualification: The IHRA definition of antisemitism, with all its examples and clauses, and without any caveats, will be fully adopted by the party and used as the basis for considering antisemitism disciplinary cases.”
The man who wrote the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism is on the record as saying that it has been weaponised by hard right-wing characters to demand support for criminal activities by the government of Israel. It was intended to be a working definition and is flawed in that it can be interpreted as demanding that anyone criticising the Israeli government should be treated as an anti-Semite.
See for yourself:
Kenneth Stern, the man who drafted the IHRA definition of antisemitism, says right-wing Jews are weaponizing it.https://t.co/Jj8ZrKAuyb
— Frank Owen's Legendary Paintbrush (@WarmongerHodges) January 12, 2020
“7. Deliver an anti-racism education programme that has the buy-in of the Jewish community: The Jewish Labour Movement should be reengaged by the Party to lead on training about antisemitism.”
So much for “make the Party’s disciplinary process independent”. Labour has, in the past, told members to take anti-Semitism training from the JLM, but those members would be fools to accept it as the JLM has been known to fake evidence in order to get party members expelled.
It is utterly unacceptable to make the #JLM official trainers of A/S.
This is an org where you neither have to be Jewish or belong to the party to be a member of.
“8. Engagement with the Jewish community to be made via its main representative groups: Labour must engage with the Jewish community via its main representative groups, and not through fringe organisations and individuals.”
This is an example of genuine anti-Semitism. The Board of Deputies is trying to ensure that groups representing a more common-sense attitude, like Jewish Voice for Labour and Jewdas, are denied a voice. That’s denying Jewish people a right to self-determination, and it’s a claim that members of this organisation are “the wrong kind of Jew”. Despicable. It’s also undemocratic, of course.
“9. Communicate with resolve: Bland, generic statements should give way to condemnation of specific harmful behaviours – and, where appropriate, condemnation of specific individuals.”
An attempt to turn the anti-Semitism circus that Labour has become into a full-on witch-hunt. The demand for individuals accused of anti-Semitic behaviours to be named is a malicious attempt to blacken the names of people who may be perfectly innocent.
“10. Show leadership and take responsibility: The leader must personally take on the responsibility of ending Labour’s antisemitism crisis.”
The leader has always been responsible for tackling claims of discriminatory behaviour by party members. But this is a contradiction as the Board of Deputies is trying to claim seniority over the party leader – make the leader kowtow to its demands. That is simply unacceptable.
But five out of the six leadership candidates have signed up to it: Rebecca Long-Bailey, Lisa Nandy, Jess Phillips, Keir Starmer and Emily Thornberry.
And deputy leadership candidates Rosena Allin-Khan and Ian Murray has also backed the pledges.
None of these turncoats should be allowed to have any position of authority – at all – in the Labour Party.
Already the move has put people off joining Labour – like Michael Siva, below:
And others both within the party and outside have voiced their outrage:
I'm finding this increasingly hard to believe.@BoardofDeputies release a starkly authoritarian power grab on @UKLabour, and include a targeted smear against @Jackiew80333500, a smear even BBC were forced to resile from. And the candidates just meekly sign it? Seriously?
Dear Keir, I hope that, as you bend the knee, you recognize that 1. There are 285,000 Jews in the UK compared to your 1/2m 2. The @BoardofDeputies represent under 1/3 of them 3. The BoD is not properly elected and mainly supports the Tories 4. They see capitulation as weakness https://t.co/l8NNfs7YmD
you foolish woman you have been BOUGHT by the Board of Deputies and you will lose this because of your own stupidity that is not democracy that is being told wht to do. https://t.co/7fwNNHULC5
— Will Never Vote Labour Again **All Lives Matter** (@Isobel_waby) January 12, 2020
The establishment have planted evidence to fit Labour up for a crime they didn't commit.
— Cathy Higgins #GeneralStrike #ToriesOut🇸🇱🇬🇧🌍 (@JustMeBeingMe4) January 12, 2020
If you are campaigning against anti-semitism in the Labour Party, but not campaigning against anti-semitism in the Conservative Party, you are not campaigning against anti-semitism, you are campaigning against the Labour Party. Not in my name. Yours, a proud anti-racist. https://t.co/70GePVklse
Reflecting on this and I know that it will probably be said that Christians don't face the same discrimination. But my point is about religion and politics.
— Nonny Nay Specific & Limited Criminal 🌹 👊 (@nayright12) January 12, 2020
BofD represent 40,000 people reported on BBCR4news 24/4/18 that they would CHOOSE the Jewish groups ACCEPTABLE TO THEM thus antisemitism within the Jewish community + attempting to quell freedom of speech. Why is a minority group making such demands?https://t.co/vfOSlkmEGo
With respect, Mr Lansman and Ms Long-Bailey, if any of us is accused of something we haven’t said/thought/done we are entitled to defend ourselves – whatever the wrongful accusation is. To expect someone to remain silent and submit to wrongful slurs is to deny their human right!
This is ridiculous, this is about CONTROL and nothing more, a political party is being punished for a crime it didn’t commit, at least, not to the extent the Tory Party, MSM and the BBC inferred. JC did EVERYTHING he could to eradicate AS from the party, whilst the Tories PLAY 1/ https://t.co/wgsL201Awg
There wasn't room to put in this tweet the issue of the Conservative party/government, Johnson and Tim Montgomerie in relation to Orban. Where would that fit in the #TenPledges ? What do Hungary's 100,000 Jews think of Orban and the Tories' fondness for him? https://t.co/06YDkgCYXl
It goes on and on. These probably aren’t even among the strongest examples.
The Board of Deputies – and their Labour-hating allies – are undoubtedly loving the division they’ve caused. If party members elect a leader who supports these pledges, the resulting split could plunge us into far right-wing dictatorship for decades.
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Outdoor oratory: Chris Williamson speaking to the crowd in Brighton on August 8.
You’ll be aware that MP Chris Williamson, suspended from Labour on a trumped-up anti-Semitism charge, had to make a speech in the open air after Brighton venues were bullied out of hosting him, apparently by organisations claiming to represent Jewish people.
It seems representatives of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council rushed to Brighton to protest against his appearance on Thursday evening. We know that protesters were there, taking photographs of Mr Williamson’s supporters without permission (and we should certainly ask who these photographers were and what they intended to do with these images).
Today, I have seen two pieces on Facebook that suggest the hysteria whipped up around this meeting was not only utterly unwarranted but completely unfair.
“With the President of the Board of Deputies and the CEO of the Jewish Leadership Council rushing down to Brighton last night to stop a speech by Chris Williamson MP, you’d think Williamson was about to call for destroying Jewish homes, or stealing Jewish land or denying Jewish human rights, or maiming Jewish protestors. Or perhaps he was about to proudly reveal he’d been a former guard at a concentration camp in Poland several years before he was actually born. But no, he made a speech about fighting racism and capitalism.
”The antisemitism case against Williamson is thin and flimsy at best. Personally, I don’t buy it. Unless “Jew baiting” now means not agreeing with the BoD, which in turn is the ‘new antisemitism’.
”The British Quakers must have been under huge pressure to cancel the Chris Williamson meeting on their premises. Fear of violence must have been a big factor too with calls for protestors to descend on the seaside town. I’m not going to criticise the Quakers as they’ve stood firm against the Board many times before (including on my behalf).
”As usual, the Board and JLC gets worked up about the wrong threats to Jewish interests. When will our Jewish leaders understand what’s really eating away at our Jewish safety and Jewish integrity? It’s taking place on the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem everyday.
”Stand with the oppressed, never the oppressor (no matter who they are). Shabbat Shalom.”
What did he say? That the BoD and the JLC rushed to Brighton to stop an MP from giving a speech that denounced racism?
That seems completely arse-backward to This Writer.
If only we could see the speech and judge for ourselves, eh?
Here it is.
Who are the racists here – Chris Williamson and the crowd who came to hear him talk about challenging racism? Or the Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council and their intimidating adherents?
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Injustice: How many innocent Labour Party members have suffered as a result of false accusations?
Labour has been “letting off” party members accused of anti-Semitism, according to the Board of Deputies of British Jews – but they are deliberately misinterpreting party policy.
Still, what can we expect from an unelected self-interest group?
The claim is that Labour’s own disciplinary process shows that members can avoid punishment – by apologising and agreeing to take part in education to show why their actions were wrong.
And why shouldn’t they be excused from suspension or expulsion, if they know they have done wrong, have accepted it, and are willing to learn, so they don’t do it again, even inadvertently.
The Board of Deputies, it seems, wants all offenders to be driven out of the Labour Party, no matter whether they have accepted and apologised for wrong-doing or not. That is unreasonable.
Still, what can we expect from a predominantly right-wing – Tory-dominated – group? It seems to me that this demand springs from a desire to weaken the Labour Party, rather than any wish for justice.
And in any case, there is plenty of opportunity for injustice in Labour’s system as it is.
I was accused of anti-Semitic behaviour on several occasions, based on false allegations by that fake charity, the Campaign Against Antisemitism.
One or several of its members had concocted a press release in which they mangled my words in a bid to claim hatred of Jewish people where there was none.
Accused – and summarily suspended – by Labour, I expected a proper investigation into the truth or falsehood of the allegations against me. I received none.
The party’s attitude was that the accusation against me was proof of my guilt. After I proved that my actions were not anti-Semitic by any accepted definition of the term, the party changed its tune to claim that it did not matter, because my words had caused upset, and that was enough.
(It isn’t enough. And, as the party could not produce anybody who claimed to have suffered such upset, no such person legally exists.)
I was initially offered reinstatement, if I apologised and accepted education on anti-Semitism – in line with the policy against which the Board of Deputies is now protesting.
I refused it because I had done nothing wrong and Labour’s investigation had been a farce.
But because the party’s disputes team had already made up their collective mind that I was guilty, I was subjected to another farce when my case was heard by the National Constitutional Committee.
That was the day it earned its derogatory nickname of “National Kangaroo Court”. It is clear that nobody who enters such a hearing may expect anything even approximating justice.
In fact, the entire procedure shames the Labour Party to the deepest level, and all those who defend it – from the lowest party official posting out suspension notices to the NEC, NCC and the general secretary.
All these people have been complicit in huge harm to the livelihoods and reputations of those whose names their decisions have besmirched.
In the light of these facts, Board of Deputies’ president Marie van der Zyl’s claim that “Labour’s disciplinary processes still seem to be more geared towards protecting antisemites than protecting Jews” is silly childishness.
The process is not a “‘get out of jail free’ card for racists,” as she claims. It is a mechanism to persecute the innocent.
So, by rights, I should be in favour of the now-much-touted demand that Labour turn over its disciplinary system to an independent organisation.
But here’s another stumbling-block: When Labour offered me the chance to apologise and take a course on anti-Semitism, the people running that course would have been the Jewish Labour Movement.
That would be the same Jewish Labour Movement whose members secretly recorded Jackie Walker when she attended a “safe space” meeting (meaning attendees had been promised freedom to discuss anything, without their words being used against them), and then used her words against her by passing a version of that recording on to the press.
I would describe that behaviour, at the very least, as untrustworthy. Wouldn’t you?
The Jewish Labour Movement has been highly-critical of the Labour Party in the past, as have the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council, all of whom have endorsed the call for an independent investigation/disciplinary process.
Perhaps they intend to demand that they should carry out such a process?
Whether they do or not, they must certainly never be allowed to do so.
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Marie van der Zyl: Unelected, unrepresentative, right wing. Why should any Labour Party member, let alone its representatives, pay any attention to her?
When I heard that the essentially Tory Board of Deputies of British Jews has again called Labour “institutionally anti-Semitic” I had to smile.
It suggests that the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is unlikely to say the same after its investigation into Labour concludes – so these right-wingers are getting desperate.
It’s hardly surprising, really. The inquiry into Labour anti-Semitism would have to find evidence that the party habitually discriminates against Jewish members for no other reason than because they are Jewish.
This means, for example, that Jews would be specifically required to identify themselves as such in applications for party membership, and would have to be excluded from certain activities – such as candidacy for election – because they were Jewish.
I wonder how Louise Ellman would square that with her own position as a member of Parliament?
For a handy list of other requirements, see this article.
In fairness, we should not expect the Board of Deputies to treat such considerations with much respect – all of its members are appointed, not elected, and while they claim to speak for all British Jews, ultra-orthodox synagogues are not affiliated and Jews who are not affiliated to synagogues have no representation at all.
It is not a democratic organisation and as such is poorly-placed to criticise one.
Also criticising Labour is the Jewish Leadership Council – a charity which has been criticised for claiming to act for Jewish interests in the UK, it is self-appointed and unaccountable.
This criticism has come from major Jewish Organisations including the Jewish National Fund.
So when the JLC says, “The Labour Party currently attracts anti-Semites and repels Jews… It is the undeniable truth,” we can only conclude that it is what the vested interests in that organisation want you to believe, rather than any empirical “undeniable truth”.
Isn’t it time these organisations came clean?
They are taking issue with one of the largest democratic organisation in Europe, but they are not democratic themselves; in fact they claim to represent a constituency that has disowned them to a large degree.
Perhaps newspapers like the Metro should ignore these organisations until such time as they reform themselves into bodies that truly stand for all the people they currently only claim to represent.
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Jeremy Corbyn with Chris Williamson during an election campaign event in Derby in 2017.
The letter that follows was published very briefly on the Guardian‘s website, and then removed.
It was written by left-wing Jews who support the case that Chris Williamson, himself a long-term supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, is not the anti-Semite that his enemies have claimed he is.
Its removal is a statement of opposition to both Mr Williamson and Mr Corbyn.
Apparently the person who had organised the letter had sent the wrong list of signatories. This allowed the right-wing, unelected Board of Deputies of British Jews to demand that it be censored.
One wonders what these people are afraid of.
Here’s the letter in full – fortunately Pride’s Purge was able to save a copy and publish it, so we can all see what these good people had to say. I’ll omit the list of signatories, apart from those who drafted the letter.
Jewish Statement: Reinstate Chris Williamson
We the undersigned, all Jews, are writing in support of Chris Williamson and to register our dismay at the recent letter organised by Tom Watson, and signed by parliamentary Labour party and House of Lords members, calling for his suspension.
Chris Williamson did not say that the party had been “too apologetic about antisemitism”, as has been widely misreported. He correctly stated that the Labour party has done more than any other party to combat the scourge of antisemitism and that, therefore, its stance should be less apologetic. Such attacks on Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters aim to undermine not only the Labour party’s leadership but also all pro-Palestinian members.
The mass media have ignored the huge support for Chris both within and beyond the Labour party. Support that includes many Jews. The party needs people like him, with the energy and determination to fight for social justice. As anti-racist Jews, we regard Chris as our ally: he stands as we do with the oppressed rather than the oppressor. It should also be noted that he has a longer record of campaigning against racism and fascism than most of his detractors.
The Chakrabarti report recommended that the party’s disciplinary procedures respect due process, favour education over expulsion and promote a culture of free speech, yet this has been abandoned in practice. We ask the Labour party to reinstate Chris Williamson and cease persecuting such members on false allegations of antisemitism.
Noam Chomsky MIT, Norman Finkelstein Lecturer and writer, Ed Asner Actor, Prof Richard Falk Princeton University, Leah Lavene, Jenny Manson Jewish Voice for Labour and more than 100 others.
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Lucy Powell: What stronger argument for mandatory reselection could there be?
What a great team player Lucy Powell really is!
Despite being “100 per cent” on the side of hecklers who shouted “Corbyn out!” at an event last weekend, her mere presence showed that she was in support of the ‘mandatory reselection’ of MPs, a policy that Mr Corbyn’s supporters want imposed across the party.
Because you see, she was attending an event that purported to be a demonstration against anti-Semitism… organised by friends of far-right organisations including the English Defence League and the Football Lads’ Alliance.
That’s not a demonstration against racism – it’s a rally for it!
And Ms Powell was there, along with fellow Labour MP Louise Ellman (representing the Jewish Labour Movement, so we all know where that organisation now stands), and former Labour Home Office minister Beverley Hughes (now Baroness Hughes of Stretford, deputy mayor of Greater Manchester for policing and crime).
Also attending were Marie van der Zyl, current president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mervis.
All of the above clearly thought it was worth standing up with racists in order to attack a man who is not a racist.
How would you describe such people?
Tony Greenstein – another target of the accusers – knows exactly how he would describe them.
In his blog, he states: “This demonstration has nothing to do with anti-semitism and everything to do with supporting Israeli Apartheid. Those organising it stand full square behind a racist ‘Jewish’ supremacist state that bars Palestinians from hundreds of Jewish only communities.
“The EDL, formed by Tommy Robinson aka Steven Yaxley-Lennon, was an organisation of Islamaphobic and racist bigots which managed to combine support for Israel with Hitler salutes. Tommy Robinson himself is popular with Zionists these days and completed a tour of Israel with his Zionist fan Dr Brian.”
He said the organisers of Sunday’s demonstration, the North West Friends of Israel, were deeply involved with the EDL: “In its opposition to Palestine solidarity demonstrations outside the Israeli Kedem shop protest in Manchester in 2014, NWFOI worked with the EDL… As a report at the time observed: ‘NWFOI warmly welcome the English Defence League to their demonstrations.’ The accompanying commentary by Natan Levinson of NWFOI, explained that: ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend.’”
That seems to have been Ms Powell’s justification for attending an event supported by the far-right. She jumped in feet-first, too, as this clip shows:
This is absolutely remarkable.
Corbyn supporters worked flat out – for nothing – to get Lucy Powell elected. Jeremy Corbyn has twice been elected leader of the Labour Party. He’s going nowhere. https://t.co/cadRtFdtrM
Mr Greenstein’s article describes the connection between the EDL and the organisers of Sunday’s event, the North West Friends of Israel. He also states that the Board of Deputies of British Jews said it would never have anything to do with the EDL and its then-leader: “Tommy Robinson’s record of anti-Muslim provocation means that he could never be a partner of a respectable or mainstream Jewish organisation.”
Yet here’s the Board’s president, reeling off a list of lies about Jeremy Corbyn at Sunday’s event.
Here's a cast iron example of people lying about anti-Semitism to attack Jeremy Corbyn.
Corbyn clearly accused a small group of abusive Zionist extremists who were disrupting an Israel-Palestine meeting of not understanding irony, not "all Jews". https://t.co/0V26VdfLZo
This should signal the end of any credibility held by the people named at the top of this article, and the organisations they represent. The reaction on the social media has been damning:
The fact the Board of Deputies are supporting a Festival of Racial Hatred which is organised by ‘NW Friends of Israel’ (aka Tommy Robinson & the EDL!) is all you need to know the #Labour “Antisemitism” stories are BullShit!https://t.co/hQ6MzG8upX
CORRECTION: Was it really appropriate for several @UKLabour MPs to be speaking at a demonstration clearly intended to pillory @jeremycorbyn and the Labour left? A demonstration attended by members of the far-right EDL? @LucyMPowell, @LouiseEllman @IvanLewis_MP. @JennieGenSec
And Jewish Voice for Labour – a group that represents British Jews just as much as the Board of Deputies claims to – made its own disgust at the event, and participation in it by people claiming to represent them, perfectly clear.
In a press release, the organisation stated: “For the last three years there has been a concerted effort to discredit and unseat Jeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Opposition, a man who is quite possibly the most consistent anti-racist leader the Labour Party has ever known.
“This campaign has been led by a coalition of groups which are deeply opposed to Jeremy’s championing of Palestinian rights together with political opponents many of whom have shown little previous interest in combating antisemitism.
“Rather than seeking to oppose genuine anti-Jewish hatred, they have cynically sought to amplify and manipulate the anxieties of British Jews in order to further their political aims.
“Many of those organisations and individuals taking part this Sunday, including Margaret Hodge, Louise Ellman and the Board of Deputies, are the same instigators of the campaign against Jeremy.
“That progressive Jewish organisations, including those supporting Palestinian human rights, were excluded from participating suggests that the organisers and speakers are not acting in good faith.
“For some of the headline speakers, however, the demonstration is not just about antisemitism. Rather it concerns the uncritical defence of some of the actions of the Israeli government whilst giving voice to those who want to remove Jeremy Corbyn, a consistent and principled supporter of Palestinian rights, as leader of the Labour party. We cannot emphasise enough that they do not speak for us.”
Of course – according to some – JVL represent the “wrong kind of Jew”. Look at the reaction this announcement received:
Apparently, Jewish Voice for Labour have been accused of not being Jewish. I can assure people that they are, however. It's just that they don't agree with the Conservative Jewish communities on a few issues… https://t.co/3XparXuhlQ
The evidence is clear. This was a racist event, organised and supported by racists who hid beneath a banner of opposition for anti-Semitism.
Under normal Labour Party rules, Lucy Powell, Margaret Hodge and all the other elected representatives who supported it would get away with such an outrage, free as birds, because constituency Labour parties would have no democratic power to remove them.
They would then be able to continue openly campaigning against a leader who is supported by a clear majority of Labour members, presenting lies about him to the public via an unquestioning (right-wing) media establishment, with an ultimate aim of undemocratically removing Mr Corbyn from office.
But their appearance at this event shows that the current situation cannot be allowed to continue. MPs must support the leader, and the will of the party – or they must be replaced by those who will.
By appearing at this appalling event, Lucy Powell and the others have done the Labour Party a huge service.
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Jeremy Corbyn: He would be spectacularly ill-advised to accept the advice of liars like the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council, and the Community Security Trust.
We’ve been here before.
Remember when Jewish Labour MP Ruth Smeeth lied about receiving thousands of abusive social media messages in a single day?
She claimed in a BBC interview on September 2, 2016, that she had received 25,000 pieces of anti-Semitic abuse since the incident in which she had (falsely) accused Marc Wadsworth of anti-Semitism in June that year – 20,000 in a 12-hour period.
But research by the Community Security Trust showed that over a 12 month period (from October 2015 to October 2016), there were 2.7 million tweets concerning Jews, of which only 15,575 (0.6%) were considered to be antisemitic.
The maximum peaks the CST team found were around 200 antisemitic tweets a day, and that was for the whole UK.
But the CST is one of the Jewish organisations that have written to Jeremy Corbyn, claiming “unfathomably vast” abuse has been received by Jews on social media this summer, due to the row over anti-Semitism stirred up by – among others – the CST.
Contradiction?
Of course.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council, the CST – and others – have created a fake row, with faked accusations of anti-Semitism.
And if real anti-Semitism is rearing its ugly head now, it is only because these organisations have encouraged the perpetrators to believe that they will be safely hidden among the fakes.
It is therefore disingenuous for Board of Deputies chief executive Gillian Merron to say the Jewish community has “no interest in an ongoing dispute with any major political party about the nature of racism against us”, but that her group has to defend the interests of Jewish people.
Her group has deliberately harmed those interests by stirring up this row.
The JLC and CST followed the well-established pattern of conflating Zionism, Judaism and the state of Israel (they are not the same things), claiming that Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party must accept that most British Jews had close ties with traditional Zionism – support for a Jewish homeland – and Israel.
There is no evidence to suggest that this is true.
And this statement is a flat-out lie: “The current obsessive hatred of Israel and Zionism means that no Jew can be an equal member of the Labour party, because even if they pass an initial loyalty/morality test, they still always remain under suspicion, lest they display ‘Zionist’ or ‘pro-Israel’ tendencies,” the letter said. “This is the current experience of Jews in Labour circles. It is an antisemitic environment.”
The claim of hatred towards Israel is not true. Nor is the claim of hatred towards Zionism.
It is possible that people may hate the policies of the current Israeli government, including its interpretation of Zionism which happens to demand the slaughter of thousands of Palestinian civilians for no good reason at all.
There is no evidence to suggest that Jewish Labour Party members who have not already exhibited loyalty to the Israeli government and its version of Zionism (like certain MPs we know) are likely to.
And let’s be honest, if they don’t demonstrate any such loyalty in their words or actions, there’s no reason to believe they have it – so the claim that Jewish members would always remain under suspicion is a lie (or should be).
So all the organisations writing to Labour are lying. What did you expect? None of them are affiliated to the Labour Party and there is plenty of evidence that some of their members have other political loyalties.
It follows, therefore, that their advice to Labour about ways of fixing the issue is useless – worse than useless, in fact. It will only create more opportunities for the kind of mischief that they have already been making.
So, what advice should Labour, and Jeremy Corbyn take?
Simple.
Check all the facts. Don’t accept any claims on face value. Draw your conclusions from verifiable information – not the unevidenced claims of liars.
And act appropriately, on the conclusions you draw.
Leading Jewish organisations have called on Jeremy Corbyn to end the “impasse” over tackling antisemitism in the Labour party, calling the abuse received by Jews on social media during the row this summer “unfathomably vast”.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) and the Community Security Trust (CST) wrote separate letters to Labour’s general secretary, Jennie Formby, accusing the leadership of failing to deal adequately with concerns.
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How silly of Marie van der Zyl to suggest Jeremy Corbyn is “hiding” from having to discuss her overblown claims of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party.
In fact he is on holiday in Somerset.
What – is a man not allowed to have a holiday any more?
There’s no urgency about the anti-Semitism issue. The demand for Labour to adopt all the examples that go with the IHRA working definition of anti-Semitism – which the party has already adopted – is duff. The party’s new code of conduct is better.
And it isn’t as if the party is slacking off its prosecution of cases against those accused of anti-Semitism by Ms van der Zyl’s self-elected Board of Deputies and others of similar political disposition.
I just met the deadline for sending my defence against the ridiculous allegations against me to the Labour Party, and I understand that Jackie Walker expects her own disciplinary hearing before a panel of the party’s National Constitutional Committee to take place soon.
Readers of This Site will be aware that I have no faith at all in any claim by the Labour Party that its investigations are in the interests of justice. The directive from the party’s National Executive Committee to find my guilty, no matter whether the evidence clearly demonstrates my innocence (which it will), is ample justification for that belief.
And of course a Labour representative is on the record as having said the “antisemitism subgroup” of Labour’s National Executive Committee means “we have the potential to kick people out super fast”.
So why is Ms van der Zyl kicking up such a fuss about nothing?
Simple. She is stirring up indignation with fake accusations for political purposes. Can you imagine what those purposes may be?
Jeremy Corbyn has been told to “come out of hiding” in Somerset by an angry Jewish leader.
The President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Marie van der Zyl, has said Mr Corbyn has “seemingly disappeared” since last weekend, when he released a video and comment pieces.
She has repeated a call for Labour to embrace the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism in full.
The leader of the Labour party has been spotted in Somerset cafes and tea rooms this week, as well as reportedly enjoying strolls on the Somerset coast, taking in local tourist destinations and even trying his hand at a spot of lawn games.
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Gratitude is due to the Beast for finding David Rosenberg’s article, showing the undemocratic nature of the organisations claiming to attack Jeremy Corbyn with allegations of anti-Semitism.
Mr Rosenberg demonstrates that these organisations have no right to act as representatives of Jewish people – and are unlikely even to have consulted what they consider to be their constituency before attacking Mr Corbyn.
It seems the reasons for their behaviour have more to do with their own right-wing ideology, rather than any interest in protecting the people they only claim to represent.
See for yourself:
David Rosenberg on Saturday put up a long, excellent piece, arguing that it was time Jeremy Corbyn called the bluff on the various Jewish leaders and organisations trying to topple him. They’re not interested in combating anti-Semitism, only in saving Tweezer’s hide and stopping people criticising Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.
He talks about how, after the latest stupid accusation of anti-Semitism against Corbyn, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He cried, because he thought of the ordinary people of Britain, including a significant number of Jews, who are struggling to cope, thanks to the Tories. He’s also deeply concerned about the plight of the homeless, and considers it ‘criminal’ if the current government of Food Bank Britain, the Windrush Scandal, Grenfell Tower, Zero Hours Contracts and Yarl’s Wood detention centre gets in again thanks to these fake accusations of anti-Semitism.
He describes his fantasy, that one day Corbyn will meet the right-wing Jewish leaders making these accusations, and ask them for their opinion on topics like the renationalisation of the railways. When they reply, ‘We’ll have to consult our community’, he replies that they knew very well, without any consultation, how their community felt about the adoption of the I.H.R.A. definition of anti-Semitism.
And he describes very clearly how unrepresentative the Board of Deputies is of the Jewish community as a whole.
“But he’s got to speak to Jewish leaders – we elected them. Didn’t we? No, very few of us Jews did that. Jewish Leadership Council? Unelected. They just announced themselves. Chief Rabbi? No, appointed not elected. Campaign Against Antisemitism? Where the hell did they come from? Completely unelected. Ah, but the Board of Deputies – some of them are elected. No? Well, in theory, yes. If you are a member of a synagogue you might get a vote, but in some synagogues not if you are a woman. How many elections are contested? What percentage of voters take part? When did your synagogue last change its deputy? What – as long ago as that? And then there are a lot of Jews are not members of synagogues. Hmmm, that’s a problem. And, at the end of the day, decisions of the Board are made by paid officers not ordinary elected members.”
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