Nothing To Gain, Everything To Lose by Les May

A JEWISH lady by the name of Jenny Manson had an interesting message left on her answerphone which went as follows, "You fucking Nazi bitch… You should burn in the gas oven. You dirty fucking bitch… Stinking, stinking swine… You deserve … to burn in acid." Even more interesting is that the police tracked down the caller and found him to be a middle-aged Jewish man. He was formally cautioned for the offence of malicious communications in May 2019.

Manson it seems is ‘the wrong sort of Jew’. Her crime is that as a co-chair of Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) she draws attention to the fact that there is a diversity of opinion amongst British Jews both about the level of anti-semitism in the Labour party and about the behaviour of the government of Israel towards Palestinians.

In November she was interviewed by Kirsty Wark about the decision to readmit Jeremy Corbyn to the Labour Party. According the Jewish Chronicle there were ‘complaints logged with the BBC by Jewish campaigners angry at Newsnight’s decision to invite Ms Manson onto the show only a few weeks after the appearance of another leading figure in JVL Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi.’

Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi was suspended from the Labour party a few days ago. Her crime? There were complaints that she had made some members ‘uncomfortable’ perhaps because she had said, ‘The idea that Jewish people require for their comfort that whole swathes of subjects should not be debated by the membership of this party is insulting to Jewish people.’

The Labour party bars everyone suspended or investigated from sharing any details of their cases. But we do know that Wimborne-Idrissi is not the only Jewish member of the party to have been suspended or investigated on accusations of anti-semitism. The figure now seems to be more than twenty, and includes a significant proportion of the members of the JVL committee. Commenting on the psychological impact on Labour party members who have received Notices of Investigation. She has said: ‘It is Kafkaesque, You are not told who is accusing you. And you are not allowed to discuss it with anyone. So you receive this devastating letter – and are immediately isolated.’

We can gain some insight into what is going on from a comment made about her; ‘She can marry whomever she pleases and hold whatever ideological stance she finds attractive. Naomi Wimborne was free to marry a Muslim, and become Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi... But, given her life choices, is Naomi really in a position to talk publicly as if she is representative of British Jewish identity?’

Some people might find the comment implicitly offensive or suggest it verges on ‘racism’. But the real import of it, as with the complaints to the BBC about interviewing two members of Jewish Voice for Labour on Newsnight, is that it is an attempt to silence people who will not accept that the views presented in Jewish Chronicle and by the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM), are representative of those of all British Jews.

In addition to Jewish Voices for Labour there are a number of other organisations, Independent Jewish Voices, Jewish Socialists’ Group, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Manchester Jewish Action for Palestine, Free Speech on Israel, which are equally representative of the views of British Jews. The JLM organisation differs from these other Jewish organisations because it has what Jewish Voices for Labour has called a ‘profoundly Zionist orientation’ and seems to be unwilling to be in any way critical of the treatment of Palestinians by the state of Israel.

So anxious is JLM to control the narrative around accusations and definition of anti-semitism, and by inference around Labour’s attitude to the treatment of Palestinians by the state of Israel, that in April 2018 it asked for, and received, a guarantee that JLM would remain Labour's only Jewish affiliate, after suggestions that Jewish Voices for Labour might be allowed to affiliate.

The Jewish Chronicle has described JLM as a 'gathering-place for moderates concerned about the direction the party is taking under Mr Corbyn' and JLM has changed its rules to facilitate this by allowing non-Jews to have affiliate membership so providing a base for attacking him. But the fact that so many Jewish members of the Labour party have been accused of anti-semitism suggests to me that what we are seeing is Labour being the battleground chosen by the Zionist oriented JLM to drown out the voices of protest from other non-Zionist oriented Jews. Corbyn was a reluctant accessory to this; Starmer, Nandy, Long-Bailey and Rayner have jumped in with both feet and embraced it by signing up to the ‘Ten Pledges’ I have written about previously.

Is it not absurd that a definition of anti-semitism is being adopted by the Labour party which can be used against Jewish members on the basis of complaints made by other Jewish members and organisations, some of which like CAA, (Campaign Against Antisemitism) are utterly pernicious and adopt dubious tactics to discredit their opponents? Labour has nothing to gain and everything to lose by allowing this battle to be fought on its territory. Blackmailers always come back for more.

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An Everyday Story Of Virtue Signalling

by Les May

I FIND it difficult to have much sympathy with Maxine Peake and Rebecca Long-Bailey.  Both seem to have been keen to be seen to be ‘on the side of the angels’ with regard to the murder of George Floyd and it has backfired spectacularly.  It must have come as an especially big surprise to Long-Bailey who in February of this year declared herself to be a ‘Zionist’

http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.com/2020/02/will-they-never-learn.html

http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.com/2020/02/tail-succeeds-in-wagging-dog.html

Peake may have had to admit that her assumptions were wrong about where Minneapolis police force learned their brutal tactics, but it interesting to pose the question of whether there would have been this much fuss had she claimed that it was the South African or Chinese police who acted as mentors.

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/maxine-peake-interview-labour-corbyn-keir-starmer-black-lives-matter-a9583206.html

I think not!

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Ken Loach forced out of charity competition following Zionist lobbying!

Film Director Ken Loach

The 83-year-old film director Ken Loach, has been forced to withdraw as a judge in the 2020 School Competition run by the anti-racism charity 'Show Racism the Red Card'(SRtRC).

At the beginning of February the charity announced that Ken Loach and the former children's laureate Michael Rosen were to judge this year's competition which involves thousands of schoolchildren from various schools, producing poetry, drama and films, and other creative work, on combatting racism. The Chief Executive of the Charity and its trustees, said that both Loach and Rosen, were ideally qualified to choose the competition winners.

Rosen and Loach were then subjected to a torrent of abuse and an aggressive campaign - both on-line and in print - making allegations of baseless anti-Semitism, particularly directed at Ken Loach, who for decades through the medium of film, has consistently campaigned to expose inhumanity, inequality, and injustice, in films like 'Cathy Come Home' (1966), and 'Kes' (1969), and more recently, 'I Daniel Blake' (2016).

Among those who demanded the removal of Ken Loach as a competition judge, was the 'Board of Deputies of British Jews'. But during discussions between Loach and SRtRC, it became evident that the charity had been the subject of an aggressive campaign to persuade trade unions, government departments, football clubs, and politicians, to cease funding and supporting the charity and its work. It is understood that behind the scenes pressure threatened to wreck not only the competition and the charity's existence, but the reputation of Ken Loach. It is also alleged that members of the charity's staff were insulted and threatened along with members of Loach's family who were subjected to personal abuse on-line.

More than 200 eminent public figures, including Eric Cantona, Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Mark Rylance, the film director, Mike Leigh, and Steve Coogan, have come out publicly in support of Loach. Steve Coogan said:

"His entire career has been to shine a light on the plight of the dispossessed and the disenfranchised. His films give a voice to the voiceless...Ken Loach's legacy will remain long after his critics have gone."

The allegations made against Ken Loach, stem from his support for pro-Palestinian Labour party members who have been accused of anti-Semitism and are directly linked to the attempt to redefine anti-Semitism and conflate it with any criticism of Zionism and Israel's treatment of the Palestinian people, as the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, seeks to do.

For decades, Loach has been seen as something of an hate figure for Zionists and a thorn in their side. In 1987, the play 'Perdition', written by Jim Allen and directed by Ken Loach, which dealt with the alleged collaboration between the Zionist movement in Hungry and the Nazi's, was cancelled on the day before the first preview performance at London's Royal Court Theatre, following outside pressure on the theatre to cancel all performances of the play. Loach told a newspaper that he "hadn't tangled with the Zionist lobby before" and "what is amazing is the strength and organisation and power of the lobby."

Zionism & the State of Israel

  by Martin Gilbert

Israeli citizen humiliating refugees in Tel Aviv

I WAS brought up in a fairly pious Jewish family.  It might be assumed that all Jews are Zionists. Not so.
 

The idea of a State of Israel, known as Zionism arose around the 

1880’s-1890’s. Pre 1914 Palestine had Jewish settlements inspired 

by a range of political ideas. 

There were socialists, communists and anarchists.  The right wing 

Jewish Chronicle tagged those activists as not being proper Jews.  

A stance that paper holds to-day.  Below, some historical detail is offered.

Post 1918, following the end of the Ottoman empire Palestine 

became part of the middle east “carve-up” by French, British and 

other powers. 

Oil interests also grabbed a slice.  We now have two contestants. 

One, totally bent on Israel’s destruction because the Palestinian 

people are controlled by opportunists and fundamentalists.  

They do not represent the constituents they claim. Israel too has its 

share of fundamentalists and opportunists holding power.  

But they have a 21^st century sophistication, quite lacking in the 

Palestinians. 

Both peoples want to get on with life, having a peace that is not imposed by militarism.

After 1945 in Europe, there were many people displaced by the war. Jews were a significant number. 

The Zionist propaganda at that time claimed “a land without people for a people without land”. 

It ignored the Palestinians.  

Following various events they were confined to an increasingly small area.  

It has been known as Gaza or the Jordan Valley.  It’s ground water and other water resources have been much reduced by the best irrigation engineers in the world: the Israelis.  Another reason why the so called “two state solution” is impossible.

Over the decades much international opinion has condemned Israeli colonialism in their treatment of the Palestinians.  Ever increasing settlements by Israel continue to complicate the situation and make it worse.  But too often such international opinion has been toothless.  Any criticism of Israel has been attacked by the right as anti semitic.

Recently, Donald Trump said that Israel should take over the Jordan valley.  He is supported by the Christian right. 

They believe that Jews should have the same geopolitical borders 

they had in Biblical times. 

But some Jews in America, the U.K. and Israel have said Trump considerably adds to the problems.  Consistently, the magazine 

Jewish Socialist have given detailed reports, supporting that opinion.

Under South Africa’s apartheid system Black Africans had to have passes to work in white areas.  Also, they were forced to live in specific areas called Bantustans.

The so called “two state solution” is no answer.  At best the 

Palestinian state would only be like a Bantustan: still controlled by 

fundamentalists. 

A distant idea is that all Palestinians should be integrated into Israel and areas that have have been stolen from them.

Recent statements by the Chief Rabbi add to the confusion and miss information.  He gives the impression that “the Jewish

community” is of one, monolithic structure, just one opinion.      

It’s rather like an Arch Bishop claiming to speak for all Christians. Lessons can be drawn from the struggle against apartheid.  

Truth and reconciliation groups have made much progress.  South

Africa still has serious problems but there is no perfect answer.

martin gilbert, November 2019

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Waterstones cancel the book launch

https://azvsas.blogspot.com/2019/11/book-review-for-book-zionists-tried-to.html

Book Review for the Book The Zionists Tried to Ban - Bad News for Labour UCL Backs Off Speech Restrictions at the Book Launch for  The Responsibility of Intellectuals   Reflections by Noam Chomsky and othe...

AS you may recall, this book by 5 distinguished academics – Greg Philo, Mike Berry, Justin Schlosberg, Antony Lerman and David Miller – was due to have its book launch in Brighton on September 23^rd during the Labour Party conference.

However a barrage of abuse from the Zionists and the normal accusations of ‘anti-Semitism’, ‘baiting the Jewish community’ (trans. disagreeing with Zionists) led Waterstones to cancel the book launch at the last minute.  Their Head Office took the decision to overrule the local store. The pretext was a lack of professional organisation. James Daunt, their CEO, who I spoke to during this affair, insisted that this was the only reason but it was so obviously not true that he has subsequently admitted that the cancellation was a mistake.  Waterstone’s have promised to reschedule the book launch which we await with baited breath.

What this demonstrates, along with the attempt by University College London to impose restrictions on the October 29^th book launch for The Responsibility of Intellectuals – Reflections by Noam Chomsky and other intellectuals is that freedom of speech is under attack by the Zionist lobby and its neo-liberal friends in this country. 

Professor Chris Knight, one of the authors, wrote to me two weeks before to say that the 5 restrictions below were being placed on the launch by UCL authorities.  I responded by saying that they must refuse to comply.  If necessary the book launch must take place on the steps of UCL.  The McCarthyites must be forced to back down.

I’m pleased to say that Chris and others took my advice and faced with the ensuing embarrassment the university authorities backed down.  You only have to look at the five restrictions to see how unacceptable they are.  Once again we see how the Labour Party ‘anti-Semitism’ smear campaign has spread outwards.  Here are the 5 restrictions that UCL were forced to abandon:

1.     Suggestions (overt or implied) that Jews as a group or particular sections of the British Jewish community invent, exaggerate or “weaponise” incidents of antisemitism for political or other benefit

2.     Suggestions (overt or implied) that Jews as a group or particular sections of the British Jewish community exploit or exaggerate the Holocaust for political or other benefit

3.     Use (overt or implied) of “dual loyalty” tropes relating to Jews as a group or particular sections of the British Jewish community and the State of Israel – for example that they are “controlled” by Israel or are working on behalf of Israel to the detriment of Britain

4.     Suggestions (overt or implied) that antisemitism is a less toxic form of racism than any other and/or that Jews are less vulnerable to discrimination than other minority groups

5.     Repetition (overt or implied) of antisemitic tropes relating to Jews and money and/or Jewish financial involvement in historical events or injustices – for example that Jews financed wars, slavery, etc

All 5 are contentious:

1.       The idea that Jews (they mean Zionists) don’t weaponise anti-Semitism is laughable.   That is all the Board of Deputies and groups like the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism do!  If you want proof you only need look as far as the front page story in the Jewish Chronicle this week which states that: 

“The vast majority of British Jews consider Jeremy Corbyn to be an antisemite. In the most recent poll, last month, the figure was 87 per cent.”

Northern Zionists Score Spectacular Own Goal!

by Chris Draper

WHEN “North-West Friends of Israel” (NWFOI) and other assorted Zionists tried to provoke a city-wide boycott of an “Interfaith Conference for Palestine” they got more than they bargained for when their bigoted and abusive behaviour was exposed and denounced by Chester community leader Roderick Heather MBE.

The free entry, open-to-all conference was due to begin at St Columba’s Church, Chester on 1^st November 2019 but forty-eight hours before it convened a wolfpack spearheaded by NWFOI and led by Anthony Dennison and Raphi Bloom, bombarded Chester’s numerous church halls and community venues with telephone calls, emails and social media messaging all warning them not to host this conclave of “Anti-Semites, Holocaust Deniers and Hate-Speakers”.  Unfortunately for the bigots after they succeeded in bullying the Bishop of Shrewsbury into cancelling the church booking the Conference found an ideal alternative at Hoole Community Centre where the Chairman of the Trustees, Roderick Heather courageously withstood a barrage of intimidatory NWFOI communications.

Unlike the local Labour MP Chris Matheson who ignorantly obliged local reporters with prejudiced and ill-informed comments of the “We don’t want holocaust deniers in our town” type, Roderick Heather actually took the trouble to attend the conference as an observer and judge for himself whether this was indeed an anti-semitic event or rather, a free, open-minded conference which included criticism of Israeli State policy.

After spending a day at the Conference, Mr Heather informed those attending that he was very impressed by the content of speeches, quality of discussion and conduct of the meeting and assured everyone present that they would always be welcome to return to the Hoole Centre.  This contrasted with his conclusions about the behaviour of the NWFOI and to them he addressed the following message;

“Your intervention (and the various other coordinated extreme ones we received today) did nothing to help foster good community relations here in Chester or to improve the understanding and sympathy for the Jewish cause nationally in the UK.  The ill-informed and bigoted telephone and social media campaign that we have witnessed today is a disgrace.  It was unfounded and unnecessary and has done your cause much harm. Be aware that I am ensuring that as many people as possible (locally and nationally) are made aware of the vitriolic, verbal bullying we have been subjected to today.”

Roderick Heather MBE

Chairman Hoole Community Trust

The North’s Zionist lobby is demonstrably determined to intimidate anyone who sticks their head above the parapet and criticises Israel.  The tactic is to conflate criticism of Israel with anti-semitism. Jews who criticise Israel (like those who attended the Chester conference) are branded “self-hating Jews” and dismissed. Archbishop Tutu describes Israel as an apartheid state but merely to agree with him is sufficient grounds for anyone to be expelled from the Labour Party.  Free speech is a precious commodity that’s found a friend in Mr Heather and sinister enemies in NWFOI.  Perhaps Mr Dennison, Mr Bloom,  Mr Matheson or the Bishop of Shrewsbury would care to reply and offer a justification for their appalling behaviour but I rather think not for they evidently fear quiet, honest, open, reasoned debate.

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Angela Rayner prostrates herself before Board of Jewish Deputies!

Angela Rayner MP at the Board of Deputies Chanukah Party

The MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, Angela Rayner, who is a member of Labour Friends of Palestine, recently addressed a meeting of the 'Board of Deputies of British Jews'. The meeting attended by 150 guests, took place in the Cholmondeley Room in the House of Lords. Ms Rayner's invitation was controversial and did cause disquiet among some members of the Jewish Community. Stephen Pollard, the editor of the Jewish Chronicle, called the invitation an "idiotic, craven and deeply counter productive decision." 

A number of years ago after visiting Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp, Ms Rayner had referred to a quote from the book called the 'The Holocaust Industry' by anti-Israel activist Norman Finkelstein, who had claimed that US Jews had exploited the 'Shoah' for political gain. Rather than defend the quote, Ms Rayner expressed remorse and said she deeply regretted saying this and was certain that she would not use it again. She also told the meeting that those who distorted history by likening Hitler to Zionism, would no longer be welcome in the Labour Party and that Labour would kick racists out of the party. Ms Rayner said she particularly welcomed the expulsion of Jewish anti-Zionist activist, Tony Greenstein, from the Labour Party. Mr Greenstein was expelled from the Labour Party in 2018 for expressing views, that the Labour top brass considered abusive and beyond the pale.

We contacted Mr Greenstein for a response to Ms Rayner's comments at the Board of Deputies meeting and he sent us the following article from his own website.

"Before reading in last week’s Zionist press about Angela Rayner’s attack on me, I had barely heard of the woman. She is not exactly a household name. Nor is she known for her wit and charm.  In an interview just over a year ago she demonstrated her mettle:

“I see myself as soft left. I’m very pragmatic. I’m interested in how we can change lives for the better; how we can we put socialism into practice. Every time we expend energy on fighting each other, we’re letting down the people that need us the most.” READ MORE:

VICTORY FOR COUNCIL WORKER ACCUSED OF ANTI-SEMITISM!

Marxist Stan Keable

I'm pretty sure that one of the things that unites Brexit and Donald Trump supporters, is an abhorrence to what is termed 'political correctness'. People are sick to the back teeth of being told what they can or cannot say or what they can or cannot think by  politically correct dipsticks, and it has led to a kind of reactionary backlash, in both the U.S. and UK. It's a kind of creeping and subtle form of totalitarianism, that is intolerant to free speech.

Christian's who have objected to gay marriage or to gay people adopting children on religious grounds are denounced as homophobic or told they must submit to a kind of 'Maoist' re-education, known as equality and diversity training, or have been dragged through the courts. Parents are told that they cannot exempt their five-year-old tots from classes in same sex relationships and this has led to protests outside schools. 

What lies behind much of this negation in freedom, is the notion that there is a set of liberal social values and language that aims not to offend minorities, is all inclusive, none discriminatory, and which we must all subscribe to, as members of society. Just to suggest that something is sexist, racist, or homophobic, is guaranteed to stop debate dead in its tracks. It's almost as though the lunatics have taken over the insane asylum. And it now applies to the ruckus about anti-Semitism, both in, and outside, the Labour Party. Whereas not long ago, anti-Semitism meant simply hostility to or prejudice against Jews - which is real enough -  it now seems to encompass almost anything that is deemed offensive to the State of Israel and people are losing their jobs, because they have expressed opinions, critical of Israel and Zionism in general. 

In May 2018, I reported on the case of Stan Keable, a London council worker who was suspended by his employer Hammersmith & Fulham Council, after claiming that Zionists "collaborated" with the Nazis. 

Keable, a  Left-wing activist and environmental enforcement officer, had shared a tweet on Twitter in March 2018 while attending a counter demonstration outside Parliament protesting that Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, had been unfairly smeared as an anti-Semite. The Board of Deputies of British Jews, had organised a demonstration against 'anti-Semitism' in Parliament Square. He was removed from his duties as an environmental enforcement officer after writing:

“The Nazis were anti-Semitic. The problem I’ve got is the Zionist government at the time collaborated with them. They accepted the ideas that Jews are not acceptable here.”

A council spokesperson said that Keable had been suspended  while an investigation was carried out and that the council "does not tolerate anti-semitism." His trade union, UNISON, told Stan to plead guilty and to plead mitigation. He was subsequently dismissed and claimed unfair dismissal. 

Although Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights, guarantee freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, and Keable was attending a demonstration in his own free time, Hammersmith & Fulham Council, claimed that Keable had expressed views that were contrary to the Council's "Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy" and the Council's Code of Conduct. The council's charges against him were:

"That, in attending a counter demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament on the 26th March 2018, you knowingly increased the possibility of being challenged about your views and subsequently proceeded to express views that were in breach of the Council’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy and the Council’s Code of Conduct."

"That you made inappropriate comments which were subsequently circulated on social media which are deemed to be insensitive and likely to be offensive and potentially in breach of the Equality Act 2010 and/or the Council’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy."

The Central London Employment Tribunal, recently upheld Stan Keable's claim for unfair dismissal both procedural and substantive. The Judgement has not yet been put online but it took two hours to read out. At the time of writing, it is not known if Stan Keable also intends to take legal action against his trade union UNISON, who have questions to answer.

Are Tameside Labour shackled to the Shekel? Trade Unionists demand to know!

Fadi Abu Salah - Killed Gaza Border Wall - May 2018

IS it any wonder that the public feel disconnected and disillusioned with mainstream politics, when their elected Members of Parliament, choose to ignore questions that they put to them.  According to research done by 'djs research' in June 2015, some 75% of people don't even know who their local MP is, the survey found, and only 6% of Labour supporters, voted for the party because of their local candidate. 

In June trades unionists in Tameside, wrote two letters to a local newspaper, about a visit that two local Labour MPs - Jonathan Reynolds and Andrew Gwynne - made to Israel in May 2018, as part of a delegation of 'Labour Friends of Israel (LFI). This visit coincided with the mass shootings of innocent unarmed civilians at the Gaza border wall by the occupying forces of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). These shooting continue on a regular basis.

They asked through the paper who had paid for this visit? Whether Mr Reynolds (Stalybridge & Hyde), had consulted members of the Stalybridge CLP about his intention to visit Israel and whether they had endorsed the trip and the comments he'd made on Facebook? To date, neither Mr Reynolds or the Stalybridge CLP have responded to their questions.  Members of the Tameside Trades Union Council, have  met with a wall of deafening silence.

Mr Gwynne issued a statement that a holocaust survivor had begged him to visit the holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, Yad Veshem. He did not mention that his expenses were paid by LFI, an organisation of which, he is a former Chairman. The same applies to Mr Reynolds, who also got a free trip to Israel, his fourth visit to the region since 2004. Mr Reynolds is also a former vice-chair of LFI and is currently an LFI officer in Parliament.

According to the Electoral Commission, the cash value of these visits between 27 May - 31 May 2018, was £1,600 for each MP. The donors name was LFI and the purpose of the visit was a "fact finding visit." 

Why both MPs should be so coy about answering these questions and declined to do so, is something they find bewildering, given that Mr Gwynne has a weekly column in the same paper and Mr Reynolds is not denied access. But it does go to show the general disdain with which, the political class treat ordinary members of the public, including trades unionists, who are evidently not worthy of a response.

As to the 'facts', Mr Reynolds has stated that many of the Palestinians who died at the Gaza wall in May, were somehow culpable, because of "their willingness to effectively walk into live gunfire in their desperation..." He fails to mention in his Facebook statement that many of the dead were children, or protesters shot in the back, by sniper fire. One murder victim, was a double-amputee in a wheel chair and other victims, included medics and journalists.

Jolly Jaunt - Reynolds and Gwynne on free trip to Israel

In his Facebook statement Mr Reynolds' added - "Israel is the only real democracy in the Middle East, and the only country where minorities have full equality before the law..." Just what planet does Mr Reynolds live on?

Israel is a country where the Prime Minister can describe Arabs as 'beasts', where Palestinians are prevented from marrying Palestinians outside of Israel and where Israeli Arabs are prevented from living in hundreds of Jewish communities, because the law (Access to Communities Act) allows existing residents to bar Arabs from renting properties there. Two million Gazans, live in the biggest open air prison camp in the world, which is policed by the Israeli's. The Israeli Knesset recently passed the 'Jewish Nation State Law', making Israel officially a racist and apartheid state because only Jews have the right to self determination. Whereas, under the famous 'Law of Return', promulgated in July 1950, every Jew has the right to come to the country, this does not apply to the  Palestinians who fled the country in 1948, to escape the war and Israeli terrorist groups. Just what sort of democracy is this Mr Reynolds?

Israel's existence is predicated on the forced dispossession and expulsion of Palestinians which was, and remains, the means by which the country established and maintains its Jewish majority domination. Discrimination is the essential guarantor of that majority, the preservation of which, is an existential imperative for which reason there can be no right of return for the millions of Palestinian refugees. Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories has now reached its 51st year despite being a flagrant violation of international law and an obstacle to peace. The Israeli's continue to expand illegal Jewish settlements on the West Bank and pursue a policy of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

Razan al-Najjar -Palestinian nurse- killed Gaza Wall 2018

On 23 December 2016, UN Security Council resolution 2334, condemned Israel's settlements on the West Bank  and demanded that Israel - "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and seeks a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

In January 2017, the Israeli Embassy official Shai Masot, was caught on camera plotting to "take-down" UK MPs who were pro-Palestinian. Masot had links with, and was sending funds to various groups, including the 'Fabian Society', the 'Jewish Labour Movement' and 'Labour Friends of Israel'. This undercover sting operation by the TV network al Jazeera,  showed the extent to which a foreign power (Israel), meddles in the political affairs of this nation and the influence it seeks to exert over some of its politicians.

Both Andrew Gwynne and Jonathan Reynolds, say they are in favour of a 'two-state solution' to the Israeli/Palestine conflict. But when the following motion was moved in the House on 14 October 2014:- 

"That this House believes that the Government should recognise the State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, as a contribution to securing a two state solution", only one Tameside MP, David Heyes (Lab) Ashton-under-Lyne, voted for the motion. So serious were Gwynne and Reynolds about securing a two state solution that they couldn't even be bothered to vote for the motion. Yet, two months before the vote, on August 14, Gwynne who represents Denton and Reddish, wrote in a local newspaper:

"We need to show that we are actually serious about a two-state solution, and we need a proper discussion in Westminster about illegal Israeli settlements as well as Hamas' rocket attacks from schools." 

There have been calls for Labour Party members to end their association with LFI. At the very least, Mr Gwynne and Mr Reynolds (who are sponsored by Unite the Union) should make clear on their elections leaflets their support for LFI and also make clear, how they lobby on behalf of LFI.

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Has Hodge lost the plot over exaggerated claims of Labour anti-Semitism?

Chuka Umuna, Luciana Berger and Tristram Hunt

I wonder what the American playwright Arthur Miller would have made of all this crazy hysteria about anti-Semitism in the Labour Party. It certainly has a touch of the Salem witch trials and McCarthyism about it. Apart from the 'Jewish Chronicle', 'Jewish News' and the 'Jewish Telegraph', does anyone seriously believe that a Corbyn-led Labour government, would pose an 'existential threat' to Jews living in Britain?

Although the Labour MP Ruth Smeeth has claimed that under Jeremy Corbyn, Labour was not a "Safe space for British Jews", a group of fifteen Jewish Labour Party supporters recently wrote to the Guardian about the furore over anti-Semitism. They denied that Jewish people were living in fear of an 'existential threat' as some have claimed and pointed out that Jewish people are not threatened with deportation in this country, death in custody, stop and search, or economic discrimination, that many black and Asian people face on a daily basis.

Yet, Dame Margaret Hodge (née Oppenheimer) the Labour MP for Barnet, who slanderously called the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, a ‘fucking, racist, anti-Semite’, recently said in an interview that when she received a letter from the Labour Party saying  she faced a disciplinary investigation for her insulting remarks, it made her think - ‘What it felt like to be a Jew in Germany in the 3os.’ Hodge said she felt that - ‘they were coming for me’ and it reminded her of what her dad used to say to her as a child:

‘You've got to keep a packed suitcase at the door Margaret, in case you ever have to leave in a hurry.’

Have you ever heard anything more bleedin' ridiculous, talk about milking the holocaust! The Irish writer Brendan Behan would have perhaps understood Dame Margaret's persecution mania. He once remarked - "Others have a nationality. The Irish and the Jews have a psychosis." 

Despite the Nazi slur, Hodge was told that if she apologised, no action would be taken against her. Though disciplinary action was dropped against Hodge, who was a one-year-old when WWII ended - and still acts like she's a one-year-old - after  some Labour MPs threatened to leave the party, a Labour Party spokesman said: 

‘The comparison of the party's disciplinary process with Nazi Germany is so extreme and disconnected from reality, it diminishes the seriousness of the issue of anti-Semitism.’

Despite repeated claims that the Corbyn-led Labour Party, is mired in antisemitism, there has been a distinct lack of evidence to support any such claim. When Labour N.E.C. member Peter Willsman suggested that Jewish 'Trump fanatics' were making up allegations of antisemitism in the party and accused some Jews of "making up duff information without any evidence at all", Jewish community leaders reacted furiously, accusing Willsman of a disgusting rant against the Jewish community. The Board of Deputies, called for Willsman to be expelled from the Labour Party for his "Slur against the Jewish community." To ask where is the evidence? hardly seems, to most reasonable people, to suggest anti-Semitism or a slur on the Jewish community.

While anti-Semitism can be defined as "hostility to Jews as Jews", the term is being used in the most arbitrary of ways to silence critics and political opponents and free-speech. Jackie Walker who is Jewish and was Vice Chair of Momentum, was suspended twice for anti-Semitism, when she claimed that  many Jews including her own ancestors, were the chief financiers of the sugar and slave trade. Ken Livingstone, was suspended from the Labour Party and denounced by some as an anti-Semite, when he suggested that Hitler supported Zionism with the 'Haavara Agreement', signed in August 1933.


Corbyn has said that he's aghast at the spread of anti-Jewish conspiracy theories and would "not for one moment accept that a Labour government would represent any kind of threat" to Jewish life in Britain.


What seems to unite many of those who claim that Labour is mired in anti-Semitism, is they are, by and large, anti-Corbyn. They are horrified  at the very thought of a Corbyn-led  socialist Labour government and would prefer almost anything, even a Tory government. The Board of Deputies of British Jews have criticised Corbyn's links with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and they believe that to de-legitimise the state of Israel is anti-Semitic.


Chuka Umunna, (pictured above), the grandson of High Court Judge, Sir Helenus Milmo, has accused Labour of 'institutional racism'. But he's been criticised for using the anti-Semitism row, to justify his plans for founding a breakaway political party. His former girl friend, Luciana Berger, the Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree (also pictured), is a former Director of Labour Friends of Israel (LFI). She once claimed that she had been spat on at a student conference for being Jewish. Ruth Smeeth, the Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove, since 2015, is a former employee for the pro-Israel lobby group, 'Britain Israel Communications Centre' (BICOM).

According to WikiLeaks, Smeeth was identified by a U.S. embassy diplomatic cable as a "strictly protect" U.S. informant. Her husband Michael Smeeth, was a member of the 'British American Project' (BAP). In June 2016, Smeeth resigned her position in Corbyn's shadow cabinet. Her resignation coincided with 60 co-ordinated resignations by plotters aimed at forcing Corbyn to resign.


In 2004, the Guardian reported that BAP (possibly CIA funded), was essential in the formation of Tony Blair's 'New Labour' and described it as a Trojan horse for U.S. foreign policy. Two years ago (July 2016), Robert Stevens writing on the 'World Socialist Website', claimed that right-wing supporters of Tony Blair were spearheading an attempt to remove Jeremy Corbyn and to set up a new right-wing party in "intimate collusion" with the security services in Britain and the U.S. Stevens claimed that the plotters wanted to reverse the referendum result and re-fashion the Labour Party as a tool to carry this out.


Corbyn and his supporters, such as the union leader Len McCluskey, think that by Labour adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism, they can draw a line under the anti-Semitism row. This is highly unlikely and will probably result in even more accusations of anti-Semitism.

Despite denials that the IHRA definition does not conflate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism, this is disputed by  Stephen Sedley, a former appeal court judge. In May 2017, (London Review of books), Sedley wrote that the definition failed the first test of any definition because "it is indefinite", and posed a threat to free speech. And to talk about anti-Semitism as solely a matter of perception, is according to Sedley, likely raise more questions than it answers.


In his article Sedley wrote that policy was not law and that "criticism (and equally defence) of Israel or of Zionism is not only generally lawful: it is affirmatively protected by law."

He added:
‘Endeavour to conflate the two by characterising everything other than anodyne criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic are not new. What is new is the adoption by the UK government (and the Labour Party) of a definition of anti-Semitism which endorses the conflation.’

The Corbyn witch-hunt is not likely to end with any adoption of a new definition of anti-Semitism and only a fool would think otherwise.

See also:    www,greenswipe.blogspot.com 

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