Labour Against Zionist Islamophobic Racism

by LAZIR member jezzabeauc

When did Labour MPs suddenly become Zionists and want to be voted in as the new party leader and are the members really happy for this to happen?

Over the past 4/5 years Labour and its members have been assaulted over and over again with allegations of anti-Semitism by the right wing pro-Israel groups within the Labour party and affiliated to Labour. I am, of course, talking about the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM); the Labour Friends of Israel (LFI); the Board of Deputies (BoD) and various other smear campaigners like Gnasherjew, Sussex Friends of Israel and individuals like Z celebrity Rachel Riley. I wrote about this in previous articles titled ‘A Legacy Squandered‘ and ‘Anti-Semitism from one of Labour’s Loudest Anti-Semitism Accusers‘.

Events over the past few days have left me angry and so very disappointed in what the Labour party and the candidates in the leadership campaign have become. I am not alone in this and I think that the time has come for Socialists to stand together and express our disquiet over the direction the Labour party is headed on. There currently seems to be a purge of left wing members from the Labour party especially of those who actively support Palestine. On a single day 25 members were expelled, mainly by the NEC who are fast tracking the so called ‘disciplinary process’ against those accused of anti-Semitism.

A long term Labour party member, activist and Palestine supporter was expelled for allegations of anti-Semitism. Pauline Hammerton was not given the opportunity to defend herself or to face her accusers, she was expelled with no warning. Looking at her facebook posts and Twitter timeline you could see how against all racism she was, and that she was a kind and compassionate lady. She was a victim of the smear campaign and left wing purge and tragically her story ended suddenly when she died a week after her expulsion. There is a strong feeling amongst her friends and social media followers that her expulsion was responsible for her death and, although I am neither a medical doctor or psychiatrist, in my opinion it certainly attributed to her sudden death.

A source for the Labour National Constitution Committee (NCC) has said that 90% of the evidence of anti-Semitism passed on by the Labour National Executive Committee (NEC) has to be discarded due to it having no substance. Despite this fact the NEC continues to fast track expulsions of those accused of anti-Semitism. In the past only the NCC had the power to expel members, and then only after reviewing evidence and assessing material passed on to them by the NEC. To appease the right wing and centrist elements within the Labour party, and outside, who were complaining of the time taken to expel members, the NEC began the process of fast tracking expulsions.

As if this was not cause enough for concern, along with the quick capitulation and signing by all but 2 candidates of the ‘ten demands’ submitted by the BoD, there was a ‘hustings’ for the Jewish community held jointly by the JLM and LFI which was mediated by Robert Peston, the ITV political editor. ( A hustings is a meeting in which candidates answer questions put to them by potential voters). The hustings is not the cause for concern, let me make that perfectly clear before I am accused of anti-Semitism. The cause for concern was what the leadership candidates said when asked if they considered themselves to be zionist. All four of them said that they did consider themselves to be zionists. For those who do not know, Zionists believe Judaism is a nationality as well as a religion, and that Jews deserve their own state in their ancestral homeland, Israel. The only problem with this is that they consider Palestine to be their ancestral homeland despite the fact that it was never called Israel before 1948 or appeared on any maps before then. Anti-Zionism is too often conflated with anti-Semitism and too often this is why people end up being accused of anti-Semitism.

Asa Winstanley writes:”Zionism is the movement that founded the state of Israel in 1948, and remains enshrined in Israeli law and state ideology today.Between 1947 and 1949, Zionist militias and the new Israeli army drove the majority of Palestine’s indigenous population out of the country in order to create a majority Jewish state.The refugees have never been allowed to return solely because they are not Jewish”. Candidates to replace Corbyn denounce him as anti-Semitic (15th Feb 2020)

Both Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy agreed that it was anti-Semitic to call Israel, its policies or the circumstances around its foundation, racist. This would include the 1948 Nakba which was NOT an unintended result of war. It was a deliberate and systematic act necessary for the creation of a Jewish majority state in Palestine, which was mainly Arab prior to 1948. Internally, Zionist Jewish leaders used the euphemism “transfer” when discussing strategies for what today would be called ethnic cleansing. This stance is particularly surprising coming from Lisa Nandy when you consider she is Chair of the Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East (LFPME). If she is truly a zionist and is now pro-Israel then it makes everything she wrote on the LFPME site about her sympathy for Palestinians untrue, and she should resign from her position as Chair. In fact her stance, and RLB’s, go against everything the Labour party once stood for with regards to its manifesto concerning the Middle East. The Labour manifesto stated that Labour would impose an arms ban on Israel over human rights abuses. The manifesto also said Labour would be committed to pursuing a two-state solution and would immediately recognise a Palestinian state.

In my opinion these candidates should be removed from the ballot because their remarks and views go against what the Labour party represents and stands for. Emily Thornberry has already lost her place on the ballot and all three remaining MPs should be removed. Of all the candidates standing for leader and deputy leader, only two have remained true to Labour’s stance on Palestine. Dawn Butler and Richard Burgon both declined to sign BoD’s ‘ten demands’ for which of course they have been attacked and accused of anti-Semitism. The legacy left by Ramsay MacDonald, the trade unions, Nye Bevan, Tony Benn, Dennis Skinner, George Galloway, Chris Williamson and Jeremy Corbyn has now been well and truly squandered and ruined. I despair for the future of Labour and I know it will no longer be truly Socialist and left wing. It has become almost ‘criminal’ to be either a socialist or left wing within the Labour party so if you are either/ both I advise you to watch your backs and maybe leave before you are expelled.

This article is all my own opinion, I have included links so you can check what I have written or do some further reading.

Home

Gnasherjew and Fake Anti-Semitism Claims on Facebook

Gnasherjew, LAAS, Sussex Friends of Israel and their latest tool – “Labour Anti-Semitism Map

Why? (The colonisation of Palestine by Israel and the constant screams of ‘anti-semitism’)

Rachel Riley, Endemol Shine UK and that T-Shirt

Anti-Semitism Smear Campaign Continues Part One

Anti-Semitism from one of Labour’s Loudest Anti-Semitism Accusers

A Legacy Squandered

The campaign group Labour Against Zionist Islamophobic Racism (LAZIR) considers the recent attack by the Chief Rabbi on Labour to be part of an ongoing campaign to prevent a Corbyn-led government being elected that would criticise Israel for its treatment of the Palestinians.

It notes that Labour has been haemorrhaging Jewish support since before Corbyn became leader. It began with his (Jewish) predecessor, Ed Milliband, when he condemned Israel’s August 2014 invasion of Gaza, which killed 2,200 Gazans and wounded over 10,000 more. Israeli-supporting Jews were furious that Labour described this action as “wrong and unjustifiable”. Previously, wealthy Jewish donors had supported Blair and Brown for their pro-Israel stance- and now they were pulling their money out from Labour because it dared to criticise their colony.

LAZIR also notes that Corbyn was clearly identified as a target by Israel in the 2017 documentary “The Lobby”, that investigated the influence of the Israel lobby in the UK. It exposed the strong links between the Israeli Embassy and the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM), which became active in 2015 in response to, as its chair said, “the rise of Jeremy Corbyn”. Here was evidence that the JLM was acting as little more than a front for the Israeli embassy and that the mission it set itself was to weaken Corbyn in the hope of removing him from the leadership. Ofcom rejected complaints that the documentary series was antisemitic or had breached impartiality rules. (JLM was formerly the pioneering Paole Zion, which had participated in the Nakba ethnic cleaning of over 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland.)

Early on, the JLM and other pro-Israel lobbyists understood the most effective way to damage Corbyn and undermine solidarity with the Palestinian cause was to weaponise the charge of anti-Semitism. The Israelis had been working on this since 2004, when their scholars worked with selected Jewish NGOs and academics to create a definition that would set meaningful criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic. The result was the IHRA Definition of anti-Semitism which has been foisted upon millions of UK citizens through its adoption by the major unions and political parties. This wholesale attack on our human right to freedom of expression was orchestrated by Zionists in the UK. On this basis, anyone who states that Israel is a racist endeavour can be labelled anti-Semitic.  Since Israel passed the nation-state law in July 2018 declaring the rights of Jews as being superior to the rights of all others, one can now be called a Jew-hater for simply pointing out the truth.

LAZIR would also like to highlight that the myth of a “Labour anti-Semitism crisis” has been created by a media only too willing to undermine the Labour Party. The volume of anti-Semitism related complaints against Labour members has been cited as evidence that anti-Semitic discourse in the party is commonplace. A March 2019 survey asked the public to estimate the percentage of Labour members against whom anti-Semitism complaints had been made. The average response was 34 percent. In reality, as of July 2019, the proportion of Labour Party members subjected to disciplinary procedures- i.e., summoned for a hearing in response to a complaint, but not necessarily found guilty- amounted to less than one-tenth of one percent. This skewed view is compounded by a media which ignores statements from Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL), who, unlike the JLM, requires full members to be both Jewish and Labour- and who completely support Corbyn.

LAZIR believes the UK’s mainstream media has become so terrified of pressure from the Zionist lobby that it now ignores human rights abuses by Israel as a matter of course. The recent attack on Gaza that left 34 dead, including a family of 9 who just happened to be in a building that Israel considered empty, was ignored by the BBC and hardly reported upon by major news outlets.

LAZIR calls upon the media to reflect upon whose interests it is serving in allowing those from outside the UK to influence the election of our leaders, through promulgating these politically motivated and fraudulent anti-Semitism smears. Telling Jews they are at risk when they are not is fake news and dangerous misinformation. Our democracy is being undermined by interference from Israel supporters– as enacted by Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, a man who defends every bomb that falls on Gaza. Even Tories like Sir Alan Duncan were targeted for supporting Palestine. This election is major for the British people- let’s not let Israel mess it up by smears and slander.

 -ends-

Sources:

Labour funding crisis: Jewish donors drop ‘toxic’ Ed Miliband- The Independent- November 2014

Smoke Without Fire: The Myth of a ‘Labour Antisemitism Crisis’– Jewish Voice for Labour- November 2019

View “The Lobby”: www.tinyurl.com/thelobbyp1

On Sunday 22nd Sept, Labour Party member Pete Gregson had his banner taken down from outside Conference. Why? The police agreed it was not anti-Semitic. When Zionists first started complaining about it, the police photographed it and referred it to their superiors. Not a problem, they said. The banner could stay.

But the Zionists, from the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) and the Sussex Friends of Israel (FoI) were incandescent with rage. Repeatedly they complained and when the police refused to act, they took the law into their own hands. Cllr Joshua Garfield from Newham Council rushed the banner and slashed it in two. The police apprehended him and removed the large sharp scissors he had used and took his details. (Later Garfield boasted about it on twitter.)

Gregson and the Secretary from Labour Against the Witch-hunt repaired it. Yet again it was attacked, ripped in half again by another Zionist. It was repaired again. At this point local hoodlum Simon Cobbs (Founder of Sussex Friends of Israel and ex-resident of HMP Exeter) stood spread-eagled before it and refused to move.

After an hour of this he moved away whereupon another extremist rushed the banner and this time ripped it in several places. On each occasion Gregson repaired the banner and on each occasion the police caught the assailant and took their details.

The police asked Gregson if he would consider taking down the banner; he said he would not do this- he explained this was a matter of freedom of speech; he was in a public space, the banner was not anti-Semitic.

Eventually a group of Zionists stood before the banner and created a scene, arguing and shouting with those who defended the banner, supporters of free speech. At a certain point the police made the decision that a possible public order offence had been committed. They removed the banner and took it away. The police explained that it was now evidence in a potential public order charge.. AGAINST Gregson!.

It would appear the police had been bullied into making a decision into taking his banner on the grounds that HE had committed a public order offence, rather than those who had been harassing and attacking him, calling him an anti-Semite.

Later that day, Jeremy Corbyn waded in. He tweeted “I’m disgusted that this banner was displayed near our #Lab19 conference centre. We asked the police to remove it and I’m glad they did. This kind of antisemitic poison has no place whatsoever in our society.” This brought forward 1,800 responses, many from people who couldn’t see anything anti-Semitic about the banner at all. Even the artist, Latuff, said so. (see them at https://twitter.com/jeremycorbyn/status/1176060705738493952 )

I'm disgusted that this banner was displayed near our #Lab19 conference centre.

We asked the police to remove it and I'm glad they did.

This kind of antisemitic poison has no place whatsoever in our society.https://t.co/YvL3LloYC4

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) September 23, 2019

On the Monday, Gregson attended a voluntary interview at the John Street police station, where he was interviewed under caution with the duty solicitor present. He explained what the banner was about and why he had brought it to Brighton, to promote political discussion on the weaponization of anti-Semitism. He explained about the Al-Jazeera documentary on which the banner was based, “The Lobby”  (tinyurl.com/thelobbyp1 ), which portrayed how Israel funds the take-down of politicians sympathetic to Palestine, using groups such as the JLM and the FoI.

He explained the banner had particular relevance at this time. An election was coming and that once the date was announced, newspapers would be full of accusations of anti-Semitism aimed at Labour politicians who have dared to criticise Israel, in an effort to undermine their vote. Gregson thought it important to point out the role a foreign country was having in British electoral affairs. He concluded by telling the police that he was disappointed in them for undermining his freedom of speech.

The police must now decide if they will ask the CPS to prosecute; it is likely to be months before a decision is made. In the meantime, Gregson will pursue claims of criminal damage against those who attacked his banner and against the police for taking it down, for the Human Rights Act of 1998 – Article 10 protects his right to hold his own opinions and to express them freely without government interference, including through works of art.

The next day, Rabbi Ahron Cohen of the Neturei Karta spoke to Gregson and gave his view that he could not fathom any way that the banner was anti-Semitic.

Many are dumbfounded at Corbyn’s tweet describing it as such. When the film was shown in 2017, its fairness and accuracy was supported by OFCOM and Corbyn called for an investigation, so he knew that Israel pumps millions of pounds into Zionist defamation activities in the UK with the sole aim of shutting down any debate on Israel’s racist treatment of Arabs and Christians.

However, according to the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism adopted by most political parties, to say that Israel is a racist endeavour is now seen as prejudice against Jews. The banner says: “IHRA: tell the NEC how you feel”, because Gregson wanted Labour members to tell the Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to abandon the IHRA definition they adopted a year ago, an action Corbyn himself objected to. Party members are now beholden to a definition whereby any activist criticising Israel as racist becomes an anti-Semite, a plainly ludicrous claim. This enables Zionists to make endless charges of anti-Semitism against anti-apartheid activists.

Most of these accusations come from the JLM, registered as a socialist society affiliated to Labour. Gregson is chair of Labour Against Zionist Islamophobic Racism (LAZIR), a group of Labour Party activists which sees Zionism as racism and who want to end its influence, seeking to get the JLM disaffiliated. At the Conference, they distributed 1,500 flyers to Party members calling for this, highlighting the JLM’s role in undermining any politician who supports Palestine and criticises Israel. (see www.lazir.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/LAZIR-JLM-Leaflet-Conference-2019.pdf )

Corbyn’s pro-Palestine stance has drawn JLM’s ire and they have declared Corbyn “unfit to be prime minister”. They score Labour candidates seeking election according to their level of support for Israel, working with the media to undermine whose whom they don’t like or who support Corbyn. One doesn’t have to be either Jewish or in the Labour Party to be in the JLM.

Labour’s founding planks are fairness, equality and social justice. LAZIR point out that JLM’s sole focus is on protecting Israel, sharing none of Labour’s values in their disregard for Palestinian rights.

Gregson emailed Corbyn in response to the tweet, pointing out the Rabbi’s views and that Corbyn himself had called for an investigation into Israel’s work undermining UK politicians; he had also not supported Labour adopting the full IHRA definition. Gregson copied in all NEC members and drew this response from Jon Lansman: “I do not wish to receive any more of your messages. Your obsessive hatred of those you call “Zionists” marks you out as an anti-Semite. To be clear, you do not have my permission to retain my contact details so please delete them and never contact me again.”

Lansman is Momentum leader and the man responsible for getting the IHRA definition adopted by Labour in 2018. He is a strong supporter of Israel and spent years on a kibbutz. He is also one of the nine CLP reps on the NEC and as such was elected to represent the views of CLP members, including Gregson.  Gregson considers that as his rep, Lansman has to accept that part of his role is to receive communications on Labour Party matters from members.

Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson couldn’t resist wading in as well, saying in the Jewish Chronicle he was furious about this “deliberate intimidation of Jewish Labour members at the conference”. He said “Regardless of where and why it is outrageous to come to a conference of a democratic party and to intimidate people who are just trying to make the world a better place.” Gregson does not consider Watson’s unbridled support for Israel is in any way making the world a better place.

Gregson is now in discussion with solicitors; he will seek redress through the courts. Michael Mansfield QC is interested in the case.

-ends-

See the footage of the police removing the banner at LBC at www.lbc.co.uk/news/grossly-cartoon-labour-conference-removed

.. and lots of media coverage:

Evening Standard Police investigate anti-Semitic banner hung up outside Labour Party conference in Brighton

Mirror Sign taken down in Labour anti-Semitism row after police intervene

Brighton Argus Police investigate anti-Semitic banner hung up outside Labour Party conference in Brighton

Brighton Argus Jeremy Corbyn responds after anti-Semitic banner hung up outside Labour Party conference in Brighton

Jewish News Jeremy Corbyn ‘disgusted’ by ‘antisemitic’ banner at Labour conference

Jewish Chronicle ‘Antisemitic’ material at Labour conference makes Jews feel ‘sick and unwelcome’

Jewish Chronicle Tom Watson: I was going to attack Corbyn’s failure to address antisemitism in my Labour conference speech

The Telegraph Former Labour employees set to sue party for libel over anti-Semitism

Update on the criminal damage with scissors.. Please avoid these people. @sussex_police We gave you the name of extremist Simon Cobbs before the conference started. Please be aware of these people. He is responsible for deeply antisemitic content re our Jewish convenor. pic.twitter.com/sgTaetxvcF

— 'Labour Left Voice' 🔥 (@LabLeftVoice) September 23, 2019

Mike Sivier reported on it too, in Vox- Political, at Confusion over sign removed from outside Labour conference. Was it anti-Semitic? If so, why? and concluded “So – yes. This sign has exposed the issue of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party. Not Labour’s failure to deal with anti-Semitism – but its failure to challenge false accusations and the people who make them. That is Labour’s shame today.“

And here is Redress online, by Israeli Gilad Atzmon A great day for Zion: UK Labour panders to Zionist terror networks and major bookstore censors the truth

And Redress are the only journal to publish Gregson’s tale in full: First-hand account: Zionist terror networks slash and ban banner at UK Labour Party conference

Also in the Weekly Worker of 27th Sept Battle far from won and Gregson’s letter 3rd one in the letters page

Off-Guardian (by Gregson) The Rule of the Mob: Labour Conference Banner Banned, Slashed

Bob Pitt in Medium has uncovered even more: More antisemitism hysteria at Labour Party conference with the same article posted by Jewish Voice for Labour

The Canary Ken Loach nails the ‘biggest threat’ to a Corbyn-led government with a wonderful one-liner

Latuff’s cartoon was first published in September 2018, when it was used to illustrate Gregson’s article Why let Netanyahu write the Labour rulebook?

LAZIR are going to Brighton! We’ll be at Conference (or rather, outside) from Sat 21st to Wed 25th September. We’ll be holding a stall and giving out flyers, calling for the disafilliation of the JLM from the Labour Party

(as reprinted from the website https://ymlp.com/zOf3MQ on 18th August and endorsed by LAZIR)

Dear friends,

The JLM is an affiliate of the Labour Party yet they stated that in an election they would not support any Labour candidate who accepts Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, and they did not support Labour in Peterborough. They have also demanded that Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell “get rid of Jeremy Corbyn”.  

The implications are wide especially with the possibility of a snap election. This is even more urgent after Panorama’s unprecedented attack (BBC 10 July), endorsed by the JLM, on Corbyn and the movement of hundreds of thousands who elected him. Also, the previous day the Guardian deleted from its website a letter supporting Chris Williamson MP, a Corbyn ally, signed by over 100 Jewish people, a number of whom are internationally known.  

We hope you will endorse and circulate the following Critical Questions for the JLM. You can endorse by sending your name to QuestionsForJLM@yahoo.com or comment on our Facebook. Please say if you are signing as an individual and/or for an organization.

Sara Callaway, Pete Firmin, Owen Holland, Selma James, Michael Kalmanovitz, Nina Lopez, Sam Weinstein, Aurora Yaacov

Signatories include:

Dr. Swee Ang, Dr. Haim Bresheeth, Victoria Brittain, Dr. Ghada Karmi, Ronnie Kasrils, Ken Loach, Emeritus ProfMoshe Machover, Ian Macdonald QC, Leon Rosselson, Alexei Sayle,
Avi Shlaim FBA, Asa Winstanley

CRITICAL QUESTIONS FOR THE JLM

On 7 April 2019 the JLM passed resolutions that denounced the leadership of the Labour Party and the Labour Party itself.  This is extraordinary coming from an organisation affiliated to the Labour Party. We therefore must ask some critical questions of the JLM and their supporters.

	The JLM passed resolutions that said:   the Labour Party is institutionally antisemitic; the leadership of the Labour Party have demonstrated that they are antisemitic; and Jeremy Corbyn is therefore unfit to be prime minister and a Labour government led by him would not be in the interest of British Jews. …[we] withhold endorsement, support or campaign time from any candidate who is not an ally in the fight against antisemitism in the Labour Party…
Q	In the Peterborough by-election in May, the JLM decided not to campaign for Labour parliamentary candidate Lisa Forbes, and after she won you called for her to have the whip suspended immediately. Does that mean that you were so opposed to her election that you did not care who was elected instead? Undermining the Labour candidate enhanced the chances of the Brexit party, led by an extreme right-winger who has connections with the antisemitic racist right in Europe.  Would you have preferred the Brexit candidate to be elected?
Q	Is the JLM in favour of the Labour Party manifesto which Corbyn’s leadership has produced, against austerity, for re-nationalisation and an ethical foreign policy?
Q	When there is a general election, what other party would the JLM encourage Jewish people to vote for, or would you propose that Jewish people abstain from voting? Would the JLM tell people not to vote Labour, allowing the possibility of a racist, anti-immigrant, homophobic, pro-austerity, extremist right wing Tory prime minister?
	There is an increasing threat of war against Iran by the US, backed by Israel and Saudi Arabia. A Corbyn government would ensure that Britain uses its power to deflate such a horrendous possibility and would not back such a war.
Q	Would the JLM support the Corbyn-led anti-war Party or support this highly dangerous promotion of war?
	The Al Jazeera documentary, The Lobby, revealed that leading members of the JLM were working with Israeli agent Shai Masot based at the Israeli embassy, who was plotting to “take down” Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan and discredit the then chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee Crispin Blunt for disagreeing with Israel’s policies towards Palestinians.   The then chair of the JLM, Jeremy Newmark, was filmed at the 2016 Labour Party conference in a meeting with Masot and Israel’s ambassador to the UK Mark Regev discussing how to undermine Party members’ support for Palestine.   In undercover footage, Ella Rose, then director of JLM, now Equalities Officer, defended the JLM’s relationship with Masot saying she knew him “very well” and that she had worked with him when she was a public affairs officer at the Israeli embassy.  She admitted that the JLM brought an Israeli delegation to the conference on behalf of the embassy.
Q	In the light of this we have to ask what is the relationship between the JLM and the Israeli embassy in London?
	Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry called for an investigation into the apparent Israeli interference exposed by Al Jazeera.
Q	Does the JLM support such an investigation?
	The JLM website states:   In addition to the UK Labour Party, the Jewish Labour Movement is also affiliated to the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Zionist Federation of the UK, and organise within the World Zionist Organisation alongside our sister party in Israel, Havodah – the Israeli Labor Party . . .   According to the UN, the World Zionist Organisation wasallocated $35 million by Israel to fund and organise Israeli settlements on Occupied Palestinian landin violation of international law. The Zionist Federation of the UKdemonstrated in support of the 2014 bombing of Gaza where over 2,000 Palestinian civilians were killed, including 500 children. The Board of Deputies of British Jews attempted to justify the widely condemned intentional killing of unarmed Palestinians by the Israeli military during the Great March of Return.  So far this has resulted in 277 killed, including 52 children, media, medical personnel and disabled people, and 28,000 wounded and deliberately disabled.
Q	We see no references to these tragedies on the JLM website: how do you explain being affiliated to these organisations which defend illegal incursions into Palestinian land and life, and the organised murder and maiming of unarmed civilians?
	Isaac Herzog, while leader of the JLM’s ‘sister party’ the Israeli Labor Party (ILP) stated his apartheid view to: “separate from as many Palestinians as possible, as quickly as possible . . . We want to . . . complete the barrier that separates us.” Last year he stated that intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews is a “plague”. ILP leader Gabbay has said: “the Arabs have to be afraid of us” and “We will not share a government with the [Arab majority party] Joint List, period.”, and joined the racists in trying to legislate for 35,000 African asylum seekers to be either deported or indefinitely incarcerated.
Q	Has the JLM challenged these views?
	The JLM’s no-confidence resolution in Jeremy Corbyn also says:   Solidarity for those less fortunate than us or who suffered discrimination or injustice are both Jewish and Labour values.
Q	Yet the JLM seems to focus only on antisemitism in the Labour Party and has little to say about antisemitism by other political parties, even by the far right.  Other forms of racism, including Islamophobia, and discrimination and injustice, such as the hostile immigration environment are rarely mentioned. Can you say why this is so?
	The JLM AGM also attacked other Labour organisations, including a Jewish organisation:   CLPD [Campaign for Labour Party Democracy], LRC [Labour Representation Committee] and JVL [Jewish Voice for Labour] are a malign influence in the Labour Party.   One of the JLM’s ‘values’is: To promote the centrality of Israel in Jewish life . . .
Q	The JLM often refer to ‘the Jewish community’ as if Jewish people are of one mind and whose political views you represent; at the same time you attack a Jewish organisation.  How can you justify this?   Since you consider the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn institutionally antisemitic and therefore claim he is ‘unfit’ to govern, are we right to assume that you stay in the Labour Party to prevent it becoming the government?

Liverpool Friends of Palestine issued this statement on 16th August which we agree with.

http://www.labournet.net/other/1908/lfop1.html

14th August 2019

Dear Ms Formby and Ms Goodyear,

I write to complain about the 50 questions that were put to Pete Gregson on the 24th July by the Disputes Team, which can be read with his answers at www.tinyurl.com/disputeresponse . The Disputes Team seek confidentiality, but the Legal and Governance Unit, of which they form part, breaches confidentiality whenever it suits. Pete’s suspension from the Party was broadcast to the Jewish News a week before he knew of it. There are big problems with the Disputes Team; the Panorama programme that slated Labour about bogus anti-Semitism did not reveal the most important problem – that we are still riddled with fifth-columnists at HQ. These people, clearly from the JLM, do not favour a Labour Government under Corbyn and are doing their best to expel leftie Labour activists like Pete. They support apartheid in Israel; they have not a care about how much their questioning reflects a bias; not once do they acknowledge Israel’s racist nature. By siding with that racist colony so enthusiastically, they betray the most appalling Islamophobia. Let’s see the back of them.

Yours sincerely,

xxxxxxxxx, member of xxxxx CLP

Gregson’s treatment was highlighted in Redress Information & Analysis

2nd July 2019

On behalf of Labour Against Zionist Islamophobic Racism (LAZIR), the chair is petitioning Edinburgh Council to twin with Gaza City. This is a formal process and as soon as 200 Edinburgh residents have signed, the council must discuss the proposal. Dundee is twinned with Nablus, and Glasgow with Bethlehem. It is only appropriate that Edinburgh twins with a city of Palestine. Since Arthur Balfour was key to creating modern Israel, and he hailed from nearby East Lothian, Edinburgh is an appropriate choice for beginning to address historical wrongs to the Palestinians. Details of the petition can be found here. At the time of writing, 150 people had signed it.

To help spread awareness of the petition we are holding a charity event in Princes St Gardens – a Gig for Gaza. Citizens who seek to support the twinning idea can either sign online or on paper, so we hope to collect many signatures at the Princes St Gardens event, which takes place on 12 July. More details are available here.

The Gig for Gaza is brought to you through four volunteers from Edinburgh and Glasgow and is backed by LAZIR (Labour Against Zionist Islamophobic Racism). 

To find out more about LAZIR, click here. To join LAZIR, click here – we are now allowing people who are not in Labour to become associate members.

If you want to come show support, please come to Edinburgh that weekend and join us. It is a free event, but we’ll be collecting for Medical Aid for Palestinians and Hear for Gaza, charity for deaf children. A large crowd is expected – 10,000 flyers are being distributed, one for every citizen who cares for Gaza, and there are many such in Scotland, which has long supported the Palestinian people.

The line-up will include:

• Ayman Jarjour, a Syrian guitarist
• Violet Leighton, performing  Woody Guthrie songs
• Edinburgh five-piece combo Stoned Holy Rollers
• Leith three-piece the Tango Rhums
• The Celtic King does Elvis

The award-winning film “Three Minute Warning” from Iqbal Mohammed of Dynamiq Films in Huddersfield – about “roof-knocking”, what Israeli bombs mean to a Gaza family. 

Featuring new work for auction by established Scottish painters.

Residents of Gaza are signing their own petition calling upon Edinburgh to twin with them.

Please come to Edinburgh for Gig for Gaza on 12 July, or let others know by sending them the link at  www.tinyurl.com/gigforgaza

Published by Redress Information & Analysis

9th July 2019

Dear Miss Formby and Goodyear,

I would like to complain about the ongoing suspension of Chris Williamson MP, along with the 6,000 others who have written either to you or Jenny Formby objecting to this. I’d also like to complain about the fact that Chris was resuspended because a group of 200 peers, MPs and staff wrote a letter and ask why they seem to carry so much more weight with the Party HQ, than members such as I.

And I would particularly like to complain about Lord Charlie Falconer. He went on TV to deplore Chris’s perfectly reasonable comments as anti-Semitic and to damn him further by association with (among others) Jackie Walker, who had been accused of saying that Jews were chief financiers of the slave trade – except, of course, we know that she didn’t say that. Falconer was reiterating a mistruth – similar to a tweet from Nick Robinson of the BBC which the BBC recently acknowledged was untrue.

I believe that Lord Falconer has brought the Labour Party into disrepute by his conduct in claiming anti-Semitism where none exists and would like you to refer the matter for investigation.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Gregson,

Labour Party Membership number L1156630

Dated 1st July 2019

LAZIR (Labour Against Zionist Islamophobic Racism) is appalled at the treatment that Chris Williamson is facing from 118 MPs and Peers as listed below; his re-suspension is ludicrous. We fear these people are doing this so Chris Williamson misses out on getting reselected as MP for Derby

We believe these politicians are completely mistaken if they think that Chris has done anything wrong. We believe they are completely out of touch with the half million- plus members of the Labour Party. They represent nothing more than the deranged Zionist-supporting zealots whose main interest is in tarring our Labour Party as being in some way anti-Semitic when it is clearly not. What these MPs and Peers are foolish enough to do is to agree with the reactionary JLM that any criticism of Israel is the same as criticism of Jewry, when that is quite untrue. We share Chris’s views , as expressed in February, that we have painted ourselves into a corner by giving too much ground and being too apologetic. Anti-Semitism is wrong, but what the JLM and those below believe is that criticism of Israel as racist is in some way anti-Semitic. They are deluded in so doing and by their actions they condone the racism that Palestinians suffer in their homeland on a daily basis. The sooner these Politicians stand aside and make way for the new batch of Labour MP’s, who represent the membership views, the better. 

For the following 60 MPs, trigger ballots to deselect them on the grounds that they are de facto supporting Zionist racism and out of touch with the Labour Party, would be welcomed by LAZIR:

Abrahams, Debbie (Labour)         Oldham East and Saddleworth

Ali, Rushanara (Labour) Bethnal Green and Bow

Antoniazzi, Tonia (Labour)            Gower

Barron, Sir Kevin (Labour)             Rother Valley

Blackman-Woods, Dr Roberta (Labour)   City of Durham

Bradshaw, Mr Ben (Labour)         Exeter

Bryant, Chris (Labour)    Rhondda

Buck, Ms Karen (Labour)               Westminster North

Cadbury, Ruth (Labour) Brentford and Isleworth

Chapman, Jenny (Labour)             Darlington

Cooper, Yvette (Labour) Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford

Coyle, Neil (Labour)        Bermondsey and Old Southwark

Creasy, Stella (Labour (Co-op))   Walthamstow

De Piero, Gloria (Labour)              Ashfield

Doughty, Stephen (Labour (Co-op))         Cardiff South and Penarth

Duffield, Rosie (Labour) Canterbury

Elliott, Julie (Labour)       Sunderland Central

Ellman, Dame Louise (Labour (Co-op))    Liverpool, Riverside

Frith, James (Labour)      Bury North

Green, Kate (Labour)      Stretford and Urmston

Greenwood, Lilian (Labour)         Nottingham South

Hodge, Dame Margaret (Labour)               Barking

Hodgson, Mrs Sharon (Labour)   Washington and Sunderland West

Jarvis, Dan (Labour)        Barnsley Central

Jones, Darren (Labour)  Bristol North West

Jones, Graham P (Labour)             Hyndburn

Jones, Susan Elan (Labour)           Clwyd South

Kendall, Liz (Labour)       Leicester West

Killen, Ged (Labour (Co-op))        Rutherglen and Hamilton West

Kinnock, Stephen (Labour)           Aberavon

Kyle, Peter (Labour)        Hove

Lucas, Ian C. (Labour)     Wrexham

Lynch, Holly (Labour)      Halifax

McFadden, Mr Pat (Labour)         Wolverhampton South East

McGovern, Alison (Labour)          Wirral South

McKinnell, Catherine (Labour)    Newcastle upon Tyne North

McMorrin, Anna (Labour)             Cardiff North

Malhotra, Seema (Labour (Co-op))           Feltham and Heston

Matheson, Christian (Labour)     City of Chester

Moon, Mrs Madeleine (Labour) Bridgend

Murray, Ian (Labour)      Edinburgh South

Nandy, Lisa (Labour)       Wigan

Onwurah, Chi (Labour)  Newcastle upon Tyne Central

Perkins, Toby (Labour)   Chesterfield

Phillips, Jess (Labour)     Birmingham, Yardley

Phillipson, Bridget (Labour)         Houghton and Sunderland South

Powell, Lucy (Labour (Co-op))     Manchester Central

Reeves, Ellie (Labour)     Lewisham West and Penge

Reeves, Rachel (Labour) Leeds West

Sheerman, Mr Barry (Labour (Co-op))     Huddersfield

Smeeth, Ruth (Labour)  Stoke-on-Trent North

Smith, Jeff (Labour)        Manchester, Withington

Smith, Owen (Labour)    Pontypridd

Smyth, Karin (Labour)    Bristol South

Sobel, Alex (Labour (Co-op))       Leeds North West

Streeting, Wes (Labour) Ilford North

Thomas, Gareth (Labour (Co-op))             Harrow West

Watson, Tom (Labour)   West Bromwich East

Whitfield, Martin (Labour)           East Lothian

Zeichner, Daniel (Labour)             Cambridge

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