7/26/2019 Chakrabarti inquiry submission, York Central Constituency

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Submission to the Sami Chakrabarti Enquiry in to

Anti-semitism in the Labour Party

By Monica Wusteman, Terry Gallogly, David E PeggYork Central Constituency

Our submission is based on our combined experience as members of the Labour Party and aslong standing activists on Palestine in a number of organizations (including the Palestine SolidarityCampaign) which have brought us in to regular and close contact with members of the anti-ZionistJewish community in the UK. If anti-semitism is rife in the Labour Party as is claimed, it would beapparent among the many Labour Party members who support the Palestine solidarity movement..

What is anti-semitism?To address this issue, it is first of all paramount that we define our terms- what antisemitism is andhow it is to be to distinguished from anti-Zionism and legitimate criticism of the state of Israel. Thefollowing definition is based on the Oxford English Dictionary

Antisemitism is racial prejudice resulting in action or practice directed against Jews for no otherreason than the fact that they are Jews.

Zionism and anti-ZionismZionism is essentially a commitment to the creation of a state for all Jews rather than one for allits citizens in historic Palestine. It is therefore an ideology based on discrimination on religiousand/or ethnic grounds, the implementation of which has been achieved through ethnic cleansing,land theft and dispossession of an indigenous people. It is an ideology which has only everattracted a minority of Jews worldwide. Not all Jews are Zionists and not all Zionists are Jews soanti-Zionism cannot therefore be equated with antisemitism.

Anti-Zionism is opposition to discriminatory actions of the State of Israel.

Moreover, opposition to the Zionist project does not deny the right of Israel to exist, but it doeschallenge its right to exist in its current form as a racist apartheid state which flouts InternationalLaw and the basic norms of human rights that the rest of the world are expected to abide by.The intention of the pro-Israel lobby in this country is to gain universal acceptance for the conflationof anti-semitism and opposition to the political ideology of Zionism in order to silence criticism ofIsrael in this country. The great wave of accusations of antisemitism against members of theLabour Party has been largely instigated with this very objective in view by members of the UK

Zionist community supported by the UK media and the pro-Israel lobby within the party.

Detection of antisemitism.The essential origin of antisemitic prejudice is in the mind of the antisemite but probing the mind isnot easy and the recognition of antisemitism may therefore be difficult in practice. For this reason,a group of Zionists compiled the so-called EUMC definition (European Monitoring Centre onRacism and Xenophobia) -now the FRA (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights). Thedocument lists numerous actions that were supposed to indicate antisemitism. However the EUMCdefinition itself hopelessly conflates antisemitism and anti-Zionism, resulting in false positivedetection of antisemitism. The EUMC definition was never an official EU document : it was postedfor discussion and has now been removed from the FRA website: it was never adopted by anyEuropean nation. It is vital that this discredited definition should not be allowed to distort anymeasurements of the extent of antisemitism.

7/26/2019 Chakrabarti inquiry submission, York Central Constituency

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Freedom of SpeechAs an ideology, Zionism holds the same status as other ideologies such as neoliberalism,conservatism, Marxism, apartheid etc. As such, it cannot be beyond criticism, regardless of howpassionately members of the Zionist community here and in Israel are attached to the concept of aJewish state, the establishment of which has contributed substantially to the growing instability inthe region while failing miserably to provide the objective of safe haven for Jews.

Zionists have no more right NOT to be offended by public discourse than followers of any otherpolitical ideology, even if that discourse includes references to unsavoury events in the history ofthe Zionist movement or even comparison between emerging elements in Israel polity and Fascism a comparison which is becoming more frequent in some sections of Israeli society. The conceptof a safe space for Zionists is completely at odds with that of freedom of speech and respect forthe value of dissent and debate within a civilized society.

Anti-semitism and anti-Zionism and the Labour Party.Since our party is dedicated to opposing all forms of racism, and Zionism is essentially based onracist principles, it is clear that opposition to it is likely to be more prevalent in the Labour Partythan in the population as a whole. In our experience we have encountered very little genuine anti-semitism within the Palestine movement (any identified is dealt with very speedily) and noneamongst Labour Party members we have worked along side. Occasionally, we have encounteredthe use of ill- chosen language and misconceptions, but these are commonly based on ignorancerather than authentic racist attitudes towards Jews as a whole. Here a solution can be foundthrough education rather than exclusion and expulsion from the Party.We have no doubt that anti-semitism does exist, and may be increasing. However, this conflationof anti-semitism with anti-Zionism is currently serving only to hamper attempts to identify anderadicate genuine anti-semitism from our society.

Recommendations.We are greatly saddened to see how certain members of the Parliamentary Labour Party appearto be prepared to sacrifice the reputation of the Party, loyalty to an elected leader and to abandonany appearance of party unity in order to pursue their own political agendas, including colludingwith Zionist organizations and Israeli institutions to silence criticism of Israel. We hope that theCommission report will take steps to end this deplorable state of affairs. We recommend thefollowing: The Commission report should include a clear and unequivocal statement thatacknowledges the right of Party members to criticize the nature of the Jewish State of Israelwithout fear of reprisal.

Steps to oppose anti-semitism should be integrated with those against other forms of racismsuch as islamophobia which, in our experience, is hugely more prevalent in society as whole aswell as within the Party. The principles of natural justice require that accusations against members are made clear tothe individual. Procedures must be transparent and all information must remain confidential withinthe party. Information should not be leaked to the Press. Those who do so without good reasonshould be sacked and/or suspended from the Party. Where malicious unfounded attacks on members have been identified, effective action mustbe taken against those responsible. Given the essentially racist nature of the movement, Zionist organizations, including theJewish Labour Movement, must be excluded from all party procedures.