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Submission to the Shami Chakrabarti Inquiry,

“into antisemitism and other forms of racism including islamophobia, within the party”

International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network UK

10 June 2016

An anti-racist movement versus

witch-hunting with antisemitism

As Jewish members of the Labour Party, who are also in the International Jewish

Anti-Zionist Network, we do not believe that Labour is rife with antisemitism and we

are outraged that antisemitism is being used to undermine the new anti-austerity,

anti-racist and anti-imperialist Labour leadership. Below is evidence against the

witch-hunt, and of the racism in the UK which is hidden by it.

The witch-hunt against the Labour Party is an attempt to undermine the new

leadership of the Labour Party. Corbyn won nearly 60% of the Labour Party

leadership vote – a huge mandate (the other three candidates together shared the

other 40%).

Accusations were first made during Corbyn’s leadership campaign in the summer of

2015. One instance among others was John Mann MP claiming that Corbyn was

“responsible” for him and others getting antisemitic hate-mail. A few months later

accusations re-started with a member of a university labour club who had worked for

the Israel Lobby claiming antisemitism in the club. The Party was fighting crucial local

elections all over the UK and for the mayor of London where Labour's Muslim

candidate was under attack by the Tory Jewish candidate for possibly enabling

terrorism if elected – a truly racist campaign.

The issue was whether Labour could win an election. The timing of the accusations

of antisemitism had to aim at undermining Labour's candidates, thus assisting UKIP

and the Tories.

Zionists in the Labour Party, already unhappy at having a leader who is actively for

justice in Palestine, took that opportunity to undermine Labour with a charge of

antisemitism — blurred at first with antizionism.

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Racism in the UK

The Jewish communities in the UK, prior to the First World War were demonized as

dangerous fanatics infected by Bolshevism and anarchism. That was then, not now.

We have to stress – Jewish communities are no longer demonized, but others are.

As a Jewish member of our Labour Party branch said:

“As Jews we know what antisemitism is, and it’s got nothing to do with what is

happening today.”

What is happening today is:

Stop and search: people of colour are up to 17.5 times more likely than white

people to be stopped and searched by the police in certain areas of the UK. Jews

are not subject to this persecution.

Arrest: Black people are almost 3 times as likely to be arrested as those who are

white. No such disproportionate claim is made for Jews unless they are also

Black.

Monitoring of schoolchildren through the PREVENT law aimed at "radicalised"

Muslims: 577 children under 18 years of age were referred to the government's

“de-radicalisation programme” – the youngest was a four-year-old. Dozens of

children are currently in care, forcibly separated from their parents, on the basis

that they might be radicalised at home. Muslim parents live in terror that their

children could be taken from them over a chance comment made in a classroom.

Deaths in custody: there have been over 1500 deaths of people while in police

custody over the past 25 years, 500 of whom were people of colour (there have

been no successful prosecutions). We are not aware that any of the dead were

Jewish.

No Jews have been detained indefinitely and without charge in Belmarsh

prison, which holds Muslims people on suspicion of terrorism.

Deportations: women and men fleeing war, poverty, rape and other torture face

destitution and exploitation whilst in the UK, and forced removals to the very

countries they have tried to escape from (see for example here). We know of no

Jews among them.

Jewish people do not:

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Suffer the lowest wages: Jewish men are paid 24 per cent more than white British

Christian men. On the other hand, Bangladeshi and Pakistani Muslim men and

Black African Christian men are paid 13-21 per cent less, and women from nearly

all ethno-religious backgrounds are paid between a quarter and a third less than

white British Christian men.

Jewish people are about 0.4% of the population, and about 4% of Labour MPs or

ten times their proportion in the population as a whole (the Tories have slightly

less).

Furthermore the Pew Research Centre found that although 7% of the population

have unfavourable views of Jewish people; 26% have unfavourable views of

Muslims; and 50% of Roma. They say that

“Negative sentiments about all three groups are consistently more common

among people on the ideological right”.

What antisemitism in the Labour Party?

We do not know precisely what antisemitism the accusers are referring to since the

reports and the discussions we have been part of are consistently un-specific. Any

antisemitism in the Labour Party (and there may be some) has no official backing or

reflection in any program or any other political consequences that we have been able

to discern. The only concrete charges, conveniently labelled antisemitism, relate to

criticisms of Israel, support for BDS, and expressions of antizionism. This view was

promoted, yet again, a few days ago by Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the

UN:

“BDS is the true face of modern anti-Semitism”

We have read and heard distortions, manipulated information, and downright lies

about people accused of antisemitism in the Labour Party, and a total lack of due

process in the way these accusations have been pursued. Some have found out

about their suspension from the press before they received notification.

It can’t be an accident that all the accused we know of are people of colour, or

Jewish, or Irish, or life-long anti-racists, or some combination of these. The

systematic attempt to equate criticism of Israel’s racist and murderous acts in

Palestine with antisemitism is not only aimed at silencing our outrage at their

occupation, and undermining our BDS campaigning, but to make it increasingly

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difficult for the Labour Party to reach out to some of its natural constituents – those

who have least in this society, people of colour, Muslims, immigrants.

In one case allegations of antisemitism were used even against a Zionist Jewish

woman: Rhea Wolfson. Her candidacy to replace Ken Livingstone on a slate

supporting Corbyn’s leadership on the NEC during his suspension, was rejected

because a member of her Constituency Labour Party (CLP) claimed that Momentum,

which supported her, was antisemitic. As a result her CLP voted not to support her

and thus made her ineligible to run (a candidate for the NEC must be support by their

own CLP). She had been attacked by fascist antisemites on Facebook. But in the

Labour Party she was attacked not because she was Jewish but because she

supported Corbyn. Thus charges of antisemitism are a weapon not against racism

but against Corbyn.

Baroness Royall’s Inquiry

This Inquiry into the Oxford University Labour Club stated that there is no evidence of

institutional antisemitism in the Labour Party – although her recommendations read

as if there is:

“Training should be organised by Labour Students together with the Jewish

Labour Movement for officers of all Labour Clubs in dealing with antisemitism.”

Before giving such responsibility to any unelected body like the JLM, we need to take

a careful look at who they are and what they stand for.

One object of the JLM is:

"To maintain and promote Labour or Socialist Zionism as the movement for

self-determination of the Jewish people within the state of Israel."

One of the values of the Jewish Labour Movement is:

“To promote the centrality of Israel in Jewish life . . .”

The Jewish Labour Movement is:

“. . . 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.”

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1. Havodah – the Israeli Labor Party

Earlier this year the JLM's “sister party” Havodah unanimously passed Isaac

Herzog’s (their leader), diplomatic plan. He explained that the Havodah:

“wish to separate from as many Palestinians as possible, as quickly as

possible . . . we’ll erect a big wall between us. . . We want to finish it, to

complete the barrier that separates us.”

Herzog insisted in April that his party were no “Arab lovers”. He has since sent a

letter to Jeremy Corbyn “appalled and outraged” at examples of alleged anti-

Semitism in Labour”.

2. The World Zionist Organisation (WZO)

WZO is funded by the Israeli state. Its aims include:

"to promote Zionism & the Zionist idea and the Zionist enterprise . . . instilling

the centrality of Israel and Jerusalem its capital deep within Jewish

consciousness, encouraging the return to Zion . . . settling the land . . . " [1]

The United Nations report that in 2014 the Israeli government allocated $35 million to

WZO’s settlement division which funds and organises Israeli settlements on

Occupied Palestinian land in violation of international law. [2]

Given these affiliations and these aims we must consider that the JLM represents the

interests of a foreign Apartheid state in the Labour Party.

3. The Zionist Federation of the UK (ZF)

The ZF is an umbrella organisation for many Zionist groups in the UK: they say they

are the “leading Israel advocacy organisation”. They campaign to undermine the

Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS); and demonstrated in support of

Israel during the 2014 bombing of Gaza where, among others, over 500 Palestinian

children were killed. On the demonstration they were supported by, the WZO and

the Jewish National Fund.

There have been repeated instances of ZF activists, demonstrating alongside the far-

right EDL (English Defence League) and the Jewish Defence League (which the FBI

called a "violent extremist Jewish organization").

4. The Board of Deputies of British Jews

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The Board of Deputies, the so-called “voice of British Jewry", says it has “been

leading the fight against the BDS campaign against Israel”. The Board lobbied in

defence of Israel even during the 2014 bombing of Gaza:

“Throughout Operation Protective Edge, the Board has been working . . . to

maximise grassroots activities in support of Israel at this time.”

Why is such a racist organization with such affiliations, also affiliated to the Labour

Party where it can undermine its electoral prospects, its reputation and its politics

generally?

What does the JLM say to Jewish people who don’t agree with them?

JLM Young Members most recently had to backtrack from saying that the Jewish

signatories to a Guardian letter distinguishing between antizionism and antisemitism

were:

“. . . only identifying as Jews for purposes of taking such contrary positions”.

Perhaps in response to protests that it was offensive – even antisemitic – to portray

non- and anti-Zionist Jews as imposters for disagreeing with them, JLM deleted this

sentence from their post. Their implication that if you are not Zionist, you are not

really Jewish – is a most racist assumption.

Outside of Zionism and Israel, the JLM brings no labour connection to the Labour

Party. They have no good reason to be affiliated and good reason to be disaffiliated.

The only component that justifies using the word Labour in their title is their affiliation

to the World Labour Zionist Movement which seems only to exist fleetingly on the

internet. We know of no relationship to trade unions or any other body representing

workers.

The JLM is an example of how Israel is represented within the Labour Party, and it is

certainly one of the forces empowering this witch-hunt. Their problem, like in every

other witch-hunt, is that it is difficult to find what does not exist, in this case

widespread antisemitism.

The JLM’s proposed Rule change

Any rule change that they propose should be examined with great scepticism. The

current Rules state that

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“The NCC shall not have regard to the mere holding or expression of beliefs

and opinions”;

the JLM intends to add,

“except in instances involving antisemitism, Islamophobia or racism”;

This would introduce thought police and perpetual witch-hunts. It is extremely

dangerous and must not be allowed. In addition they say that in relation to

“antisemitic, Islamophobic, racist language, sentiments, stereotypes or actions

in public, private, online or offline”, “the NEC may have the right to impose the

appropriate disciplinary options”. [our emphasis]

It would thereby make thoughts and opinions, even in private, subject to

punishment. The JLM are abusing the politics of anti-racism in order to have

Orwell’s ‘thought police’ and ‘thought crime’ enter the Labour Party using the Trojan

Horse of antisemitism. They cannot reasonably believe that Labour will vote for that,

but they are no doubt planning to have a wonderful time disrupting the party and

preventing it from preparing to win in 2020.

Is there a history to amendments like this?

The JLM's chair, Jeremy Newmark, was called out by Employment Tribunal judges in

2013 for giving “evidence” that claimed that the University College Union was

antisemitic. Newmark's evidence was condemned as "untrue", "false", "playing to the

gallery", "extraordinarily arrogant" and "also disturbing". The judges concluded that

"a belief in the Zionist project or an attachment to Israel … cannot amount to a

protected characteristic” under the Equality Act of 2010. This sets a clear red line

between antizionism and antisemitism, a line which should be applied when

considering any allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party.

The judges were also "troubled by the implications of the claim. Underlying it we

sense a worrying disregard for pluralism, tolerance and freedom of expression”.

The JLM attempts to enshrine just such a disregard with its proposed rule change

which says in part:

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“a hate incident . . . [is] defined as something where the victim or anyone else

think it was motivated by hostility or prejudice based on disability, race,

religion, transgender identity, or sexual orientation . . .”

This interpretation of the McPherson report on institutional police racism following the

murder of Steven Lawrence, directly contradicts the submission by Professor David

Feldman, in his January 2015 sub-report to the All-Party Parliamentary Group

Against Antisemitism, chaired by John Mann, where, on the Macpherson principle, he

stated that:

“. . . it is unambiguously clear that Macpherson . . . did not mean to imply that

such incidents are necessarily racist. However, Macpherson’s report has

been misinterpreted and misapplied in precisely this way. Its authority has

been thrown behind the view that such incidents should, by definition, be

regarded as racist. In short, a definition of antisemitism which takes Jews’

feelings and perceptions as its starting point and which looks to the

Macpherson report for authority is built on weak foundations.”

The witch-hunt against Corbyn's Labour Party is a manipulation of anti-racism which

elevates antisemitism over every other form of racism and discrimination, and thus

deprioritizes every other form of racism which the Labour Party (and Corbynites in

particular) have been confronting in the society generally as well as within Labour. It

cannot go unnoticed that the vast majority of Jews in the UK are white, which helps

to clarify that the elevation of antisemitism is racist in and of itself.

Conclusion and recommendation

We have seen that antisemitism is alleged depending on whether the national

interests of Israel and/or the interests of those opposed to Corbyn’s leadership, are

helped or hindered. Lives, and first of all the lives of people of colour, depend on

whether or not Corbyn and anti-austerity win the next election. Keeping the Labour

Party led by Corbyn out of power, seems to be the primary concern of the witch-

hunters and those on whose behalf they act.

The anti-racist constituency is much larger than UKIP, the EDL and the Tory Party

would lead us to believe. Not only people of colour, but white people who are

dedicated to anti-racism and who marched in their thousands saying "Refugees

Welcome Here", many of whom are part of mixed-race families, know very well the

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discrimination and violence that they and their relatives have had to confront. Many

of those white people are Jewish and many Jewish people carry on the Jewish

tradition upheld by Marek Edelman, a leader of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising who

said:

"To be a Jew means always being with the oppressed and never the

oppressors."

He remained anti-Zionist to the end of his life.

Instinctive discomfort, criticism, and even fury, at this witch-hunt is of course not

limited to antizionists. Many people in the Labour Party and in society are unwilling

to back a witch-hunt of any kind, including people often sympathetic to the

Palestinian cause but who may also be sympathetic to Israel. What is unacceptable

and appalling is prioritising this form of racism over every other.

We have never heard the JLM define the antisemitism they say they have witnessed

or experienced in the Labour Party. They imply where they do not state that

antisemitism equals antizionism or BDS campaigning, or criticism of the state of

Israel or of other Zionist organisations, or even raising the question of the illegality or

apartheid nature of that imperialist regime which occupies Palestine.

The Jewish Labour Movement is an organised force within the Labour Party

which has helped drive the witch-hunt forward. They are a Zionist attack on

the anti-racist movement. Since it stands opposed to the aims of the Labour

Party, its affiliation should be rescinded. This does not imply a witch-hunt

against any particular member of the JLM who is a member of, or wishes to

join the Labour Party and advance its principles and aims.

Footnotes

1] No other state in the world recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

[2] In particular article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (UK)

www.IJAN.net IJAN.UK@yahoo.com