Jewish Socialists' Group Chakrabarti Inquiry submission

7/26/2019 Jewish Socialists' Group Chakrabarti Inquiry submission

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What Jewish Socialists are saying to the Labour Partys Chakrabarti Inquiry

The Jewish Socialists' Group has submitted this document to the Inquiry set up by Jeremy Corbynin response to the accusations that the Labour Party is a hotbed of antisemitism. As anorganisation with decades of experience of fighting racism and antisemitism alongside otherminority communities, we believe we are well placed to add clarity and make recommendations tothe Inquiry and wish them luck in reaching constructive outcomes.

Submission to Shami Chakrabarti Inquiry from the Jewish Socialists GroupBM3725 London WC1N 3XX www.jewishsocialist.org.uk

Preamble:

The Jewish Socialists Group (JSG) is an independent left wing political group in the Jewishcommunity, formed in the mid-1970s, which is active in social justice campaigns and produces amagazine called Jewish Socialist. A significant number of its members, including all currentmembers of its National Committee and of its Magazine Editorial Committee, are members of theLabour Party. Throughout its existence the group has fought antisemitism and other forms ofracism, supported migrants and refugees, and engaged with international issues including theIsrael/Palestine conflict.

The JSG has always sought to work with like-minded people within and beyond the Jewishcommunity and has played a significant role in broader initiatives, for example:

In 1983 JSG members helped organise the first public meeting in Britain (at County Hall, London),

featuring spokespersons of the Israeli Peace movement (Uri Avnery) and the PLO (Issam Sartawi).

In 1987/88 an Indian Jewish member of JSG, Shalom Charikar, founded Jews Against Apartheid, agroup that mobilised many Jews in support of activities against apartheid in South Africa

From 1993 a JSG member, David Rosenberg, chaired the Zygielbojm Memorial Committee, whichsuccessfully campaigned for a plaque for Szmul Zygielbojm, a Polish Jewish socialist and anti-fascist, who committed suicide at his London home in 1943, as an act of political protest, after thesimultaneous destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto by the Nazis, and the Allied Powers failure tocommit to taking Jewish refugees at the Bermuda Conference.

In 2004 The JSG was one of the founders of European Jews for Just Peace, a coalition of 16groups from across Europe engaged in activities supporting Israeli anti-occupation groups and insupport of peace with justice for the Palestinian people.
http://www.jewishsocialist.org.uk/


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This year, 2016, a JSG member is chairing Cable Street 80, through which Jewish and Bengaligroups, trade unions, anti-fascist organisations, and local political parties/organisations (includingTower Hamlets Labour Party), are preparing a march, rally, exhibition and cultural events markingthe 80th anniversary of the Battle of Cable street.

Our membership includes people from their 20s to their 80s. The groups founders had their ownpolitical awakening as young adults fighting poverty, antisemitism and fascism in the 1930s. Theyfought also against conservative forces in their own community who didnt want to rock the boat,and those who prioritised work for a Jewish state in Palestine over daily struggles againstexploitation and oppression in the diaspora.

Those sharp clashes of political perspectives within Jewish life remain central to the issues thisInquiry is investigating. Many of the charges of antisemitism made against Labour Party membershave been made or shared by conservative/Zionist bodies in the Jewish community, who havedefined antisemitism according to their own ideological outlook. We urge the Inquiry Team torecognize that definitions of antisemitism are contested within the Jewish community and within thewider society. In this submission we wish to provide evidence that will support our contentions that:

Zionism is not an integral part of Judaism, despite Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis proclaiming it assuch in his polemic against the Labour Party, published in the Daily Telegraph just before therecent Mayoral/local government elections.[1]

Opposition to Zionism is, in most cases, not antisemitism, though some antisemites piggy-backon genuine opposition to Zionism.

Several individuals whom the media treat as spokespersons for the whole Jewish communitywhen they accuse Labour of antisemitism, have no democratic mandate among Jews. They cannotand do not reflect the diversity of Jewish opinion and their past record of combating antisemitismhas been criticised.

Many false/distorted charges of antisemitism have been weaponised to damage Labour,(especially its democratically elected leader, Jeremy Corbyn), and also to undermine free speechby Labour Party members on the Israel/Palestine conflict.

Our submission concludes with a set of recommendations that we hope you will give seriousconsideration to incorporating in your final report.

We have attached two annexes:

A statement on Labours problem with antisemitism published on the JSG website on 28th April,viewed by 97,000 people within four days of appearing there. We received many emails from

Jewish and non-Jewish Labour Party members, strongly supporting this statement A JSG membership leaflet outlining our key principles of socialism, diasporism and secularism.

1. Zionism contested political ideology, not a religious imperative

The spiritual idea of a return to Zion as an act of redemption has long been part of Judaism. Aphysical return was possible In the 1880s, when more than 2m Jews (out of 5.5m) fled persecutionand discrimination in the Tsarist Russian empire. A tiny number settled in Palestine. They calledthemselves Lovers of Zion but made no claims to statehood. The overwhelming majority of Jewsleaving Russia, religious and secular, chose to stay in the diaspora, settling primarily in NorthAmerica, and in Western Europe too.

Political Zionism was born at a conference in Basel in 1897 convened by a middle-class, VienneseJew, Theodore Herzl. In an 1896 pamphlet, Der Judenstaat, Herzl claimed that a Jewish state inPalestine was the only solution to European antisemitism. He rejected efforts towards


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emancipation and integration as futile. He argued further that a Jewish State in Palestine, would bea rampart of Europe against Asia, of civilisation against barbarism". He advocated a process ofexpropriation and displacement to be carried out prudently and discreetly.

That same year, working class Jews in the Russian Empire met in Vilna (Vilnius) to form the Bund(Yiddish for Union) an anti-nationalist, left wing political organisation which argued for doikayt here-ness. The Bund urged Jews to liberate themselves from tyranny and gain equal rights in thelands where they lived, through class struggle alongside other oppressed and exploited citizens.Until the Nazi invasion, Zionism remained a minority political opinion among Jews throughout theworld.

Poland, with 3.3m Jews, comprised Europes largest Jewish community before World War 2. ThePolish local elections in 1938/39 were the last test of political opinion there before the war. SeveralJewish parties, including Zionists and religious parties, competed for the Jewish vote. The secular,anti-Zionist Bund swept the Jewish vote in most Polish towns and cities, also polling stronglyamong very religious Jews because, together with the left wing of the Polish Socialist Party (PPS),the Bund led the fight against antisemitism in Poland. Zionists were almost entirely absent fromthat fight in 1930s Poland.

Zionists here were equally marginal to the simultaneous fight against Oswald Mosleys BritishUnion of Fascists centred on Londons East End. The anti-fascist struggle was led by theCommunist Party, the Independent Labour Party, the Labour League of Youth, and by a militantlocal Jewish body the Jewish Peoples Council Against Fascism and Antisemitism (JPC).The JPCclashed ideologically with Jewish establishment bodies such as the Board of Deputies and JewishChronicle newspaper who advised a softly-softly approach towards Mosleys movement. EastEnd Jews roundly ignored advice from conservative bodies to stay indoors when Mosley soughtto invade the East End in 1936 in what became known as the Battle of Cable Street.[2]

It was only after the Holocaust, with the terrible situation of survivors languishing in Displaced

Persons camps for several years, with no states willing to take them, and the subsequent creationof Israel, which welcomed those refugees, that Zionism gained wider Jewish support.The Bundwas almost entirely obliterated in the Holocaust but its diasporist outlook, which held that it waspossible and desirable for Jews to live as minorities working for equality in multicultural societies,remains strong. Nearly 70 years after Israels creation, the majority of Jews including manyIsraelis still choose to live in the diaspora.

The 1960s and 70s were the heyday of diaspora Jewish support for Zionism. Since the LebanonWar (1982) such support has gradually declined. Community leaders still claim that nearly allJews are Zionists, and describe attacks on Zionism as attacks on Jews, but a survey of BritainsJews by the respected Jewish Policy Research institute (JPR), in 2010,[3] revealed that less thanthree quarters (72%) of the sample considered themselves Zionist; 21% described themselves as

not Zionist, with the remainder unsure.

A critical pro-peace Zionist group, Yachad (Hebrew for Together), asked a similar question toJPRs in 2015, to a comparable sample. [4]. Support for Zionism registered just 59% against 31%describing themselves as non-Zionist, (10% unsure). Growing numbers of Jews are morefocused on issues affecting their lives in Britain than with Israel and Zionism.

The JSG broadly shares the Bunds principles. We reject Zionist solutions to problems facing Jews.Most of our members define themselves as anti-Zionist or non-Zionist, or more positively asDiasporists.

In recent years a young, British, radical Jewish grouping has emerged called jewdas (founded bya Jewish Labour Party member). Many jewdas supporters contribute to a Facebook page, YoungJewish Left, which now has nearly 800 members. Many jewdas/Young Jewish Left supporters whowere members of Zionist youth groups in their teens, explicitly link themselves now to Bundist


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views. During the 2013 Gaza conflict, jewdas/Young Jewish Left activists mobilised a Jewish blocon major demonstrations organised by Palestine Solidarity against the Israeli states militaryactions. The Jewish Bloc included banners from several critical Jewish organisations, and manyunaffiliated Jews marched in the bloc.[5]

In America, too, there is a rapidly-growing Jewish organisation in support of Palestinian rights toself-determination and equality, called Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), formed in 1996. JVP has 60+chapters (branches) across the USA, and has secular and religious supporters (it has a rabbinicalcouncil). JVP supports the demand from Palestinian civil society organisations for BoycottDivestment and Sanctions (BDS), as a non-violent action against Israeli state policy. Its rabbinicalcouncil underlines our assertion that Zionism is not an article of religious faith.

2. Antisemitism in Britain

Many forms of racism, including antisemitism, persist in Britain. Different groups have experiencedstereotyping, media hostility, discrimination, unfair treatment by authorities, intimidation andviolence. Racism in Britain has proved very versatile often targeting different victims at once, whileat other times being particularly focused on certain communities, but also able to switch targets

adeptly.

Islamophobia has undoubtedly been at a high level in recent years. Racial profiling of black youthremains a persistent problem. Media hostility targets refugees with virulence. Antisemitism ispresent but clearly does not match anything like the levels experienced by these othercommunities at this juncture, which makes the excessive media headlines about it seemextraordinary.

Nevertheless, antisemitism has deep cultural roots in Britain going back several centuries. Apolitical party with hundreds of thousands of members is unlikely to be immune from it. Someindividuals will have accepted rather than questioned stereotypes or negative attitudes about Jews.

This year the Labour movement celebrates the 80th anniversary of the victory over Mosleysfascists at the Battle of Cable Street. Mosleys support came from all classes. The Jewishconspiracy theories that he and his European counterparts propounded in the 1930s have notbeen eradicated. Today, the internet is awash with them and some, alleging Jewish power andnefarious influence, reappear in crude campaigning around Israel and Zionism. We are aware ofcases of left wing pro-Palestinian campaigners sharing material on the internet that superficiallytargets oppressive Israeli state policies, but actually harbours antisemitic messages.

Labour members who genuinely support the Palestinians in their just struggle against occupationand for self-determination must take care not to taint that struggle with antisemitism, and must beabsolutely clear in their distinctions between Jews, Israelis, Israels government, and Zionism.

3. Antisemitism and anti-Zionism

Zionism is a political ideology that continues to be contested within and beyond Jewishcommunities. As with any political ideology, it is entirely legitimate for non-Jews as well as Jews toexpress positive or negative opinions about it. Not all Jews are Zionists (see statistics above), andnot all Zionists are Jews. Many strident supporters of Zionism today in Britain and America are rightwing Christian fundamentalists who include antisemites.

Support for Zionism does not imply support for Jews, or for anti-racist attitudes.

Several European Far Right movements the English Defence League and British National Partyhere, the Front National in France, Vlaams Belang in Belgium make strongly pro-Israelstatements. Next year, many British Jews will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Conservative


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politician Arthur Balfour promising Palestine as a future Jewish State, and will forget that, as PrimeMinister, he had promoted and overseen the Aliens Act of 1905 against Jewish immigration intoBritain. While many right-wing supporters of Zionism combine this support with racist attitudestowards Muslims and other minorities, many critics of Zionism (Jewish and non-Jewish) haveconsistently opposed antisemitism and other forms of racism.

Anti-Zionism can be a cover for antisemitism. In most cases it is not. For example, some talk of aJewish lobby which, they say, strongly influences American (and British) foreign policy. Given thediversity of Jewish opinion here and in America, talk of a Jewish lobby is a mistaken antisemiticformulation. But there is concerted action by Christian and Jewish pro-Zionists to pressure ourgovernment and the USA government. It is not antisemitic to identify and challenge Zionist lobbies.

For Palestinians, Zionism is more than an ideology. When that ideology was put into practice in thetraumatic post-Holocaust years, it inflicted a fundamental injustice on the Palestinian people thatpersists today. Zionism solved one refugee crisis, but created a new one which is still unresolved.Almost every Palestinian is anti-Zionist for entirely understandable reasons. Conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism effectively labels (and libels) almost every Palestinian as an antisemite,and empties antisemitism of its meaning.

Opponents of the current Labour leadership, within the Labour Party itself, have formed an unholyalliance with traditional right wing bodies and media outlets as they attempt to depict supporters ofPalestinian rights as antisemites. Completely legitimate criticisms of Israel state policy are falselycited as examples of antisemitism. Such criticism of Israeli state actions is rarely antisemitic.Nevertheless, genuine critics of Israeli policy or Zionism should always take care that they talk ofthe Israeli government rather than Israel in their statements, otherwise they risk attacking thepeople of Israel rather than its government.

Ironically, many Israelis campaign daily against the Israeli states treatment of the Palestinians,without being labelled antisemites. Their criticisms are often harsher than those of Labour Party

members here who have been suspended pending investigation. For example, at a Holocaustremembrance ceremony in Israel in May 2016, Major General Yair Golan made a speechcomparing modern day Israeli society with Nazi Germany: If theres something that frightens meabout Holocaust remembrance, he said, its the recognition of the revolting processes thatoccurred in Europe in general, and particularly in Germany, back then and finding signs of themhere among us today There is nothing easier than hating the other.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of antisemitism for being friendly towardsHamas. He has stated clearly that he does not agree with Hamas but believes they must be part ofany negotiated solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict. The 2015 Yachad survey of British Jewsopinions, cited earlier, found that 42% favour negotiations with Hamas, with 42% against, and theremainder dont know.

While the BDS movement is regularly condemned as antisemitic by the Jewish Chronicle anewspaper which has undoubtedly fomented a popular notion among its readers of a crisis ofantisemitism in the Labour Party, the Yachad survey found that 24% of its respondents wouldsupport sanctions against Israel to encourage its government to engage in the peace process.

The JSG campaigns against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, and for a socialist solutionto the Israel/Palestine conflict, based on equality and self-determination for Israeli and PalestinianJews and Arabs. We argue against any forms of discrimination within Israel, and support thedemand of Gush Shalom, the radical Peace Bloc in Israel, for Israel to become a state for all itscitizens, with full equality between Jews and non-Jews. Our trenchant critiques of Zionism in

practice i.e. Israeli government policy do not constitute antisemitism, but support for humanrights. Labour Party members here should be free to make trenchant and heartfelt critiques ofIsraeli government policy without being suspected or accused of antisemitism.


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The JSG is also concerned about the way in which Israeli governments treat diaspora Jewishcommunities. Successive Israeli governments have exploited the empathy shown by one Jewishcommunity for another and transformed the Israel/diaspora relationship into a colonial relationshipin which the social, economic and cultural needs of diaspora Jewish communities are subordinatedto the demands of the Israeli state.

This was formalised through the 1953 Jerusalem Programme of the World Zionist Organisation,revised in 1968 and 2004, which affirms the absolute centrality of Israel, and is capital Jerusalem,in Jewish life. This Programme privileges Israels Jewish community over other Jewishcommunities and treats criticisms levelled at the Israeli state as criticism of Jews.

In contrast to the Israelo-centric conception worldview promoted by supporters of the JerusalemProgramme, the JSG holds a polycentric view. It regards all Jewish communities as equally validand equally deserving of support. We would strongly recommend the Labour Party to adopt thisconcept too.

The JSG is especially concerned that the only body which claims to represent all Jewish membersin the Labour Party the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM), known until relatively recently by its

Hebrew name Poale Zion (workers of Zion) is signed up to the Jerusalem Programme.Whorepresents the many Jews in the Labour Party who who are non-Zionists and anti-Zionists? TheJewish Labour Movement (JLM), is exclusive. It is affiliated to the World Zionist Organization andopen only to those who explicitly sign up to its Zionist programme.

The JLMs conception and definition of antisemitism cannot be extracted from its Zionist/Israel-centred perspective. It looks at antisemitism through a Zionist prism, rather than viewing itobjectively. The JLM is structurally unable to prioritise the interests of Jews in Britain/in the BritishLabour Party over what it believes to be the Israeli states interests.

Despite this, the Royall Report into matters at Oxford University Labour Club, which was unable to

support the wild claims that it was a hotbed of antisemites, nevertheless recommended that theJLM should be put in charge of education about antisemitism. The JSG regards this asunacceptable. If such a task is to be given to a Jewish body, it must be one that is open to all Jewsin the Party, Zionist, non-Zionist and anti-Zionist, which reflects the breadth of Jewish Labour Partyopinion.

4. Voices and representation within Britains Jewish community

British Jews constantly demonstrate diverse opinions over Israel and Zionism and other politicalmatters, but the Jewish voices quoted by the mainstream media in reporting Labours allegedproblem with Jews display a narrow uniformity. Critical voices from the grassroots of thecommunity have struggled to air opinions publicly that challenge this uniformity. They have broken

through to some some newspaper letters pages, but have not been treated as authoritative orrepresentative.

The Jewish Chronicle has both highlighted and promoted the charges of antisemitism being thrownat Labour. In one recent issue it gave over its first 22 pages to this matter alone. The paper wasfounded in 1841 and proclaims itself the organ of British Jewry though it has alwaysrepresented the most conservative elements in the community. Recently it has moved even furtherrightwards. Its current editor, Stephen Pollard, has been criticised even by friends for supportingthe pro-Israel Polish Politician Mikhal Kaminski, whose background is in the Polish Far Right and ison record relatively recently as making antisemitic statements. Pollard is not a neutral observer, buta UKIP-friendly Conservative and right wing Zionist, falsely generating fear among British Jews

with sensationalist headlines and lurid articles conflating anti-Zionism/criticism of Israeli policieswith antisemitism, in what appears to be a blatantly anti-Labour crusade. It made no comment onthe racist campaign run during the same period by Zac Goldsmith against Labours Sadiq Kahn.


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The Board of Deputies (BoD), formed even earlier than the Jewish Chronicle, in 1760, regardsitself as the representative political leadership of the Jewish community. Until the end of the 1930sthe Board was comprised principally of middle class Jews of German and Sephardi (Spanish/Portuguese) heritage rather than working class Jews of East European heritage who, by that timeconstituted the largest section of the community. Working class Jews frequently condemned theBoard as unrepresentative.

Until shortly before World War 2, the majority of the Board was indifferent or opposed to Zionism,fearing accusations by other Britons of dual loyalty. A rising group of lower-middle-class Zionistscaptured key positons in the Board just before the War and strengthened their hold over the nextdecade. In recent decades the BoD has been overwhelmingly Zionist, and defence of the Israeligovernment of the day has been one of its prime tasks, regardless of the diverse views held by thewider Jewish community.

The BoDs current president, Jonathan Arkush, has fuelled the controversy over Labour andantisemitism, with repeated attacks on Jeremy Corbyn and claims, through the Evening Standard,that Jews cannot trust Labour any more. Although it is customary for BoD leaders to be impartialtowards Britains mainstream political parties, when Arkush stood for the Boards presidency in

2015 he was criticised within the Jewish community for emails he sent claiming that a Conservativevictory at the 2015 General Election would be in the best interests of the Jewish community.

The Board of Deputies which has been so vocal about Labours alleged antisemitism has, at best,a chequered history of combating antisemitism itself. It was criticized even by the Jewish Chronicleat the time for failing to campaign against the Aliens Act of 1905. It was widely condemned by EastEnd Jews in the 1930s for complacency and wrong-headed advice as they faced daily violenceand intimidation from Oswald Mosleys British Union of Fascists (BUF). Board leaders denouncedantisemitism but not Mosleys fascism. They were more concerned to condemn the JewishPeoples Council a popular local body leading the fight against antisemitism in the East Endtogether with non-Jewish anti-fascists. The weekend before the Battle of Cable Street, the BoD

advised Jews to stay indoors rather than demonstrate. East End Jews roundly ignored this adviceand, together with local non-Jewish allies, inflicted a decisive blow on the BUF.

In 1978 the BoD stayed aloof from Britains largest post-war anti-fascist initiative the Anti-NaziLeague a body supported by many Labour politicians, trade unionists, church leaders, and ethnicminority organisations (including Jewish groups). It said that the ANL leadership included anti-Zionists. It therefore prioritised defence of the Israeli state from challenging views stated verballyor in print, over the vital practical unity against racism and antisemitism with communities in thefront line of racial violence. This was at a time when the National Front were regularly attemptingincursions into areas with large immigrant populations to intimidate and abuse their residents.

Despite the BoDs current behaviour of seemingly spotting antisemitism everywhere, in the early

1980s, the BoD was heavily criticised for withholding information about antisemitic attacks from theJewish community. The JSG obtained an internal report which listed, on average, 20-25 attacks amonth in London alone: physical attacks, swastika daubings on cemeteries, threats and verbalabuse, distribution of Holocaust denial material incidents typically associated with the FarRight.The BoD clashed with the Labour-controlled GLC when the GLC included these statistics in areport on Racial Harassment in London in 1984. The BoD preferred behind-the-scenesconversations with police and Home Office officials to Jewish community members taking part inanti-racist street protests, alongside other minorities the BoD didnt favour politically.

The Labour-run GLC of the early 1980s played a very valuable and pioneering role in bringingrepresentatives of Londons ethnic minorities together and raising the profile of anti-racism and

multiculturalism through its innovative Ethnic Minorities Unit. Grassroots groups from Londonsminorities, including several Jewish groups, benefitted from GLC grants. In late 1983, the BoDsuspended participation in the work of this Unit citing five separate concerns. The fifth (e) was agrant by the Councils Ethnic Minorities Unit, to the Jewish Socialists' Group, against the advice of


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the Board. Internal minutes of the BoDs Defence Committee, leaked to the JSG by a dissidentBoard member, stated that in the light of (e) the committee feels it appropriate to suspendparticipation in the work of the Ethnic Minorties Unit.

The BoDs approach to combating racism and antisemtism has historically been contingent onother political agendas, especially defence of Israeli state policy, and continues to be so. It hasshunned practical alliances with organisations, including those representing other ethnic minorities,that it disagrees with over Israel.

The BoD holds a monthly parliament style meeting among members elected mainly throughsynagogues and some communal organisations. Few of these elections are contested. In manysynagogue elections women are denied a vote. Major decisions are not made by the BoDsparliament, in any case, but in committees led by paid officials.

The positon of Chief Rabbi (of the mainstream United Synagogue) is even less democratic. He ischosen by a Council of Rabbis with no wider community involvement. The current incumbent, andhis predecessors in recent decades, have tended to be conservative politically and unquestioninglypro-Zionist.[6] In that sense they do not represent the more conflicted views of the wider Jewish

community. Liberal Judaism and Reform Judaism, though they embrace a minority of synagogue-affiliated Jews, are more involved with social justice campaigns and are closer to Labour Partyvalues.

Evaluating charges of antisemitism

The spate of accusations that have led to this Inquiry being formed are very different from the kindof Far Right antisemitism that typified Jewish communities experience in the 1980s and 1990swhen the BNP, NF, and fringe neo-Nazi organisations were more active. Recent alleged incidentshave typically been passing remarks in social media posts and verbal statements relating to Israelthat certain individuals and bodies, often outside the ranks of the Labour Party, have defined as

antisemitic. While some charges relate to clearly antisemitic incidents,[7] other charges have beencontested by a number of Labour Party members who regard them as legitimate, if harshlyexpressed, criticisms of Israeli state actions.

The JSGs own examination of the incidents that have come to light suggests that three separatekinds of incidents have been unhelpfully conflated into one category and all are being treated assimilar, and responded to with the same level of outrage, generating much more heat than light.

The first consists of a very small number of real cases of antisemitism, maliciousyexpressed byLabour members. These must be exposed, and not excused, and there is a case for using veryfirm disciplinary measures.

The second category of incidents is trickier and larger: this is where genuine critics of Israelipolicy unintentionally blur the distinction between Jews and Zionists, or between the Israeligovernment and Israeli people, or they unknowingly borrow and apply traditional antisemitic tropesto Israel and its supporters, such as implying excessive control over the media. Their words arebased on ignorance, not malice, and should be challenged by argument, not heavy-handeddiscipline through suspensions and bans. But it is important that they are challenged througheducation soon after such incidents occur. If they are not, such ignorance will grow and spread.

The third category concerns incidents that are not antisemitic at all, but are simply forthrightexpressions of support for Palestinian rights, which condemn Israeli government policy andaspects of Zionist ideology.

For the JSG it has been striking that many of these incidents which have formed the basis of luridnewspaper headlines targeting the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyns leadership, were actuallycommitted long before Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader. If they were known to people who


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considered these incidents to be serious, why did they not raise them under the previousleadership? Other charges seem to have been stored up by Conservative supporters and leaked tothe press when they would potentially do most damage to Labour. One recent accusation thatoriginally resulted in a suspension came from the Jewish Chronicle via an organisation called theIsraeli Advocacy Project, which trawls back through individuals Facebook accounts. It is hard notto conclude that instead of dealing with spontaneous responses to real incidents we are seeing amanufactured crisis whereby accusations of antisemitism have been weaponised in an attempt todamage Jeremy Corbyn politically.

The JSG is worried about this on four counts:

the instrumental use of false charges of antisemitism shows a callous disregard for the victims ofreal antisemitism

the cynical way that false accusations have been used may result in victims of real antisemitismnot being believed in the future

Labour members who recognise that this has been a manufactured crisis are worried about

saying so because they fear being called antisemites themselves

Labour members who wish to explore some of the more difficult and complex aspects of theIsrael/Palestine situation and express their opinions and conclusions are censoring themselves which cannot be healthy for a movement dedicated to supporting social justice and the causes ofthose fighting oppression.

6. Recommendations

In this final section we make some recommendations that link to the specific terms of reference ofthe Inquiry:

- Consult widely with the Jewish community, other minority representatives and Labour Partymembers to investigate allegations of anti-semitism and racism within the Party.

The Labour Party must take all accusations of racism, including antisemitism, seriously andbecome confident in its ability to quickly distinguish real claims from false claims. It needs torecognise that there is a range of perspectives within the Jewish community, and that those whoclaim to be representative of the community as a whole often represent its more insular andconservative sections. The Labour Party should seek comment from a wide range of Jewishgroups.,

The Labour Party, as a party which in general terms challenges the right wing establishment, and

challenges the interests of the rich and powerful, should build strong relationships with grassrootsJewish campaigning groups that are as keen to combat anti-Black racism and Islamophobia asthey are to combat antisemitism. It should be wary of accusations of antisemitism coming fromthose who are selective in their anti-racism. In its international work the Labour Party should buildlinks not just with the Israeli Labour Party but with progressive campaigning groups in Israel suchas Yesh Gvul, Gush Shalom, BTselem, Breaking the Silence, and the Israeli Committee AgainstHouse Demoilitions

- To establish guidance about the boundaries of acceptable behaviour and language.

All racism must be challenged and if it is coming from another Labour member, should have the

aim of educating the perpetrator.

The Labour Party must take notice of context and intent when investigating incidents that havebeen brought to its attention. The party should encourage members to explore issues, and


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acknowledge that members might express controversial opinions in discussions where they arepursuing a better understanding.

- To develop clear and transparent compliance procedures for dealing with allegations of anti-semitism and racism.

If a member is being investigated for a charge of antisemitism/racism they must be told what theyare being accused of and given an opportunity to retract or explain what they meant. If disciplinaryprocedures are being applied, bans must be a last resort, and lifetime bans only given to thosewho have practised malicious racism, shown no remorse and no inclination to reflect and change.The aim should be as far as possible to deal with such problems through education.

- To scope out the need for training programmes for parliamentary candidates, MPs, Councillorsand others to ensure all representatives understand the code of conduct as well as how to respondto allegations of racism.

There is a strong case for involving members of the community under attack in trainingprogrammes, since they will usually possess expert knowledge and experience that can inform

education about that issue. If such a task is to be given to a Jewish body In relation toantisemitism, it must be given to one that is open to all Jews in the Party Zionist, non-Zionist andanti-Zionist and reflect the breadth of Jewish Labour Party opinion.

- To make recommendations for changes to the code of conduct and party rules if required.

See Compliance Procedures above

- To recommend other actions to ensure that the Labour party is a welcoming environment formembers of all communities.

The Labour Party must show itself to be a champion of equality and true multiculturalism and anti-racism at all levels of the organisation, and in its actions within civil society.

We have been very encouraged by the fact that in recent months Labour candidates in council by-elections, using positive and principled anti-racist and socialist arguments, have been winning backa significant number of working class voters who had deserted to UKIP.

The lead needs to come from the top - and in our view it has.That is why so many members of theJewish Socialists' Group continue to be members of the Labour Party, and a number of them veryactive ones at that.

Annex 1: Statement on Labours problem with antisemitism

Annex 2 JSG Membership leaflet

Who we are

The Jewish Socialists Group (JSG) is a campaigning organisation which fights for freedom andequality. We are active on issues that affect the Jewish community, other minorities and oppressedgroups, and the wider labour movement. We are a socialist voice within the Jewish community andwork within the left for a socialism that embraces cultural diversity.

We stand for rights and justice for Jews everywhere, without wrongs and injustice to other people

anywhere. We know that antisemitism has not gone away, and we work within the antiracist andantifascist movement to challenge stereotypes of all minorities, including Jews, and to combatantisemitism and other forms of racism wherever they emanate from.
http://www.jewishsocialist.org.uk/news/item/statement-on-labours-problem-with-antisemitism-from-the-jewish-socialists-g


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We work and campaign with other organisations that share some or all of our aims, and alwayswelcome new members who support our political principles. We want to create an open,democratic and equal society, and we are committed to working in an open, democratic andinclusive way.

Our Politics

We are socialists, diasporists and secularists. As socialists we know that there can be no securefuture for Jews, other minorities, working people and the unemployed under an economic systemthat promotes greed over need. We are anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist and we campaign forsocial justice locally, nationally and internationally. We join with others to fight discrimination andpersecution and we also challenge conservative forces within our own community. We work for asocialist solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict, based on equality and self-determination for Israeliand Palestinian Jews and Arabs, and we challenge the leaders of the Jewish community when theydefend or excuse Israels treatment of the Palestinians.

As diasporists we celebrate the fact that the Jews are an international people. We support the rightof Jews and other ethnic minorities to live in security and harmony with other communities

wherever they are in the world, and to be free to express and develop their historical and culturalidentities. In the diaspora we are at home, not in exile. We reject the negative ideology of Zionism,which subordinates the political, social, economic and cultural needs of diaspora communities tothe demands of the Israeli state.

As secularists we fight for democracy, equality and the right to dissent within the Jewish communityand in the wider society. Jewish identity is diverse and dynamic, and we are especially committedto strengthening a progressive, secular Jewish identity. We challenge our communalestablishments attempts to confine Jewishness within a religious or Zionist framework and tomarginalise and exclude people from Jewish life on the basis of their politics, gender or sexuality.As secularists we argue for the separation of religion from the state, so that individuals of all

religions and none are citizens on equal terms; we also apply this principle to our own communityso that all Jews have an equal right to express themselves.

An alternative voice

The needs of ordinary Jewish people, and the diverse range of opinions within our community, areconstantly misrepresented by powerful individuals and institutions such as the Chief Rabbi, theBoard of Deputies, the Israeli Embassy, the Jewish Leadership Council and the mainstream Jewishpress. They claim to speak on our behalf but they share a narrow set of political orthodoxies andinterests. Our group gives a voice and a platform to anti-racist Jews, Jewish feminists, workingclass Jews, gay and lesbian Jews, secular Jews, diasporist Jews. We give a voice and a platformto Jews who do not fear open debate or interaction with other communities.

Our history

The group was set up in the 1970s and stands within a tradition of Jewish socialism and a strugglefor social and economic justice going back more than 100 years.

The JSG draws inspiration from

Jewish revolutionaries Bundists, Anarchists and Communists who were active in the RussianEmpire and in all the countries of mass Jewish immigration

Jewish radicals who led the fight against fascism in the 1930s and 40s, from the streets ofBritain to the Warsaw Ghetto


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Jews who joined movements for social justice and equality in Europe, the USA and Canada,Latin America, South Africa and the Arab world

Jews who campaign alongside people from other communities for workers rights, civil libertiesand the rights of refugees, and against discrimination and injustice.

What we do

The JSG shares and develops its ideas through campaigning activities, regular meetings,occasional dayschools, a website, pamphlets and our own magazine Jewish Socialist. We havelively, unorthodox social and cultural events, and secular celebrations of Jewish festivals.

All members receive a regular internal discussion bulletin, a frequent newsletter detailing meetingsand events, can participate in determining our policies at our annual conference and can beinvolved in any aspect of the groups work.

If you agree with these ideas then join us. With your help we can bring about change in theJewish community, on the left and in the anti-racist and anti-fascist movement. And together we

can act powerfully for peace with justice in Israel/Palestine and elsewhere in the world.

Footnotes

[1] Ken Livingstone and the hard Left are spreading an insidious virus of antisemitism, TheTelegraph 3 May 2016. Rabbi Mirvis is head of the largest mainstream orthodox group ofsynagogues the United Synagogue. He is not Chief Rabbi of the Federation, Reform or Liberalsynagogues, nor of the Chasidic or secular communities

[2] See David Rosenbergs Battle for the East End (Five Leaves Publications, 2011)

[3] Committed, Concerned and Conciliatory: the attitudes of Jews in Britain towards Israel,Graham, D. and Boyd, J. (JPR 2010)

[4] The Attitudes of British Jews Towards Israel, Miller, S. Harris,M. Shindler, C. 2015

[5] jewdas/Young jewish Left have simultaneously been very involved in anti-racist/anti-fascistactivities

[6] Rabbi Jakobovitz who stepped down in 1991 was a partial exception. He was politically veryclose to Mrs Thatcher, but a dove with regards to Israel/Palestine politics.

[7] For example, a Tower Hamlets member was suspended after linking to a blogpost from a neo-Nazi/Jewish conspiracy site headed Timeline of the Jewish Genocide of the British People.

Posted: 10 June 2016

Documents

Jewish Socialists' Group Chakrabarti Inquiry submission