Monday, March 04, 2019

Rothschild Conspiracy Theory Exposed & "Antisemitism Open Letter"


An excellent video by Momentum. We need more of this stuff to combat anti-semitism in the Labour Movement (nevermind the Labour Party)

also Hat tip Momentum. I have signed below "Antisemitism Open Letter"

"We are Labour members who support Jeremy Corbyn in his leadership and the progressive, socialist programme and anti-racist principles of the Labour Party.

We have seen antisemitism from Labour members and supporters, online or offline. We recognise that as a movement we have been too slow to acknowledge this problem, too tolerant of the existence of antisemitic views within our ranks, too defensive and too eager to downplay it.

We sincerely apologise to the Jewish community, and our Jewish comrades in the party, for our collective failure on this issue to date.

We believe that a small minority of antisemites are wreaking havoc in the Labour movement, alienating Jewish people, and sabotaging the Labour project. Some of these people are already expelled or otherwise suspended by the party, but remain active on social media. Moreover, there is a much wider problem of denial about the problem, including shouting down those who raise it or take action.

We are acutely aware that confidence in the left is at an all time low within Jewish communities. It is our goal to rebuild trust and relationships with our Jewish compatriots.

In addition, we understand our obligation to be sensitive to the concerns that have already been widely expressed. A particular issue is that many people, due to a general lack of education about antisemitism, are not recognising antisemitic tropes, and as a result often react defensively. We recognise that rising antisemitism in society at large, and in other parties, isn’t a reason to fall short here in the Labour Party. It is our party that has always led the fight against racism, which is why our failures are bitterly disappointing for Jewish members, and as such we affirm that there is no space for anti-Jewish prejudice and bigotry in our movement. We must be at the forefront of eradicating antisemitism from our own spaces and movement, which is where we have the power to hold ourselves to the highest standard in order to make a real difference.

Part of the difficulty is that when speaking out about the injustices of the Israel-Palestine conflict, progressive and radical activists have faced allegations of antisemitism when they have either not been antisemitic or when they did not intend to be antisemitic and took care to ensure they were not using antisemitic tropes or rhetoric. At the same time, we acknowledge that we face real currents of unchallenged and somewhat normalised anti-Jewish oppression in our movements and society at large including at times alongside criticism of Israel. In order to resolve this we call on all members of the Labour movement to seek an end to bunker mentality, demonstrate maturity and prove why, as a party awaiting government, we can be trusted to face up to the challenges we encounter in bringing about significant change both within and outside of the movement.

It is our ambition to arrive at a place where we can hold ourselves accountable, continuing to address important challenges and having meaningful discussions about topics including the Israel-Palestine conflict. All of this whilst being true and committed allies to our Jewish compatriots in the fight against antisemitism.

We are committed to proactively opposing antisemitism and antisemitic tropes wherever they occur and countering efforts to downplay concerns raised. We want to work with the party to urgently assign resources, in consultation with the Jewish community, to expose and isolate antisemites active online purporting to support Labour; to create and develop political education materials to assist in educating those who are ignorant of this subject and unaware of the nuances of antisemitism; to publish a dedicated page on the Labour Party website addressing antisemitism; to address both new and outstanding cases in a timely manner; and to raise up Jewish voices speaking out about their experiences; and to reiterate publicly and privately that dismissive attitudes and denial are part of the problem.

We understand that many Jewish members feel uncertain and have reservations, but we hope that you will stay in the Labour Party, so we can work with you and together eradicate antisemitism from our movement and society as a whole.

PLEASE NOTE THAT SIGNATURES ARE BEING VETTED AS BEST POSSIBLE TO AVOID TROLLING AND PROBLEMATIC PEOPLE FROM SIGNING SO IT MAY TAKE TIME FOR YOUR NAME TO APPEAR AFTER SIGNING.

12 comments:

John Gray said...

Still the Tories. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/mar/05/tories-suspend-14-members-over-alleged-islamophobia

Anonymous said...

Whose the real nasty party now?

Anonymous said...

I wonder of Margaret Hodge or Luciana Berger would agree with you.. Labour the party of Atlee and Bevan both of whom will be spinning in their graves.. its shameful.

John Gray said...

I don't know? Labour is not in power and not refusing benefits to the terminally ill, running a racist immigration policy, cutting support for children and young people, cutting police numbers, benefit caps, increasing homelessness, privatising the NHS...

I think you need to mug up on your history. Past war anti-semitism was pretty commonplace despite the holocaust. Labour politicians at the time were also accused of direct anti-semitism (Bevin).

Anonymous said...

Even Tom Watson says he "no longer recognises the Labour Party" being that which he joined.
Labour is now the real "nasty party" and that is precisely why seven Labour MP's have resigned, driven out by lack of action and anti Semitism and an extreme left wing witch hunt... who'd have thought centrist MP's would be forced out... terrible for the politics of the country.

John Gray said...

Nope the tories are the "nasty party" as always. Labour is in hole but will find itself out of it (eventually). Ask the Tory MPs who have left about the bullying and witch hunting by their ultra right.

Anonymous said...

Corbyn describes Hezbollah and Hamas as "friends" and is pictured with a wreath at a commemoration of the murderers of the Israeli Olympic team. Corbyn has tea with the IRA days after the attempted murder of the democratically elected British cabinet.. Corbyn supports the mural depicting Jews as greedy bankers...seven labour MP's are hounded out of the party by anti-Semites… its not looking like such a harmonious situation to me comrade?

John Gray said...

dear nasty troll. please troll off and play elsewhere

Anonymous said...

if you publish your views you should expect some responses. Disagreeing with them is fine but describing the comments as being from a troll when they are non abusive and factual is nonsense. The problem with the Left now is that any view other that diverges from your dogmatic script is deemed "unacceptable"...and therein lies your problem. Its Nazis that don't like free speech...

John Gray said...

Dear Troll. What nonsense. Cowardly anonymous trolls such as yourself are the bane of social media. Be brave for once and use your actual name. I suspect that you are the "cry baby" troll who recently whinged that I had been somehow "rude" to him. How pathetic. Why is it that Newham is cursed by such useless political opposition who simply have no politics, love being abusive to opponents but live in glass houses.

Yawn

Michael Miller said...

The Israeli government has been described by the United Nations as a racist and apartheid organisation https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/un-report-says-israel-a-racist-state-and-apartheid-regime-1.3012189?fbclid=IwAR2zkoJRCgQEd9RcpDgzKvYI1xUGzZwBX6b1ZD2kwqOd66SmMIHpuYFzDTQ#.XGlGV_aKOs4.facebook Does the Labour Party support this or is racism and an apartheid state acceptable if it is Israel

John Gray said...

Well, what has this to do with a report on hate and anti-antisemitism? Are you trying to justify the hate and racism shown to Jews by the appalling actions of the Israeli government?