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Apology from the Morning Star

Clarity, not conflation

An Open Letter to Tom Watson

Jenny Manson interviewed by the Jewish Chronicle

JVL Introduction An interview with JVL’s chair in the Jewish Chronicle. Jenny says: This was a fair account of...

‘The Board of Deputies doesn’t speak for us.’

PRESS RELEASE   ‘The BOD doesn’t speak for us.’ An open letter to the Board of Deputies of British Jews...

Antisemitism – real and imagined

JVL Introduction In a letter published in the Guardian, a group of prominent Jewish academics and others call for...

Website redesign

Our website has been redesigned, as you will have noticed! We’re having inevitable teething troubles. We hope...

Unite against racists, Islamophobes and right-wing extremists

On 9th June 10,000 supporters of the self-confessed criminal Tommy Robinson marched through the streets of London to...

Debunking the Myths

JVL Introduction Muhammad Shehada and Jamie Stern-Weiner take on the arguments of Israeli hasbara (propaganda) and...

Inquiry into Tory Islamophobia

Hats off to the Jewish Socialists' Group for its rapid response on this issue. JVL endorses the call for an independent inquiry.

Ken Livingstone’s resignation from the Labour Party – 2

JVL has updated its statement of 23 May headed Ken Livingstone’s resignation from the Labour Party, acknowledging feedback that the final paragraph should have been clearer.

Responses to Jonathan Arkush’s rant

Divisions in the Labour party

We missed this article by Paul Rogers when it appeared earlier this month in openDemocracy and are pleased to post it now. It's a useful and incisive look back at what has happened to Labour in recent years – and why so many Labour MPs have found it hard to adjust as their previous certainties were shattered, replaced by a political climate that makes little sense to them.

Will they come round and accept the new political landscape?

From the horse’s mouth

Now we know. The attacks on Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party for antisemitism are about Israel after all

Jonathan Arkush puts delegitimisation of Israel at the core of what it is to be antisemitic. We suggest looking at what really delegitimises Israel in the eyes of public opinion worldwide: the ongoing occupation and theft of Palestinian land, the ever-expanding settlements, the continual flouting of international law, the cold-blooded shooting of protestors in Gaza, the shabby treatment of asylum seekers at home...

Enough is enough!

Believing Hamas

Veteran Israeli journalist B. Michael, pushes the willingness to believe the Hamas spokesperson, who claimed that 50 of the 62 killed in the Gaza protests were members of Hamas, to its a logical conclusion...

Affiliating to JVL

To encourage your Labour party or trade union branch to affiliate to JVL, we offer a couple of model resolutions. Feel free to adapt or adjust as appropriate.

Is there a problem of antisemitism on the left?

In a conversation organised by Barnet Momentum David Rosenberg explores the issue of antisemitism around the Labour party and the left as well as in a wider context

Blaming Hamas

The rush to excuse mass murder by labeling every Gazan as a terrorist has gone singularly unchallenged by most of our fearless mass media, happy to accept the Israeli hasbara interpretation of events.

In this article for JVL, Stephen Marks surveys the critical voices that have shown how impossible it is to sustain the hasbara view.

Rescuing Judaism from the dead hand of Zionism

This post, says its author Robert A.H.Cohen, is "a response to the 'scandal' and 'outrage' caused by a group of young Jews who who stood in Parliament Square in London and recited the Jewish memorial prayer (Kaddish) for the Palestinian dead of Gaza. I welcome their act of ethical provocation and ask them to consider their next steps."

A warning to the Jewish community

The standfirst to this article posted in Jewish News says it all: "Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner sounds warning to the community following a torrent of abuse aimed at those who said kaddish for Gaza’s dead."

It is disturbing that so many are apparently unable to hear the warning...

Ken Livingstone’s resignation from the Labour Party

JVL was saddened to hear of Ken Livingstone's resignation from the Labour Party. We deplore his hounding and the trial by media that he has been subjected to over two years and more. We can find no evidence of antisemitism in any of the statements for which he has been attacked.

We reprint his resignation statement in full on our website, with its clarity that: "I am not resigning because I accept the allegation that I have brought the Labour Party into disrepute - nor because I am in any way guilty of antisemitism (not that this has ever actually been put forward by the Labour Party as a reason for my suspension).”

We stand committed to the principles of natural justice, due process, transparency and proportionality, - so lacking in the entire handling of Ken’s case – as with so many others.

The prime objective of those who have sought his head is, of course, to bring about the downfall of Corbyn. Each suspension, expulsion or resignation of Corbyn supporters, far from quelling the accusations of antisemitism, only serves to weaken his position.

More media misrepresentation…

Justin Schlosberg, media activist, lecturer, researcher, takes the BBC and Frankie Boyle to task for "dutifully reinforc[ing] a disinformation narrative that has taken shape over a number of weeks, many of whose architects have surely but a single agenda: to prevent Jeremy Corbyn from leading the Labour Party into another general election."

The Barnet election results – some grown-up views

Immediately after Labour failed to capture Barnet council the pundits were out in force. Labour had failed to deal with antisemitism. The voters had taken their revenge.

The truth, inevitably, is more complicated - and much more interesting! Local issues, variations ward by ward, matter - as does the reality of Barnet as an outsourced borough, not even mentioned in Labour's manifesto

Read more

Do no harm

Jo Bird, of Jewish Voice for Labour, on antisemitism and what to do about it.

The end of neoliberalism

We welcome John McDonnell's statement about Labour's radical economic aims in advance of Labour’s second State of the Economy conference, held last weekend

Gaza: The truth in 20 tweets

Norman Finkelstein and Jamie Stern-Weiner present the truth about Gaza in 20 tweets

Leon Rosselson on Gaza

A powerful statement on Gaza from singer/songwriter, children’s author and lifelong activist, Leon Rosselson

Some Guardian letters on Gaza

A selection of letters published in the Guardian in recent days

Labour Party branches and CLPs condemn the massacre in Gaza – model motions

News comes in about responses to the massacre in Gaza. Here are some resolutions that have been adopted – you can adapt them as needed.

Add any resolution your branch or CLP adopts as a comment to this post.

Israeli supporters’ reactions to the massacre in Gaza

Peter Oborne asked some pointed questions of the Board of Deputies of British Jews; Labour Friends of Israel; Joan Ryan MP (chair of the LFI) and Chukka Umunna MP. He also approached Conservative Friends of Israel. But answers came there none...

And David Rosenberg took the Board of Deputies to task in a pointed comment on its press release

JVL statement on the massacre in Gaza

Jewish Voice for Labour is appalled at the massacre of dozens of Palestinian protesters in Gaza, and the wounding of thousands by Israeli snipers using live fire and expanding bullets

Emergency demo on Gaza

A JVL call – Join the demonstration today, Tuesday 15th May, outside Downing Street from 5.30-7.00pm

The Definition of Antisemitism

We, together with members of Free Speech on Israel, have produced this definition of antisemitism as a contribution to the wider debate on the left and the labour movement, and in the wider society

Antisemitism and the Labour party – a deeper look (cont)

On 4th May we posted a link to Kitty S Jones blog Marginalisation of left leaning Jewish groups demonstrates political exploitation of the antisemitism controversy by the right wing. It inspired a response from Jim Denham Antisemitism on the left and in Labour: a reply to Kitty S. Jones, in which he claims there is a serious problem of antisemitism on the left, about which we are in denial. Kitty Jones provides a fine rejoinder

What is the case against Ken Livingstone?

Sometimes justice is done

The Sunday Telegraph has been made to pay “substantial damages” to the general secretary of Finsbury Park mosque after it falsely portrayed him as a supporter of “violent lslamist extremism”

Now here is some good news…

‘The Lobby’, a four-part series produced by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit about an Israeli campaign to interfere with domestic politics in the UK and first broadcast in January 2017, has won a CINE Golden Eagle Award in Washington DC

Destablising Jeremy Corbyn – the view from Nazareth

Award-winning British journalist Jonathan Cook is the only foreign correspondent based in Nazareth, the capital of the Palestinian minority in Israel.

Here he provides an uncompromising analysis of the politics of the campaign around antisemitism in the Labour party, on how it is weaponised in order to target both Corbyn’s left-wing line and his support for the Palestinian people

All out in Manchester on May 19 counter protest

JVL statement on the Football Lads Alliance – Support May 19 counter-protest in Manchester Jewish Voice for Labour...

Keith Vaz speaks out in support of Marc Wadsworth

Support for Mrc Wadsworth from a perhaps unexpected quarter

Antisemitism: survey of European Jews

A survey of Jewish opinion about antisemitism in Europe is being conducted by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights.

It is particularly eager to hear about the thoughts and experiences of people who live in the United Kingdom, consider themselves to be Jewish, and are aged 16 and over.

We would urge you to respond to ensure that a wide range of Jewish voices is heard

The making of an antisemitic incident…

Reuven Leigh, director of Chabad of Cambridge and The Cambridge Lehrhaus reports how a broken window morphed into a major antisemitic incident. He writes: "I don’t doubt there are antisemites out there who wish to do me harm, but my default response and knee jerk reaction every time some misfortune befalls me is not one of victimhood." Read on

Jonathan Rosenhead responds to the Jewish Chronicle

On May 2nd the Jewish Chronicle posted a story "Leading JVL figure blames 'Zionists' for deaths of thousands of Jews in Holocaust", purporting to be a report of a talk Jonathan Rosenhead had given in London on April 26th. It was a shabby piece of hatchet journalism, as Jonathan Rosenhead shows here.

A call to reinstate Marc Wadsworth

JVL provides the text of a model motion calling for Marc Wadsworth’s reinstatement.

Add information about any resolution your branch or CLP adopts as a comment to this post

Skwawkbox reports on the Jewish vote for Labour

Two important posts from Skwawkbox. While the BBC obsesses with Labour's failure to take Barnet, there is plenty of evidence of Labour doing very well in many Jewish areas. Hats off to SKWAWKBOX for its honest reporting.

David Rosenberg speech at the Windrush Generation demonstration

"We are here today because we always stand against injustice, because we know that an attack on one minority is an attack on all and that minorities must stand together to resist"

JVL Statement on the local election results

Labour’s local election results, while actually pretty positive, fell short of our hopes to elect more Labour Councils to protect the services we need.

There is never a single reason for an election outcome but it is unusual for Labour to go into an election with a number of leading MPs and Councillors criticising and undermining the leadership

In Memoriam: Altab Ali

The annual Altab Ali commemoration takes place 6pm tonight, Friday 4th May, at Altab Ali Park, Whitechapel Road (corner of White Church Lane), E1 7QR

On the 40th anniversary of the murder of Altab Ali, David Rosenberg looks back at the event, the reactions and what we have learnt from it all.

Antisemitism and the Labour party – a deeper look

Kitty S Jones blogs at Politics and Insights (h/t Robert Jones). In the article she looks in depth at the Marc Wadsworth case and puts it into a broader context.

She explains the 'simplistic frame... regarding the Labour party’s alleged antisemitism, which the media have also rolled out. The frame itself is a trap. It runs like this: If the Labour party confirm that they are “addressing” an antisemitism problem, regardless of whether that problem is real – then it is read as an admission of guilt. However, if the party says there is no problem – regardless of whether there is or isn’t – that will simply be read as a denial of “guilt” and the action of a party that “doesn’t care” about antisemitism more generally.'

Mahmoud Abbas on the Holocaust

JVL condemns Mahmoud Abbas who is reported as saying that the Holocaust was a result of the economic function of Jewish people in Europe and not of antisemitism

JVL AGM backs Marc Wadsworth

Black activist Marc Wadsworth was given a standing ovation on addressing the Annual General Meeting of Jewish Voice for...

David Rosenberg on the Wadsworth show trial

David Rosenberg writes: "I was proud to be one of the witnesses Marc called to try to prevent this injustice, and I was motivated to do so above all, because I detest dishonesty and manipulation."

Reflections on antisemitism, Israeli policy and the Labour Party

Stephen Sedley reflects on antisemitism, Israel and its policies towards the Palestinians, and the current accusations about the Labour Party

Some responses to the expulsion of Marc Wadsworth

Some follow-ups to the expulsion of Marc Wadsworth. Other statements and articles will be added here in due course.

Corbyn, antisemitism and justice for Palestine – two videos

Two videos from the public meeting held on 26th April on Corbyn, antisemitism & justice for Palestine – one of the talk by Jonthan Rosenhead of JVL on Antisemitism, the other of the entire meeting

Wadsworth update

Skwawkbox provides updated information about the Wadsworth verdict, pointing out that "[t]here is little evidence for a disrepute charge in the video of the incident, which is available for anyone to see – and evidence for antisemitism is even more tenuous " – and showing how Labour's opponents are already spinning it

Jewish Voice for Labour condemns expulsion of Black activist Marc Wadsworth

The expulsion from the Labour Party of antiracist activist Marc Wadsworth marks a new low in the unprincipled campaign by enemies of the left to misuse justified concerns about antisemitism for factional ends.

Report of Corbyn’s meeting with Bod/JLC/CST

SKWAWKbox reveals the full Parliamentary labour Party briefing following the leadership's meeting with the Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and the Community Security Trust

Stop undermining Jeremy Corbyn, says Unite leader

Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, acknowledges the existence of some antisemitism in and around the Labour Party that has to be dealt with firmly. But, in an angry public statement, he lashes out at the way the issue is being exploited by a group of backbench Labour MPs to attack and undermine Jeremy Corbyn and the progressive leadership of the party.

In support of Marc Wadsworth

One of the most prominent campaigners for justice for Stephen Lawrence, whose racist murder 25 years ago we commemorate this month, was black journalist and activist Marc Wadsworth.

He has been unjustly suspended for antisemitism and, nearly two years after the event, has been arraigned and is appearing today before a panel of the National Constitutional Committee for his supposed offence

What does the Jewish communal leadership really want?

In the light of yesterday's meeting, Richard Kuper ask what the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council really want. It clearly isn't confined to the issue of antisemitism.

Why a Jewish Voice for Labour is needed

Ian Saville explains why Jewish Voice for Labour is necessary and our commitment to Labour's policies of equality and fairness that fit so well with Jewish thought and understanding, and that offer a bulwark against racism and antisemitism.

As Ian says: "Labour can speak with a Jewish voice. It can speak loud and clear, and it can speak the language of human rights for all."

Antisemitism and the Tory party

Why, asks media expert Justin Scholosberg, are the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council and the Campaign Against Antisemitism so keen to sniff antisemitism out on the left but unable to see it when it strikes them between the eyes on the Tory right?

Chaim Neslen – father, devoted husband, Yiddishist, Bundist, humanist, and a true mensh

Arthur Neslen’s funeral tribute to his father Chaim, 4th April 2018

The narrow-minded bigotry of the former Chief Rabbi

Paul Kelemen expresses the disappointment so many of us feel when a Jewish leader, like Lord Sacks, former Chief Rabbi for 22 years till 2013, makes the BBC's 'Thought for the Day' slot an opportunity for narrow, special pleading for the politics of neo-conservatism, and Jewish self-interest as he perceives it, rather than as a call for the universalism embedded at the heart of Judaism as we know it.

The perils of social media

In this article Simon Jenkins is in no doubt about the destructive, corrosive nature of online abuse and the need to stamp it out. But rather than jumping to instant conclusions he stresses that we do not know who is posting the abuse or even if "they are orchestrated or just a bunch of thugs". His call for deleting from social media anything that "the reader, or at least some moderator, cannot identify" should be seriously considered.

All out for a Labour victory on 3rd May

Joint Statement on Tory links to antisemitism in European politics

A joint statement, signed by Independent Jewish Voices, Jewish Socialists' Group, Jewish Voice for Labour and Jews for Justice for Palestinains.

As the House of Commons holds a debate on antisemitism called by the Conservative Party, we are calling on the Prime Minister to confront the political parties and governments in Europe that have exploited and fuelled a rising tide of antisemitism.

Guardian denies space to 650+ Labour Party members challenging hostile media coverage

The Guardian has refused to publish a letter submitted over a week ago challenging hostile media coverage of the Labour Party, even though it attracted more than 650 signatures from party members in barely 24 hours

Cosmopolitan class consciousness and the fight against antisemitism

Jeremy Gilbert argues that the ‘Blairites’ and the traditional Labour right rooted in the Labour bureaucracy have their own distinctive reasons for wanting to promote the idea that the radical left is inherently antisemitic. He provides a detailed analysis of the strenghts and weaknesses of these forces in the Labour party

He concludes that to deal effectively with antisemitism, conspiracy theory, or racism of any kind Labour deperately needs a positive vision, one animated by ideas of human freedom and self-organisation.

Tackling antisemitism – not the Progress way

Immediately after the Parliament Square demonstration, Richard Angell, Director of Progresss published a quck 10-point guide to "How Labour can start stamping out antisemitism" on the Progress website. It is billed - quaintly - as a "Web Exclusive".

Glyn Secker looks at each of the ten points and finds them highly problematic

More on the Israeli Labor Party

Marc Wadsworth defends himself against unsubstantiated allegations, now apparently withdrawn…

Marc Wadsworth responds to a Guardian article’s reference to the incident that led to his suspension from the party, which he is will be vigorously contesting at a hearing this month.

Subsequent to this letter, Asa Winstanly published an article in the Electronic Intifada (11 April) under the heading "Labour Israel lobbyist deletes anti-Semitic “conspiracy” claims"

Islamophobia: Still a challenge for us all – a Runnymede Trust Report

In March 2018 the Runnymede Trust released a long report on Islamophobia – 20 years after its path-breaking 1997 report Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All.

We reproduce its Executive Summary here as a contribution to the wider debate about tackling racism in all its forms in our society, and link to the full report.

The Polish Bund’s fight for survival and social transformation in 1930s Poland

Bernard Goldstein's recently translated memoir Twenty Years with the Jewish Labor Bund takes us inside the Jewish Labor Bund's fight for survival and social transformation in 1930s Poland. The Bund stressed, under its doctrine of “hereness” (doikayt in Yiddish), that the right place for Jews was where they already lived.

Samuel Farber's review tells the story.

The demise of the Israeli Labor Party as any kind of progressive force

Latest news is that Israel's Labor Party leader has suspended ties with Jeremy Corbyn for 'enabling antisemitism'. We were reminded of an article that appeared in Israel's radical newspaper +972 last year, focusing on the politics of this leader, Avi Gabbay: his capitulation on secular education, an absolute rejection of ever partnering with Arab Israeli parties, a threat to expel his party's only Arab MK, his commitment to the settlements, his claim that that his party had chosen liberal values at the expense of Jewish values...

It's hard to see why any socialist would want to maintain links with such an ethno-nationalist oriented party. Time, surely, for it to be held to account in the Socialist International of which it is a member.

Letters to the Guardian

We lead this selection of letters, as did the Guardian, with a disingenuous letter from the Israeli ambassador, Mark Regev. Two responses a few days later took it apart. Also, a selection of others that the Guardian published. Another, with over 600 signatures, has yet to appear....

Letters to the Guardian

We lead this selection of letters, as did the Guardian, with a disingenuous letter from the Israeli ambassador, Mark Regev. Two responses a few days later took it apart. Also, a selection of others that the Guardian published. Another, with over 600 signatures, has yet to appear....

Antisemitism and the labour movement

In a nuanced presentation that may ruffle feathers, David Feldman and Brendan McGeever argue that the political culture of the left has long been a source of antisemitism, and for the need of the Labour Party leadership to face up to this. But they also believe that the alertness of the Jewish community, especially its leaders, to antisemitism in Britain should lead them to support anti-racist campaigns more generally.

We expect readers will agree with some parts of this article and will want to dispute others. Please post thoughtful comments so we all can learn from the exchanges.

It could have been a whole lot worse!

The Jewish Chronicle has recognised our existence! Forget the errors and distortions in the article and praise the Lord

Jeremy Corbyn speaks out on the Gaza killings

A message from Jeremy Corbyn about the massacres in Gaza was read out at the London demonstration outside Downing Street yesterday, 8th April. Here is the report in the Independent.

Labour needs to push back

David Rosenberg argues that the fightback against racism can be spearheaded on 3rd May by electing committed anti-racists and anti-fascists as councillors, from a Labour Party that has unequivocally positioned itself, under its current leadership, as an anti-austerity party.

What has been going on?

Interesting and provocative analyses of the current onslaught on Corbyn and the Labour party continue to appear. We give short extracts from three of them, by Richard Seymour, Mark Mazower and Mike McNair, with links to the full articles.

Political parties in Britain: views on racial prejudice, immigration and under-represented groups

Alan Maddison shows that Conservative voters are far more racially prejudiced than voters for the other main political parties, that their members have more negative views on both immigration and the desirability of increasing the number of MPs from under-represented groups.

He concludes: "In order to help reduce prejudice in our society, Labour Party members seem to be far more trustworthy than members of the Conservative Party."

Campaign Against Antisemitism? Oh no it doesn’t!

Who are the CAA who have called the antisemitism demo against Corbyn and the Labour Party on Sunday?

First of all, they have nothing whatsoever to say about the spectre which is haunting Europe - the truly alarming rise of major far right, neo-fascist parties across ten countries, yes ten.

The destablisation of Labour – and how to resist

Paul Mason has written a valuable article in the New Statesman that makes sense of the attacks on Jeremy Corbyn in terms of a wider agenda

Jewdas – a voice from within

In this article published in openDemocracyUK from where we gratefully crosspost it, Rob Abrams gives a personal account of what Jewdas has meant for him, providing that Jewish spiritual home he could no longer find in the mainstream Jewish world he had grown up in.

A report from the Jewdas seder

Jonah Lipton is a social anthropologist and resident of Hackney, where he experiences a diversity of Jewish life.

He writes in a Times of Israel blog post that “On Monday, walking home from a seder in Islington, I told my friends that the only time I’d felt so Jewish was at my barmitzvah.”

The Jewish Chronicle reacts to that Jewdas seder

Credit where credit is due. In publishing this article by Charlotte Nichols even the Jewish Chronicle seems to realise the disaster of the Board of Deputies' attack on Jewdas.

But don't get carried away. In his JC Comment blog, also reproduced here, the editor of the JC, soon puts us right... They just can't acknowledge they got anything wrong!

Trying to take Palestine off the agenda

Paul Keleman, the author of the acclaimed book The British Left and Zionism: History of a Divorce (2012) is in no doubt that the pro-Israel lobby is the main driving force in the current campaign "aimed at closing down debate on Israel’s continuing settlement expansion and military occupation".

Why don’t the media find virulent, vile abuse on righ-wing sites? Answer: they don’t bother to look.

To assist the mainstream media, the author has "compiled a selection of online hate for them, most of which I gathered in less than an hour by searching Conservative affiliated pages, and putting out a call on twitter".

Jewdas give an account of themsleves

We're delighted to cross-post this article from Comment is Free, delighted that Jewdas is getting a mass hearing for its views, activities and irreverancies, delighted at the sprit of it all.

For an article posted just over 3 hours ago to have already been shared over 5,000 times it must have got something right!

Jewdas responds on its Facebook page

Talk of chutzpah! Jonathan Arkush, head of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, who called in 2015 for a Tony government as better for the Jewish community and welcomed Trump's election, now says: "If Jeremy Corbyn goes to their event, how can we take his stated commitment to be an ally against anti-Semitism seriously?" In other words, if you talk to Jews we (the Board) don't like you're encouraging antisemitism

JVL Statement of Solidarity with the Muslim Community

JVL stands in solidarity with all Muslim people in the face of threats to make today, 3rd April, ‘Punish A Muslim Day’.

Join in a human chain in protest and solidarity today.

East London mosque/London Muslim Centre and Tower Hamlets Stand up to Racism are inviting all to join a human chain at 6:15pm today: 82-92 Whitechapel Rd, London E1 1JQ (midway between Aldgate East and Whitechapel tube stations)

A closer look at the “exposure” in the Sunday Times

Glyn Secker shows the extremely flimsy nature of the Sunday Times "exposure" of antisemitism in Facebook groups supporting Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party. It really doesn't stack up at all!

Corbyn attend a Jewdas seder – and the sky falls in

So Jeremy Corby attended a seder organised by Jewdas, which describes itself as “radical voices for the alternative diaspora”. And the sky falls in and the Twittersphere goes into meltdown...

Enough is enough

Letters to the Guardian

A letter to the Guardian signed by more than forty academics who say: "‘We condemn journalism that so blatantly lacks context, perspective and a meaningful range of voices in its determination to condemn Jeremy Corbyn."

Followed by some letters that were published on 30 March.

The truth about Corbyn supporters’ Facebook groups

In response to a statement JVL issued yesterday on antisemitism in Facebook groups we are delighted to publish this correction and extended analysis of what actually goes on in Corbyn supporting Facebook groups and how they are moderated.

Videos from JVL’s rally in Parliament Square

On 26 March the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council displayed their selective outrage in Parliament...

Racism on the right

The Canary investigates the Tories' record on racism and wonders why the media don't seem to get upset about it

Islamophobia has become so normalised in Britain that even our politicians can get away with it

Shehab Khan writes: "As a young British Muslim woman involved in politics, I’ve seen the rise of anti-Muslim rhetoric in British politics, and nobody is acting on it, nobody is condemning it and quite frankly, it’s disgusting that our politicians can get away with it."

JVL statement on antisemitic posts on social media

As a Jewish organisation of Labour Party members, we are appalled and sickened at antisemitic posts which have been pointed out on social media. We would never tolerate such posts among our members, nor any form of racism or other bigotry.

JVL statement on the massacre in Gaza

Israeli army attacks in Gaza. Photo: New York Times JVL statement on the massacre in Gaza We mourn the deaths of the 16...

Time for Jewish leaders to ask the Tories some difficult questions

David Rosenberg looks at the Tories unholy Alliance with far-right parties in their 73-member European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parlament – such as the Polish Law and Justice Party, the Danish People’s Party, the Latvian National Alliance and other extremist, antisemitic and overtly Islamophobic organisations.

A time to speak out

A personal statement and analysis by Justin Schlosberg, activist and media expert. A short letter to the Guardian was not published, so this longer piece was produced for the Medium website. The author discusses how reasoned discussion – and effective action against antisemitism – is being hampered by "a climate of hysteria and repression fostered by Westminster, the media, and the right-wing Jewish lobby".

Jewish members of the Haringey Labour parties speak out

The letter here has been signed by several Jewish members of the Haringey Labour parties and submitted to the Guardian “Opinion is free” page and to the Jewish Chronicle [on 27th March].

It seems not to have been published.

Enough already!

Jewdas is not renowned for the respect it pays to the elders of the Jewish community. Respect where it is due seems to be its watchword – and it doesn't find much to respect.

But make up your own mind...

The Skwawkbox has a reputation for breaking Labour Party stories long before anyone else. Here is its view of how the reform of disciplinary procedures under new General Secretary Jennie Formy is likely to go in the coming weeks...

Jewish News – exclusive interview with Jeremy Corbyn

In the wake of the Jewish community’s unprecedented ‘Enough Is Enough’ protest against Labour anti-Semitism, Jewish News sat down with the party leader to discuss all the key issues of concern that drove more than 1,500 people to demonstrate outside Parliament this week.

Corbyn’s ultimate sin according to the Jewish Chronicle!

You'd think the central message of Jeremy Corbyn's long interview with Jewish News was the fact that he "heaped praise on JVL". While gratified to have had a passing mention, we thought the central message was Jeremy's total commitment to fighting antisemitism.

Campaign for Labour Party Democracy statement

The Campaign for Labour Party Democracy (CLPD) stands fully in support of Jeremy Corbyn and against the unjust attacks that are being made on him and the Labour Party.

Reflections on Monday’s events In Parliament Square

David Rosenberg, active member of the Jewish Socialists' Group for well over 40 years, and a member of Jewish Voice for Labour, offers some personal reflections on recent events on his blog Rebel Notes.

Defining antisemitism

Defining antisemitism has become a highly politicised question in recent times and we have argued consistently that the IHRA definition is in reality a poor one, attempting to stretch the definition beyond it traditional meaning of hatred and discrimination against Jews to a loaded one in which Israel gets smuggled into the equation.

David Schneider has recently offered a basic 4-question test for antisemitism. Many people have responded positively to it. Here Jonathan Cook raises some questions about it, arguing it isn't all it seems to be.

Richard Seymour on antisemitism today

We are publishing this article not as endorsement, but as a contribution to a discussion. We expect there to be many critical responses to it. We need to think carefully about what the left can and should do as the firestorm about antisemitism rages around us. Richard Seymour challenges us all, suggesting that the left has a unique responsibility at a time when various forms of fascism and populist reaction are on the rise.

Standing up for Jeremy!

Annie Cohen stood for the post of President of the Union of Jewish Students last year.

Here she writes in Forward, the American Jewish online newspaper, about why she, and so many others, are suporting Jeremy Corbyn.

The Canary reprints its own story about the Al Jazeera Lobby programmes from January 2017

The Canary writes: "We originally reported this story in January 2017. We are reposting it now as it bears re-reading in light of the current antisemitism row."

LabourList publishes an article on fighting antisemitism

Joseph Finlay writs: "Yesterday was a tough day to be a British Jew. I should know — I am one. I saw many of my friends posting about Labour and antisemitism and some of them going to the demonstration outside parliament. I know their anger and concern is genuine, and I believe it should be taken seriously, but I believe it is misplaced."

Robert Cohen – blogpost on yesterday’s events

Yesterday’s demonstration outside Parliament against Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to recognise and deal with alleged antisemitism in the Labour Party has become a textbook study in the complexity of the Israel/Palestine debate.

Robert Cohen explains

The Morning Star reports on yesterday’s events

JEWISH socialists condemned two large “unrepresentative” Jewish organisations today for their “flimsy accusations” of anti-semitism against Jeremy Corbyn.

A report from Morning Star reporter Lamiat Sabin.

The making of a moral panic

Jonathan Cook, blogging from Nazareth, asks why the Mear One mural has roused such venom now. The story was reported by the Jewish Chronicle back in 2015, when it suggested that the mural might have “antisemitic undertones”. No-one followed up the story which died a death…

The mural may well be antisemitic, but what has changed to make something that might have had "antisemitic overtones" a couple of years ago, into something that is "obviously antisemitic"? As Cook's headline puts it: 'The sharks circling around Corbyn scent blood'.

Jeremy Corbyn’s record

There are many threats to Jews – and we are right to be vigilant. These threats come primarily from resurgent nationalism, anti-immigrant sentiment and a Brexit narrative that seeks to restore Britain to a mythical age of ethnic purity. The idea that Britain’s leading anti-racist politician is the key problem the Jewish community faces is an absurdity, a distraction, and a massive error. Worst of all, it’s a bad story that we’ve been telling for far too long. Let’s start to tell a better one.

Jewish Socialists’ Group statement

The Jewish Socialists' Group expresses its serious concern at the rise of antisemitism, especially under extreme right wing governments in central and Eastern Europe, in America under Donald Trump’s Presidency and here in Britain under Theresa May’s premiership. The recent extensive survey by the highly respected Jewish Policy Research confirmed that the main repository of antisemitic views in Britain is among supporters of the Conservative Party and UKIP.

Emergency rally today, Monday, to oppose Board of Deputies attack on Jeremy Corbyn, 5.00pm outside Portcullis House

Urgent

Jewish Voice for Labour

Emergency rally today, Monday, to oppose Board of Deputies attack on Jeremy Corbyn

5.00pm

Outside Portcullis House Westminster

A statement from Jewish Labour members on the current attacks on Jeremy Corbyn

Revised post, as press released, 26 March 2018. Signatories’ list updated at 18.12: Statement from Jews in the...

A short news report has appeared in Skwawkbox…

JLM President’s CLP votes to affiliate to JVL. Chair resigns 24/03/2018 · by SKWAWKBOX Liverpool Riverside MP...

Rebels, Strikers and Anti-Fascists – London’s Radical Jewish history

David Rosenberg is the author of the much-acclaimed Rebel Footprints: A Guide to Uncovering London's Radical History published in 2015. It is a book that invites us to step into the footprints of a diverse cast of dedicated fighters for social justice, from the suffragettes to the socialists, from the Chartists to the trade unionists.

In this talk David will focus on the Jewish contribution to London's great radical tradition.

Liberatory Passover Haggadah from Jewish Voice for Peace

The festival of passover, pesach, retells the story of the liberation of the liberation of the Children of Israel from slavery in ancient Egypt – and by extension to the liberation of everyone, everywhere. It begins on Friday 30th March this year.

At the height of the civil rights movement in the States, freedom seders became popular as blacks and Jews gathered to share their stories. More recently they have come to embrace the Palestinian struggle for justice and recognition.

We link here to the retelling of the story in a Haggadah prepared by the Rabbinical Council of Jewish Voice for Peace.

David Wolchover blogs in The Times of Israel/Jewish News in defence of Ken Livingstone

Ken Livingstone's 2-year supension from the Labour Party was due to end on 27th April this year. But late February Labour Party officials said that an NEC inquiry first announced ten months ago by Jeremy Corbyn, but never begun, would probably be opened in March. In this context we reprint here an article that first appeared on the Times of Israel/Jewish News blog by barrister David Wolchover.

It is reprinted with the author's permission, including a note of clarification at the end which also appeared on the original blogsite.

A JVL-inspired comment on antisemitism and the Labour Party

Richard Kuper, a member of the JVL Steering Group, was invited to appear in a personal capacity on The Real News Network, a non-profit, viewer-supported daily video-news and documentary service operating out of Baltimore and Toronto.

In this interview he discusses issues relating to Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party, antisemitism and more.

Why the arbitrary suspensions and attacks on left-wingers from Labour Party HQ?

What has happened to the "fair and transparent" disciplinary procedures recommended by Shadow Attorney General, Shami Chakrabarti and accepted by the NEC of the Party in July 2016? Naomi-Wimborne Idrissi reports on the disciplinary cases of three very different people with two things in common - they have fallen foul of the Labour Party's bureaucratic discipline machine and they are leftwing supporters of party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Letter to Sam Mathews about Glyn Secker’s suspension

This letter, signed by over a hundred Labour Party members, was sent to Sam Mathews, Head of Disputes, before Glyn Secker’s suspension was rescinded. Congratulations to those who got it together and endorsed it at short notice. The supension may have been lifted, but here is the letter for the record.