Labour MP tells crowd “I’m here with you, I’m representing you” before listeners break out into antisemitic chanting
Footage has emerged of a Labour MP telling a crowd “I’m here with you, I’m representing you” before his listeners break out into antisemitic chanting as he stands by.
The footage of the anti-Israel rally on 16th May in Swansea shows Geraint Davies, the Labour Party MP for Swansea West, telling the crowd that “I stand in solidarity today. I’ve taken my message to Boris Johnson” among other comments, before ending telling the assembled that he is with them and representing them.
He then steps down from the microphone and the crowd breaks out into chanting not only “Free Palestine” but also “Khaybar Khaybar, ya yahud”, as Mr Davies stands by.
The “Khaybar Khaybar, ya yahud, Jaish Muhammad, sa yahud” chant, translated in English as “Jews, remember the battle of Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning”, is a classic Arabic battle cry referencing the massacre and expulsion of the Jews of the town of Khaybar in northwestern Arabia, now Saudi Arabia, in the year 628 CE.
The chant has been heard at other anti-Israel rallies over the past several weeks as well.
After the footage emerged, Mr Davies released a statement on Twitter saying: “I called in Swansea for an end to the killings of civilians in Palestine and Israel, peace and reconciliation, a two-state solution and adherence to international law. I therefore do not support any chanting in Arabic that followed that called for the opposite.”
Numerous Labour MPs have appeared at or addressed rallies featuring antisemitic chants and placards, including John McDonnell, Diane Abbott and Naz Shah.
The Labour Party was found by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to have engaged in unlawful discrimination and harassment of Jews. The report followed the EHRC’s investigation of the Labour Party in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant, submitting hundreds of pages of evidence and legal argument. Sir Keir Starmer called the publication of the report a “day of shame” for the Labour Party.
Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.
Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.
