CAA submits complaint to Bar Standards Board against barrister over tweet asserting “Zionism is a kind of racism”
Campaign Against Antisemitism has submitted a complaint to the Bar Standards Board against a barrister over a tweet asserting that “Zionism is a kind of racism”.
Franck Magennis is a barrister at Garden Court Chambers in London.
At 21:35 on 17th December 2020, Mr Magennis apparently tweeted from the Twitter handle @FranckMagennis that: “Zionism is a kind of racism. It is essentially colonial. It has manifested in an apartheid regime calling itself ‘the Jewish state’ that dominates non-Jews, and particularly Palestinians. You can’t practice anti-racism at the same time as identifying with, or supporting, Zionism.”
His profile on the Chambers’ website describes him as “an expert on the Palestinian struggle for emancipation from Israeli apartheid and occupation”.
According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination (e.g. by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour)” is an example of antisemitism.
Furthermore, by asserting that “You can’t practice [sic] anti-racism at the same time as identifying with, or supporting, Zionism,” Mr Magennis has besmirched British Jews and the Jewish community, over 90% of which identifies as Zionist according to polls.
Campaign Against Antisemitism has written to the Bar Standards Board to investigate Mr Magennis over the tweet, on the grounds that it breaches the standards expected of barristers and damages trust and confidence in the profession.
