On 7th October we didn’t just remember, we acted
Campaign Against Antisemitism has referred the Green Party to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in the wake of its passage of a motion declaring that “Zionism is racism”, which has occurred against a backdrop of concerns regarding the Green Party’s relationship with its Jewish members and the wider Jewish community.
We have now concluded that the EHRC must investigate the Green Party on the basis that the Party has discriminated against Jewish members and/or associates, and continues to do so contrary to sections 101(2)(d) and/or 101(3)(d) of the Equality Act 2010.
As we wrote in our letter, “The Green Party has become, and continues to be a party which discriminates against Jewish members and associates either in their capacity as Jews, or as persons who are, or are perceived to be, or are associated with, Zionism and the State of Israel. By this motion, their continued presence in the Party will become untenable.”
Additionally, we are asking any former or current Green Party member who is Jewish or Zionist to contact us so that we may consider whether we can assist them in bringing any actions against the Green Party. They are asked to contact [email protected] confidentially.
We will not stand idly by as extremists hijack a political party and make antisemitism its openly stated policy.
The Green Party must face the consequences of its actions.
Watch Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Chief Executive, Gideon Falter, explain why we have referred the Green Party to the EHRC here. He also wrote an opinion piece in The Sunday Telegraph, where he discussed the widespread antisemitism within the Green Party, and the reasons behind our EHRC referral. You can read the article here.
Our Director of Investigations and Enforcement, Stephen Silverman, also spoke to GB News and Talk TV about Campaign Against Antisemitism’s referral of the Greens to the EHRC.
The Green Party has been condemned by their European colleagues, who said they “unequivocally distance ourselves” from the “Zionism is racism” motion.
Scottish Greens co-Leader Ross Greer MSP claimed that the creation of the world’s only Jewish state “was an act of ethnic cleansing”, while the Deputy Leader of the Welsh Greens has called the motion “idiotic”. So even the various UK Green Parties can’t decide between them whether the Jews are allowed a state or not.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski, who avoided voting on the motion by skipping the conference to campaign in the Holborn and St. Pancras by-election – which he went on to lose – has been barred from entering the state of Israel.
Meanwhile, we have reported the author of the ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion, Lubna Speitan, to the police over separate comments made at an event. She is also reportedly listed in US court filings as a “close friend” of Minh Quang Pham, a British man who was arrested in 2012 over an alleged plot to carry out a suicide bomb attack at Heathrow Airport, reportedly targeting a flight from Israel. You can read more here.
We are consulting with our legal advisors on next steps in relation to Ms Speitan. The Green Party might want to rethink whom it’s relying on to determine its policy.
Disturbingly, Halima Brewer, who was elected onto the Greens’ disciplinary committee at their conference, has posted concerning rhetoric online relating to Hamas and Israelis, according to the Daily Mail. In one post, she reportedly said: “I used to oppose Hamas because I thought their strategy for freeing Palestine was counterproductive. I have dropped that naive view and now think the only thing Palestinians have left is violent resistance against the bigger terrorist – the biggest of all now – Israel.”
How is the Green Party expected to be held accountable for its abominable “Zionism is racism” motion, when individuals spewing hateful rhetoric are able to sit on the Party’s disciplinary committee? This raises serious questions over the ability of the Party to safeguard its members – including Jewish members.
Campaign Against Antisemitism takes full-page Guardian ad to honour victims of 7th October attacks
On 7th October 2023, genocidal, antisemitic Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, where they committed barbaric, twisted acts of terror. They murdered some 1,200 innocent people in cold blood, raping and torturing along the way, and took more than 250 hostage, ranging in age from babies to the elderly.
At Campaign Against Antisemitism, we wanted to do more to honour the victims of that dark day – by ensuring that the world couldn’t look away.
With the support of a generous donor, we took over a page of The Guardian to remember the victims of the attacks and to warn of rising antisemitism in Britain.
That newspaper has firmly stayed in its comfort zone in the aftermath of the Hamas atrocity: quietly, subtly and despicably encouraging anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiment among its readers.
For years, the paper has excused anti-Jewish racism and distorted Jewish concerns to fit an ideological narrative. Indeed, our polling shows that 69% of British Jews view The Guardian unfavourably when it comes to Jewish issues.
Unlike readers of other newspapers, therefore, Guardian readers may not know what really happened on 7th October 2023. Now they do.
Watch this video to hear Elie explain why we’re reading The Guardian.
Campaign Against Antisemitism marks three years since 7th October massacre
Three years on from the brutal 7th October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, the Jewish world continues to grieve, and experience an unprecedented global rise in antisemitism. Our thoughts are with the families of the murdered and with the survivors who are still living with the trauma.
In this week’s episode of our Podcast Against Antisemitism, Elie interviewed Michael and Lisa Marlowe, the parents of Jake Marlowe, a British-Israeli citizen murdered on 7th October by Hamas terrorists.
Jake was working as unarmed security at the Nova Music Festival that day when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel. In this interview, Michael and Lisa Marlowe describe the moment they found out their son had been murdered, the months and years that followed and their concerns on antisemitism in Britain.
You can watch the episode here, or listen to it on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.
Not everyone approached the day with due sensitivity.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, released a statement commemorating the third anniversary of the attacks, but he was unable to refrain from mentioning “the reprehensible actions of the Israeli Government”.
If the Mayor of London can’t bring himself to remember the over one thousand victims of the 7th October atrocity without criticising the Israeli Government, and cannot talk about antisemitism in his city without referring to Gaza, then he may as well not say anything at all.
Given his tenure has been characterised by inaction and conspicuous absence as the Jewish community has suffered the worst antisemitism in living memory on his watch, for him to say nothing now would be perfectly in character. His statement is worse than nothing.
Elsewhere on that day, Jewish students at the University of Leeds were confronted with ‘Zionism is racism’ graffiti whilst holding a vigil mourning the biggest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust. Days after “Zionism is racism” was passed as an official motion by the Green Party, anti-Israel obsessives now feel emboldened enough to scrawl it across university campuses.
However, at a vigil organised by Stop the Hate to mark three years since the attacks, participants shared their stories with Elie, including non-Jews who told us why they stand as allies.
Campaign Against Antisemitism calls out the real ‘baby-killers’ at students’ grotesque 7th October student march
On the day when Jewish communities worldwide mourned the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, anti-Israel student protestors came out to march.
The protest in London was part of a wider pattern. According to figures released by Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, 262 anti-Israel events had reportedly been organised across 37 countries between 1st and 14th October. Staggeringly, it appears that 29% of all upcoming events were due to take place on 7th October itself, and around one-third had been identified as high-risk. You can read more here.
Ahead of the student march, Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to the Met Police Commissioner about the plans for the 7th October hate march. In response, the force released a statement urging organisers to hold their protest on a different day – which of course they were never going to do. The police could not take action against the march organiser as nobody had identified themselves as the organiser, in breach of the law. Still, they didn’t ban the march.
Then, a day prior to the march, the Met announced that it had imposed conditions on the protest, restricting the procession route and prohibiting face coverings during the event.
This announcement was yet another sorry excuse for inaction. The extent of police action on this was to ask the organisers (whomever they may be, because the police didn’t seem to know) to reconsider marching on 7th October. And in the event that they wouldn’t reconsider (which they didn’t), the police asked that they might march a slightly shortened route.
It was pathetic and an insult to Londoners’ intelligence.
Our Director of Investigations and Enforcement, Stephen Silverman, spoke to GB News and Talk TV about the disappointing police response to the protest.
During the march itself, protestors chanted “The State of Israel has got to go” – the very same thing Hamas terrorists sought three years ago when they tore into Israel. A man also yelled “F***ing baby killers” at a member of our team, who we have now reported to police.
But if these ignorant and racist students insisted on marching in opposition to baby-killers, we were determined to point out who the real baby-killers are. So we drove alongside the hate march with our digivan, displaying images of Kfir, Ariel and Shiri Bibas that read: “Kidnapped on 7th October. Murdered in captivity.”
The police refused to ban the march, so the least we could do was educate those taking part. It didn’t go down well.
Antisemitism on full display at Saturday hate march
Then, this past Saturday, there was yet another hate march in London (distinct from the 7th October hate march).
Naturally, this ‘peaceful’ Palestine hate march erupted in violence. Who would have predicted? Nobody could have guessed that people who support ‘globalising the Intifada’ might be prone to physical aggression.
The Met Police made twenty arrests at the peaceful march that the force didn’t ban but facilitated. These included:
- Six arrests for desecration of the Battle of Britain war memorial – because the Palestine First crowd hate Britain and its history.
- Two further arrests of people who refused to remove face coverings when asked by police – because nothing says ‘peaceful march’ like face coverings.
- Two more for expressions of support for proscribed terrorist group Palestine Action, and there were also placards calling for de-proscription of Hamas, Hizballah and the IRGC – all ‘peace-loving’ Islamist organisations.
- One arrest of a woman who performed a Nazi salute – a notoriously ‘peaceful’ gesture.
- One arrest for an assault on police officers and another for threats to kill in relation to an incident earlier this month – all extremely ‘peaceful’ conduct – and a series of other arrests.
How many of these arrests will actually lead to charges, prosecutions and convictions? How many other crimes were committed on this march whose perpetrators were not arrested?
How many crimes in London and elsewhere in the country weren’t policed that day because officers had to be redeployed to protect the public from this ‘peaceful’ hate march?
During the march, one protestor held a sign which read “By any means necessary”, and another held a sign with the words “Not all racists are Zionists, but all Zionists are racist” – likely emboldened by the Green Party.
Another was spotted wearing a jacket embellished with a red downwards-facing triangle (watch here). In recent years, the inverted red triangle and its emoji variant have been used by some anti-Israel activists to signal support for proscribed terrorist organisations such as Hamas, inspired by the appearance of the symbol in Hamas propaganda videos to indicate targets for attack.
This is the sort of rhetoric one would expect to see in a history textbook, recounting a darker time in human history. But actually it’s happening right now, on our streets.
Instead of doing something about it, the authorities just shrug, and then have the audacity to talk about the need to fight antisemitism wherever it rears its ugly head.
It’s rearing its ugly head right in front of you: this week Abdullah Albadri, 34, was found guilty by a majority verdict of preparation of terrorist acts and possession of two bladed articles at the Old Bailey, after trying to scale the eight-foot-high security fence outside the Israeli embassy. He has been sentenced to life in prison. You can read more here.
Latest hate crime stats show why Met Commissioner has to go
Jews are almost nine times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group, our analysis of the new Home Office stats shows. You can read the full analysis here.
Antisemites, emboldened by the Hamas terrorist atrocity three years ago, are not only not letting up in their hatred but are doubling down. That’s because there is no real deterrent. So really these figures are most damning for the criminal justice system, which has utterly failed to defend British Jews.
Even as conflict in the Middle East is easing off, antisemitism in the UK is rising, yet there have been essentially no changes in policing policy over the past three years and nobody has been held to account for this monumental failure.
This time last year, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, said it was “utterly unacceptable that Jewish communities in London should live in fear”. But of course it has been entirely acceptable, as this has been the state of affairs for the last three years under his watch.
The Jewish community has understandably lost confidence in Sir Mark – the most senior officer in the land – and he needs to go. He must finally be replaced by someone who actually grasps the scale and urgency of the crisis.
Campaign Against Antisemitism reveals appalling social media record of NHS practitioners
We recently published a groundbreaking documentary on antisemitism in the healthcare sector, titled ‘Malignant: Antisemitism in the NHS’. You can watch the full documentary here.
The documentary continues to receive extensive coverage in major national and international media outlets.
This weekend, we released more examples of extremism from medical practitioners, this time working exclusively with the Daily Mail.
These include:
- In response to a post on 7th October 2023 claiming “Palestinians have a right to resist their occupation – we have a right to support them.It’s that simple”, a midwife wrote: “Hell yeah!!!”
- An occupational therapist reposted an image by a former MEP who said that the US “votes for the Genocide to continue” and that it supports the “Genocidal Zionist Settler Colonial Project in Palestine”, accompanied by an image of a US delegate with devil horns and blood around her mouth performing a Nazi salute.
- An emergency medicine and family medicine GP gave a speech in which he said:: “Zionists control the media. Zionists control the world…We are the Nakba survivor. Is that similar to the Holocaust survivor? Yes…And what Israel is doing in Gaza is not ethnic cleansing. It’s extermination!”
You can read all about the incidents here.
These examples – and those that we shared with The Telegraph recently – are almost all in addition to the practitioners referenced in the documentary, underscoring that this is not merely a case of a few bad apples. The findings demonstrate how widespread this problem is and how urgent change is needed.
It is past time for regulators to get a grip and finally start to tackle hate in healthcare.
Lawsuit against Met after arrest of man for standing with British Jews
Campaign Against Antisemitism is providing litigation funding to enable Mark Birbeck, the founder of Our Fight UK, to challenge the lawfulness of his arrest five days after the Heaton Park synagogue terror attack.
Mr Birbeck was arrested on suspicion of committing a Terrorism Act offence, a public order offence and a breach of the peace. Extensive footage shows Mr Birbeck calmly debating with pro-Palestine supporters while holding a sign that read, “We stand with Britain’s Jews,” immediately before his arrest. We fully support this action and Mr Birbeck’s determination to secure an acknowledgment from the police that their conduct was unlawful.
For years, Campaign Against Antisemitism has provided free legal representation and litigation funding to people affected by antisemitism or victimised for standing with British Jews. Our litigation funding provides access to specialist lawyers and indemnifies claimants against adverse costs.
Mr Birbeck said: “I wanted to publicly display a simple message of solidarity with British Jews just a week after two of their community were killed outside a Manchester synagogue. I was arrested, and the charges brought against me that day are outrageous and baseless. I am grateful to Campaign Against Antisemitism for taking on my case, and ensuring that the police are held accountable. Nobody should be left with a terror arrest on their record for taking such a stand”.
We have appointed Derek Spitz KC of One Essex Court, and Beth Grossman of Doughty Street Chambers, of counsel, instructed by Asserson solicitors.
Mr Birbeck’s case is yet another galling example of two-tier policing in Britain. While Palestine activists repeatedly break our laws with impunity, a member of the public is seemingly unable to peacefully express support for British Jews without being arrested on suspicion of terrorism – a serious offence.
This is a sobering reflection of the state of our justice system, and that is why Campaign Against Antisemitism has intervened to see that the police answer for their conduct in court. Those who stand with British Jews will always have our support, and we will not stand by while the law is turned on them instead of on those who threaten our community.
Witness Appeal
Campaign Against Antisemitism has been made aware of a violent assault that is believed to have taken place in Queen Square, Bloomsbury last week.
We understand that a man was walking through the square when he spotted two men stencilling political messaging onto the floor. After confronting the men about a slogan which apparently referred to “genocidal Israel”, he was allegedly subjected to a brutal assault.
The victim believes he has sustained a cracked rib, but this is yet to be confirmed by a medical assessment.
The men were described by the victim as young, of university age and white. One of the men was of slim build with sandy hair, and the other was described as being 6ft tall and of large build.
If anyone has any information, please contact [email protected] or contact the Met Police quoting call reference number: 8535/06OCT26
Three years on from 7th October, the hatred has not let up. But neither have we.
The Green Party declares it racist for Jews to want a state of their own – so we have referred the Green Party to the EHRC.
The Home Office shows that hate crimes against Jews have risen ten percent since last year – which is why we are bringing private prosecutions when the criminal justice fails in its duty.
A man holding a sign saying that he stands with British Jews is arrested – so we are helping him sue the police.
Antisemitism in the NHS has metastasised – so we have exposed the hate in healthcare through our documentary and exclusive stories in three of the largest newspapers in the country.
On 7th October, we didn’t just remember, we acted. And we will keep on acting.
