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Outrage at Polish Embassy bid to “glorify” Nazi collaborator

Poland’s Embassy in the UK has been accused of “glorifying” a Polish nationalist politician believed to have collaborated with the Nazis.

A Polish anti-racist organisation has criticised the Embassy over its involvement in the restoration of the grave of Władysław Studnicki, who died in London in 1953.

Mr Studnicki espoused antisemitic views saying that Jews were “parasites on the healthy branch of the Polish tree.” He also proposed the forced removal of 100,000 Polish Jews every year to bring about the “de-Judaization” of Poland.

The row erupted after it was reported that a member of the Embassy’s political staff was involved in restoring Mr Studnicki’s grave in London and was actively promoting the project online. The Embassy official, Agata Supińska, said on Twitter that Studnicki  was “one of the greatest Polish thinkers of the 20th century,” who had not “been accorded respect and was forgotten for many years.”

In a statement, the Polish Embassy said that Ms Supińska “got involved in this project in a purely personal capacity” but that it was “supportive of her efforts to restore Studnicki’s grave,” adding that the efforts to restore the grave was a civic initiative.

 The Embassy statement went on to note that it supported “all grassroots civic initiatives aimed at preserving the memory of Poles and their achievements in Great Britain.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

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Manchester Metropolitan University and Buckingham New University adopt International Definition of Antisemitism

Manchester Metropolitan University and Buckingham New University have both reportedly adopted the International Definition of Antisemitism.

Buckingham New University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Nick Braisby reportedly said: “Antisemitism is repugnant. It is a form of racism, has no place within society and will not be tolerated at our University. Our decision to adopt the [International] Definition of Antisemitism demonstrates our commitment to be an inclusive community that welcomes and celebrates all of our members irrespective of their background or ethnicity. Adopting the Definition is an important step in our ongoing work towards eradicating racism, harassment, discrimination and prejudice.”

They join Lancaster University and the University of Cambridge as recent adopters of the Definition.

Recently, Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, called on universities to adopt the Definition.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has consistently backed efforts by the Government to encourage widespread adoption of the Definition by local authorities, universities and public bodies. The UK was the first country in the world to adopt the Definition, something for which Campaign Against Antisemitism, Lord Eric Pickles and others worked hard over many meetings with officials at Downing Street.

If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected].

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As Labour whip asks Jeremy Corbyn to apologise, CAA is resolute: “An apology is no substitute for justice”

Labour’s Opposition Chief Whip, Nick Brown, has written to Jeremy Corbyn, the former Leader, urging him to apologise in return for a restoration of the whip.

Mr Corbyn was recently suspended for downplaying the extent of antisemitism in the Party but was then rapidly readmitted to the Party in a shambolic process that represented a con of the Jewish community. Under pressure, Sir Keir Starmer declined to restore the whip to Mr Corbyn, however, maintaining the suspension for three months and implying that the suspension would roll over repeatedly.

Now, Mr Brown has written to Mr Corbyn, urging him to “unequivocally, unambiguously and without reservation” apologise for his inflammatory comments and commit to cooperating with the Labour Party in its implementation of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) recommendations.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “An apology is no substitute for justice. If Labour wishes to be taken seriously, it must investigate both of our major complaints against Jeremy Corbyn under an independent disciplinary process, as well as our complaints against other sitting MPs, and take decisive action. If our complaint against Mr Corbyn is upheld, he must be expelled. The Jewish community and the British public deserve justice from Labour, not more excuses. Labour’s offer to Mr Corbyn to apologise in return for a restoration of the whip is decidedly a step in the wrong direction.”

Previous research by Campaign Against Antisemitism has shown that Mr Brown, who also served as Opposition Chief Whip under Mr Corbyn, has had little to say on Labour’s antisemitism crisis over the past several years.

Campaign Against Antisemitism recently lodged a complaint against Mr Corbyn, holding him responsible for conduct that is prejudicial or grossly detrimental to the Labour Party, as the Leader during the period of the EHRC’s shameful findings. Given the serious detriment that this conduct has caused, we are seeking Mr Corbyn’s immediate resuspension and, if the complaint is upheld, we will be requesting his expulsion. On the day the publication of the EHRC’s report, we also submitted a major complaint against Mr Corbyn and other sitting MPs. These complaints are yet to be acknowledged by the Party, and they must be investigated by an independent disciplinary process that the EHRC has demanded and Sir Keir has promised but has yet to introduce.

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.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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Man charged with stirring up racial hatred with antisemitic coronavirus hoax wears Nazi armband to court

A man charged with stirring up racial hatred with an antisemitic coronavirus hoax is understood to have appeared in court wearing a Nazi armband.

Matthew Henegan, 35, faces seven charges of publishing, distributing and possessing material in March and April that is likely to stir up racial hatred. It is also claimed that he distributed leaflets in Cambridgeshire, where he resides, and possessing a document titled “How To Make Armour Piercing Bullets”, which apparently contains information likely to be useful in terrorism.

Mr Henegan is currently on bail and reportedly appeared at a preliminary hearing at the Old Bailey wearing dark glasses, a hairband and an armband with a red swastika.

According to a report, the judge asked the defendant’s lawyer: “Can you see what he’s wearing?”, and ordered Mr Henegan to leave the courtroom. The defendant asked: “Are we done for the day then?” The judge replied: “We are not.” The defendant replied: “I have a right to freedom of expression, freedom of dress, freedom of religion. They are rights not for debate.” The judge instructed the lawyer to give his client advice and said: “Next time it will not be out in the public corridor.” Mr Henegan returned to the courtroom with a jacket, with the armband no longer visible.

A pre-trial hearing was scheduled for 12th March and a provisional trial date at the Old Bailey for 8th November. The defendant remains on bail.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years, continues to urge the Jewish community to remain vigilant and welcomes the seriousness with which the authorities are treating the danger.

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Lancaster University adopts International Definition of Antisemitism after campaign by Jewish students

Lancaster University has adopted the International Definition of Antisemitism after a campaign by Jewish students.

The University agreed to adopt the Definition at a meeting of the University Council on 20th November.

The University’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Andy Schofield, said: “This is one important element of the University’s wider commitment to ensure that the University is fair and inclusive. We will be continuing to work with our partners in both Israel and Palestine to increase our awareness and understanding of the major issues that affect our diverse community.”

Previously, Jewish students at Lancaster had protested perceived inaction by the University following a call from the Education Secretary for universities to adopt the Definition. The Jewish Society’s President had said: “We will not stop working until this Definition is adopted.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has consistently backed efforts by the Government to encourage widespread adoption of the Definition by local authorities, universities and public bodies. The UK was the first country in the world to adopt the Definition, something for which Campaign Against Antisemitism, Lord Eric Pickles and others worked hard over many meetings with officials at Downing Street.

If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected].

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Court of Appeal halves neo-Nazi teenage terrorist’s sentence

The Court of Appeal has halved the sentence of a convicted neo-Nazi terrorist.

Connor Scothern was convicted earlier this year of membership of the proscribed National Action neo-Nazi terrorist group. 

Mr Scothern, who was apparently a practicing Muslim and activist with the extremist anti-fascist group, Antifa, before joining National Action, had been given a sentence of eighteen months in a Young Offenders’ Institution.

He was convicted and sentenced with ‘Miss Hitler’ and other defendants in a case covered by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

As Mr Scothern was aged fifteen and sixteen during his membership of National Action in 2016-17 but nineteen when he was sentenced, his lawyers argued that he would have to serve two-thirds of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole whereas if he were sentenced for the same offence at the age that he committed it, he would have received a youth detention and training order lasting nine months before release under supervision. Accordingly, his eighteen-month sentence – double the sentence that his lawyers said that he ought to have received were he sentenced sooner – “was not only wrong in principle but was also unlawful”.

The Court of Appeal agreed with this reasoning, although the Court dismissed other arguments that factors mitigating the offence were not adequately taken into account at the sentencing. Aside from the particular point of law in the successful argument, “there could have been no criticism of the sentence imposed upon the appellant”.

The judgment, handed down last Friday, quashes the original eighteen-month sentence and replaces it with nine months’ detention in a Young Offenders’ Institution.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years, continues to urge the Jewish community to remain vigilant and welcomes the seriousness with which the authorities are treating the danger.

Image credit: West Midlands Police

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With pro-Corbyn members leaving Labour en masse, other parties must stand guard against importation of Labour antisemitism

According to recent reports, the Labour Party has lost tens of thousands of members since Sir Keir Starmer became leader, with the exodus apparently accelerating since the suspension of Jeremy Corbyn.

This is the first time since Mr Corbyn’s election as Leader that the Party’s membership has fallen below half a million, which was itself a staggering achievement for a British political party in the current era.

There was a great deal of concern over entryism during Mr Corbyn’s two leadership primary campaigns and, more generally, over the possibility that many of these new members were tolerant of or held far-left antisemitic views. These concerns appeared to be borne out over the course of Mr Corbyn’s tenure as Leader, and Campaign Against Antisemitism’s 2019 Antisemitism Barometer showed, based on analysis of polling conducted by YouGov, that people holding four or more antisemitic views were particularly attracted to Mr Corbyn.

Since Mr Corbyn’s resignation as Leader and the increasingly heated confrontation between different factions in the Labour Party, it has become evident that some of these pro-Corbyn members – some of whom were returning to Labour after decades outside of the Party and others who had joined the Party for the first time – were becoming disillusioned. Campaign Against Antisemitism has long been concerned about where some of these Labour members might go next.

Joe Glasman, Head of Political and Government Investigations at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “We continue to urge other parties – especially, for obvious reasons, on the political Left – to be vigilant that anyone espousing antisemitic tropes not be made welcome in their parties. Antisemitism has no place in any political party, and the EHRC has rightly addressed the conclusions of its report into Labour to all political parties. It would be a tragedy for Britain if anti-Jewish racism were not only to persist in Labour but to reappear on such a scale in any other Party.”

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.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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“You have a long history of unpleasant, antisemitic threats and harassment,” says judge before jailing man over video inciting terrorism

A man with a history of antisemitic harassment has been jailed over a video inciting terrorism.

Shehroz Iqbal, 29, has been charged on multiple occasions over antisemitic incidents with no custodial sentence, leading to strong protest from Campaign Against Antisemitism. He also reportedly had a history of posting antisemitic messages – including a poster saying “Jewish scum” – and harassing synagogue members in Gants Hill, and he apparently sent the synagogue a threatening e-mail after it posted a picture of him on its website.

However, Mr Iqbal, who is from Ilford in East London, has now been given a sentence of eight-and-a-half years in prison over a video he posted in a WatsApp group of over twenty like-minded users called From Dark To Light on 11 March. The video was claimed to have incited a terror attack on London’s Royal Festival Hall with the words “Attack, attack”. He has previously shared propaganda on social media portraying Islamic State terrorist fighters. The sentence also includes time for drugs-related charges.

The Old Bailey heard during the trial that the posts had been discovered on his mobile phone after he was pulled over in that month for drug possession.

The prosecutor described him as “volatile and prone to act on his extremism”, and Judge Philip Katz QC said: “You have a long history of unpleasant, antisemitic threats and harassment.”

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Plaid Cymru divided: One former leader appears to endorse claim that Labour antisemitism accusations are “smear”, while another former leader says Party “cannot tolerate” antisemitism

Plaid Cymru has seen two former leaders at odds over antisemitism, with one appearing to endorse conspiratorial denials of antisemitism in the Labour Party and another calling for no tolerance of anti-Jewish racism.

Leanne Wood, who served as leader of the Welsh Nationalist Party until 2018, appeared to endorse tweets by a controversial American journalist that read: “I’ve never seen a more flagrant, repellent and cynical exploitation of antisemitism in my life than its disgusting use to smear [Jeremy] Corbyn because of a lack of alternatives for how to defeat him. Nothing has trivialized this cause more than what British Blairites have done.”

A further tweet in the thread said: “Jeremy Corbyn is a better human being by a multiple of about 1,000 than all of the Oxbridge cretins in politics and media who have united to cynically smear him with accusations they know in their rotted souls are false.”

This is not the first time that Ms Wood has waded into the Labour antisemitism scandal, coming to the apparent defence of Rebecca Long-Bailey, who was sacked from Labour’s Shadow Cabinet earlier this year after she promoted an article containing an antisemitic conspiracy theory.

Plaid Cymru, after a recent antisemitism scandal, has announced that it is holding a review into antisemitism in its Party, to which Campaign Against Antisemitism shall be making submissions. The review will be led by the Party’s Westminster leader, Liz Saville Roberts MP.

Commenting on the review, Lord Wigley, who led Plaid Cymru in the 1980s and 1990s, said: “I cannot comment in detail, but it’s absolutely clear that Plaid Cymru cannot tolerate antisemitism or any other form or racism. Liz Saville Roberts is a first-class MP and I have no doubt she will come to the right conclusions.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “It is evident from our research, media reports, and contact from ordinary Plaid Cymru members and members of the public that there are divisions within the Party as to how to address antisemitism. On one side are culprits, enablers and defenders, and on the other are those fighting to eradicate it. We hope the Party’s review into antisemitism, to which we shall be making submissions, will aid the right side of that internal conflict.”

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.

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Lord Desai’s principled resignation from Labour over Sir Keir’s handling of antisemitism shows Party is not making progress under its new leader

Lord Desai has resigned from the Labour Party over its antisemitism crisis, and in particular over Jeremy Corbyn’s rapid and controversial readmission following the former Leader’s suspension.

In a letter to The Times Lord Desai, an economist who was made a peer in 1991, wrote: “Sir, You are right to be worried about the likelihood of success of the policies of the leader of the Labour Party to fight antisemitism. I agree with you that this makes the persistence of antisemitism more likely than not. I have submitted my resignation from the Labour Party after 49 years of membership.”

Mr Corbyn was suspended for downplaying antisemitism in the wake of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) damning report into anti-Jewish racism in the Labour Party last month, but was readmitted less than three weeks later, using a fast-track disciplinary process that the EHRC had declared unfit for purpose. Sir Keir Starmer has, however, not restored the whip to Mr Corbyn, from which he will be suspended for three months.

Lord Desai also said of this series of events: “It was a very peculiar decision to allow him back without any apology. He has been refused the party whip in the House of Commons for a few months, but that is a very lame response to a very big crisis,” adding: “I have been very uncomfortable and slightly ashamed that the party has been injected with this sort of racism. Jewish MPs were abused openly, and female members were trolled. It is out and out racism.”

Lord Desai’s resignation is the first over antisemitism under Sir Keir’s leadership, and is reminiscent of the MPs and peers who resigned from the Party over antisemitism when Mr Corbyn was Leader.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “Lord Desai’s principled resignation from the Labour Party over antisemitism is the first such departure since Sir Keir Starmer became leader. It is a courageous decision reminiscent of those MPs and peers who quit the Party under Jeremy Corbyn in disgust. Lord Desai’s decision comes after Labour conned the Jewish community by suspending Mr Corbyn and then readmitting him under a specially-fast tracked hearing using a disciplinary process that the EHRC had ruled was unfit for purpose. Lord Desai saw what the entire Jewish community saw: a déjà vu return to the revolving door approach to antisemitism instead of the just and fair due process that Sir Keir promised and the EHRC demanded.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism recently lodged a complaint against Mr Corbyn, holding him responsible for conduct that is prejudicial or grossly detrimental to the Labour Party, as the Leader during the period of the EHRC’s shameful findings. Given the serious detriment that this conduct has caused, we are seeking Mr Corbyn’s immediate resuspension and, if the complaint is upheld, we will be requesting his expulsion. On the day the publication of the EHRC’s report, we also submitted a major complaint against Mr Corbyn and other sitting MPs. These complaints are yet to be acknowledged by the Party, and they must be investigated by an independent disciplinary process that the EHRC has demanded and Sir Keir has promised but has yet to introduce.

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.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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Dramatic rise in number of teenagers and children referred to Government’s counter-terrorism programme over far-right links

There has been a dramatic rise in the number of teenagers and children referred to the Government’s counter-terrorism programme over their alleged far-right links, according to Home Office figures.

682 children were referred over such alleged links in 2017-18, rising from 131 in 2014-15. Moreover, the 2017-18 figure includes 24 children under the age of ten. The data was obtained via a Freedom of Information request by Sky News.

Looking at the figures across all age ranges, it is believed that this is the first time since the data began to be recorded that there was an equal balance in cases linked to the far-right and those connected to Islamist radicalism.

There is concern that youth are being drawn to the far-right by content designed to appeal to a younger demographic, a development previously reported by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others.

Two youths have been sentenced over far-right terror charges in just the past few weeks, one of whom was an A-star student. Last year, another young person was jailed for life over a neo-Nazi terror plot.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years and continues to urge the Jewish community to remain vigilant and welcomes the seriousness with which the police are treating the danger posed by the far-right.

Image credit: Hope Not Hate

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Social media reacts with grotesque antisemitism to Sir Keir Starmer’s participation in Jewish charity event at synagogue and to Dame Margaret Hodge for calling out anti-Jewish racism

Users of social media have reacted to a visit by Sir Keir Starmer to a synagogue earlier this week with grotesque antisemitism.

The Labour leader was participating in a Jewish charity event in his constituency, and users of social media responding to pictures of the event accused him of “bending to the Jewish lobby”, being a “slave to Israel”, being financed by people opposed to “helping palestine [sic]”, accepting donations in return for “[promises] to support Zionism” and “doing his pay masters bidding [sic]”.

Others asked him (using inflammatory language) whether he called for similar kindness from the local Jewish community to be “extended to [those] being oppressed, tortured and murdered by the Zionist apartheid state of Israel”, while other racist accusations were made against the Jewish community using antisemitic tropes, including claiming that the Jews have “wealth”, “power” and “influence”, as well as references to the “Rothschilds” who “funded the majority of conflicts”.

Antisemitic online abuse targeting Sir Keir and the Jewish community has been commonplace in pro-Corbyn Facebook groups over the past year, as previously documented by Campaign Against Antisemitism. Labour has even asked Facebook in the past to remove such groups.

Meanwhile, Dame Margaret Hodge, a prominent Jewish Labour MP, has shared some of the reactions she has received to calling for action against antisemitism in the Party, including: “I hope she dies soon. Dumb bitch. Member of a rich and powerful Jewish dynasty. Mossad agent. Liar. Rat. Old c***. Snake. Nazi. Traitor. Zionist stooge. Evil personified. Cancer. Zionist hag. Pig. Infiltrator. Racist witch. Controlled and funded by Israel. Palestinian child murderer.”

“This abuse,” she stated, “is not normal. This is why zero tolerance matters. This is why people have to take responsibility for their actions.”

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.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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“Jewish Lies Matter” graffiti discovered and removed in Brighton

Graffiti with the antisemitic phrase “Jewish Lies Matter” was discovered in at least two locations in Brighton this week, and subsequently removed by concerned residents.

Activist Fiona Sharpe, who lives in Brighton, said on Twitter: “The clearly political nature of this graffiti is very concerning. It was sprayed on a wall just down the road from one synagogue and within five minutes’ walk from two others.”

Sussex Police is investigating the racist vandalism, with a spokesperson reportedly saying: “I understand the distress and concern that this incident will cause, this matter is being dealt with as a hate crime and I want to offer reassurance and say that we take criminality of this nature very seriously. We are doing everything we can to progress this investigation. We continue to closely monitor Hate incidents, it remains a priority for us to identify and hold those responsible to account. I would ask the public to remain vigilant please report any incidents of hate crime to us without delay.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

Image credit: Sussex Friends of Israel

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Success for CAA as backbench MPs will today debate a resolution calling for Government to bring forward Online Harms Bill, echoing our petition signed by thousands

In response to our petition calling for the Government to bring forward its Online Harms Bill, we have received confirmation that there will be a debate in Parliament today on “regulation and prevention of online harms”.

The subject of the debate was determined not by the Government, however, but by the Backbench Business Committee.

Specifically, the debate is on a motion that proposes “that the House recognises the need to take urgent action to reduce and prevent online harms and urges the Government to bring forward the Online Harms Bill as soon as possible”.

Campaign Against Antisemitism launched a petition in August, in the aftermath of the Wiley episode, calling for new legislation urgently to introduce a requirement for technology companies to remove racist incitement within set timeframes, a duty of care for social networks with personal liability for executives, and tighter requirements to provide evidence to police under warrant.

The petition can be signed here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/333146/

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New evidence emerges showing that incompetence, factionalism and politicisation remain the hallmarks of Labour’s disciplinary process under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership

More and more evidence is emerging that Labour’s disciplinary process remains a politicised shambles almost a month after the Equality and Human Rights Commission slammed it in a damning report and demanded that the Party introduce an independent system.

Item: Campaign Against Antisemitism submitted a complaint against Kate Linnegar, Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for North Swindon in the 2019 General Election, but was told by the Party that “this person is not a member of the Labour Party.” Given that Ms Linnegar still features prominently on the North Swindon Constituency Labour Party’s website, there appears to be some confusion as to whether she is a member or not.

Naturally, this raises questions about the coherence of the Party’s processes. But a couple of years ago, Labour Against Antisemitism alleged that Labour might be letting some subjects of antisemitism complaints off the hook by claiming that the Party could not find evidence that they were members of the Party and therefore could not take the complaints forward. The conclusion appears to be that either the Party’s membership system is still a shambles or its operation remains politicised.

Item: Gurinder Singh Josan, a member of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC), was reported to have been on the panel that readmitted Jeremy Corbyn following his recent suspension, and that the panel’s decision was unanimous. However, Mr Josan has now cast doubt on the smoothness of the process and the matter of unanimity, complaining of the dissemination of “false information”. He has also stated that he has “written to the General Secretary informing him I shall forthwith not be volunteering to be part of any further disputes panels until concerns I have raised are fully addressed.” Further, he has called for the Party to “expedite an independent complaints process”. Evidently, the factionalism that dominated the complaints procedures during Mr Corbyn’s tenure as leader of the Party has not remotely disappeared.

Indeed, a snap poll by YouGov has showed that, while half of Britons agreed that Sir Keir Starmer was right not to restore the whip to Mr Corbyn (with only a fifth disagreeing), Labour voters were split 38% in favour to 32% opposed. The Labour Party is as divided as ever on whether and how to address antisemitism.

Item: Although Sir Keir’s election seemed to herald an end to the factionalism and politicisation that has prevailed in Labour for the past several years in relation to antisemitism, there are now reports that Mr Corbyn’s non-apology, his expedited NEC hearing and readmission to the Labour Party were part of a deal cooked up between Sir Keir’s office and far-left union allies of Mr Corbyn. It has even been suggested that Sir Keir was prepared to restore the whip to Mr Corbyn and only balked under pressure from some of his MPs.

At best, Mr Corbyn’s suspension and rapid readmission is a shambles that demonstrates that incompetence, factionalism and politicisation remain the hallmarks of Labour’s disciplinary process, even a month after the EHRC called for an independent process, over half a year since Sir Keir became leader, and almost a year since he promised to introduce an independent process. At worst, with this series of inconclusive developments, Sir Keir has tried to con the Jewish community.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has submitted two major complaints against Mr Corbyn and further complaints against other sitting Labour MPs, which must be investigated by the Party under an independent disciplinary process.

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.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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“Sir Keir is offering the Jewish community crumbs” by withholding the whip from Jeremy Corbyn after former leader was readmitted by sham process

Campaign Against Antisemitism has reacted to Sir Keir Starmer’s statement that he is withholding the whip from Jeremy Corbyn, who was yesterday readmitted to the Labour Party by the same processes that the Equality and Human Rights Commission had declared unfit for purpose.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “We have been conned. We did not go to the lengths of asking the EHRC to investigate the Labour Party only to return to the days of opaque, arbitrary decisions by panels that are unfit for purpose.

“Withholding the whip from Jeremy Corbyn is offering the Jewish community crumbs. The EHRC ruled that Labour’s disciplinary processes were unfit but Sir Keir allowed Mr Corbyn to be tried under them. Not only that, but Mr Corbyn should never have been suspended merely for his response to the EHRC’s damning report, but for the responsibility he bears for the Labour Party being found guilty of committing unlawful acts of antisemitism by the EHRC.

“Sir Keir needs to get a grip of his Party and ensure that Mr Corbyn is held to account for what he did to Britain’s Jews. Who is in charge of the Labour Party? Today, we have submitted a second complaint against Mr Corbyn, calling for him to be held to account not by a sham panel but by an independent disciplinary process, as required by the EHRC. Sir Keir must suspend him pending that process, and, if our complaint is upheld, Mr Corbyn must be expelled.”

Earlier today, Campaign Against Antisemitism lodged a further complaint against Mr Corbyn, alleging that he bears personal responsibility for the Party’s institutional antisemitism and must be held to account. We previously submitted a complaint against Mr Corbyn and other sitting MPs which the Labour Party has yet to acknowledge, let alone investigate, and now we have submitted a further complaint against Mr Corbyn.

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.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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CAA files new complaint seeking expulsion of Jeremy Corbyn over his responsibility for Labour being found guilty by EHRC of unlawful acts of antisemitism

Today, Campaign Against Antisemitism has filed a further complaint against the former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, over his personal responsibility for the Party being found guilty of unlawful acts of antisemitism, for which he must be held to account.

Mr Corbyn was suspended over remarks he made in reaction to the damning report issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), but less than three weeks later he was yesterday readmitted to the Party by the same processes that the EHRC had declared unfit for purpose. Alarmingly, the decision was made by a panel of Labour’s National Executive Committee, its ruling body, on which allies of Sir Keir Starmer have a majority.

We previously submitted a complaint against Mr Corbyn and other sitting MPs which the Labour Party has yet to acknowledge, let alone investigate, and today’s complaint against Mr Corbyn is additional to that earlier complaint.

In the letter, which had extensive input from expert legal counsel, Chief Executive Gideon Falter and Head of Political and Government Investigations Joe Glasman wrote: “Given the seriousness of the conduct complained of, Campaign Against Antisemitism requests that Mr Corbyn be suspended pending the outcome of an investigation of the complaint under the independent disciplinary and complaints machinery that the EHRC requires must be established. That process is likely to require independent determination of when conduct is ‘prejudicial, or…grossly detrimental to the Party.’ Campaign Against Antisemitism requests that in the event the complaint is upheld, the appropriate sanction should be expulsion from the Labour Party.”

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “We have been conned. We did not go to the lengths of asking the EHRC to investigate the Labour Party only to return to the days of opaque, arbitrary decisions by panels that are unfit for purpose.

“Withholding the whip from Jeremy Corbyn is offering the Jewish community crumbs. The EHRC ruled that Labour’s disciplinary processes were unfit but Sir Keir allowed Mr Corbyn to be tried under them. Not only that, but Mr Corbyn should never have been suspended merely for his response to the EHRC’s damning report, but for the responsibility he bears for the Labour Party being found guilty of committing unlawful acts of antisemitism by the EHRC.

“Sir Keir needs to get a grip of his Party and ensure that Mr Corbyn is held to account for what he did to Britain’s Jews. Who is in charge of the Labour Party? Today, we have submitted a second complaint against Mr Corbyn, calling for him to be held to account not by a sham panel but by an independent disciplinary process, as required by the EHRC. Sir Keir must suspend him pending that process, and, if our complaint is upheld, Mr Corbyn must be expelled.”

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.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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Corbyn’s readmission by the Labour Party shows the Jewish community has been conned, and he must be resuspended immediately pending a real investigation into our complaint

In a shambolic development, Jeremy Corbyn has been readmitted to the Labour Party following a decision by a panel of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC).

Labour’s former leader was recently suspended from the Party after making inflammatory remarks about the report into Labour antisemitism by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the submission of a complaint against him, cataloguing his long history of antisemitism, by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

Earlier today, Mr Corbyn issued a statement trying to clarify his recent remarks about the EHRC, doubtless in anticipation of this hearing by the NEC panel.

That panel, a majority of which, reportedly, were pro-Corbyn activists, has now lifted Mr Corbyn’s suspension and readmitted him to the Party. The panel was selected by the NEC, on which allies of Sir Keir Starmer have a majority.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The shambolic suspension and readmission of Jeremy Corbyn appears to have been nothing more than a media stunt to blunt the blow of the EHRC’s report last month, which forensically analysed the hundreds of pages of evidence and legal argument we submitted as complainant. That report condemned Mr Corbyn and his allies for presiding over the institutionalisation of antisemitism in the Labour Party.

“By readmitting Mr Corbyn, the Labour Party has once again excused antisemitism and proved itself unwilling to address it. Mr Corbyn’s suspension should have remained in place until all of our complaints against him were investigated, but no investigation has been undertaken. Once again, we see the impact of Labour’s failure to implement an independent disciplinary process as demanded by the EHRC and Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership pledges that have now gone unfulfilled for almost a year.

“The Jewish community has been conned. Mr Corbyn must be resuspended immediately pending investigation of our complaint against him under the new independent process mandated by the EHRC. Britain is watching.”

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.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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Jeremy Corbyn’s statement today changes nothing and he must remain suspended until CAA’s full complaint against him has been investigated

Jeremy Corbyn, Labour’s former leader who was recently suspended from the Party, has issued a statement “clarifying” his inflammatory remarks about the report into Labour antisemitism by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). However, he has not addressed his own long history of antisemitism, which was recorded in a complaint made by Campaign Against Antisemitism shortly before he was suspended.

Mr Corbyn was suspended two weeks ago after Campaign Against Antisemitism submitted a detailed disciplinary complaint against him and other sitting MPs, and just hours after the publication of the EHRC’s report after he appeared to downplay the extent of antisemitism in the Party. At the time, he said: “One antisemite is one too many, but the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media. That combination hurt Jewish people and must never be repeated.” This was not the first time that Mr Corbyn (or his allies) had tried to undermine confidence in the EHRC’s report.

Now, Mr Corbyn has issued a new statement, in which he said: “We must never tolerate antisemitism or belittle concerns about it. And that was not my intention in anything I said this week. I regret the pain this issue has caused the Jewish community and would wish to do nothing that would exacerbate or prolong it. To be clear, concerns about antisemitism are neither ‘exaggerated’ nor ‘overstated’. The point I wished to make was that the vast majority of Labour Party members were and remain committed anti-racists deeply opposed to antisemitism. I fully support Keir Starmer’s decision to accept all the EHRC recommendations in full and, in accordance with my own lifelong convictions, will do what I can to help the Party move on, united against antisemitism which has been responsible for so many of history’s greatest crimes against humanity.”

He went on to thank “the many thousands of Labour party members, trade unionists, and supporters in Britain and around the world, who have offered their solidarity.” Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring the solidarity that Mr Corbyn has received, and there are reports now of optimism on Labour’s far-left that Mr Corbyn will be reinstated.

However, in his statement, Mr Corbyn only referred to his remarks about the EHRC, which represented only one of some eighteen incidents of antisemitic discourse in which Mr Corbyn has been involved. The Labour Party must undertake a full investigation of all of these incidents before Mr Corbyn’s suspension can possibly be lifted.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Mr Corbyn’s statement today seeks to recast his comments gaslighting the Jewish community when the EHRC’s report into Labour antisemitism was released. This is a desperate attempt to have his suspension lifted and reveals that he still believes that suspensions are something that happen on the whim of the Leader as it did during his tenure, and not as a result of any due process. If the Labour Party wants to build on the positive step of suspending Mr Corbyn, it must investigate the entirety of our complaint against him under the independent disciplinary process that the EHRC has mandated, and do so within six months. Reinstating Mr Corbyn now would only show that Labour is not serious about tackling antisemitism, or is incapable of doing so.”

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.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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Corbyn suspension spurs confrontation between local Constituency Labour Parties and central Labour Party

The suspension of Jeremy Corbyn following the publication of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s report into Labour antisemitism and the submission of a complaint against Mr Corbyn and other MPs by Campaign Against Antisemitism appears to have spurred a confrontation within the Party between several Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) and the Labour Party headquarters.

Among the CLPs to express support for or solidarity with Mr Corbyn are Battersea, Bristol North West, Bristol West, Blyth Valley, Camarthen East and Dinefwr, Cardiff North, Carlisle, Hastings and Rye, Islington North (Mr Corbyn’s CLP), Leeds East, Liverpool Walton, Newton Abbott, Pendle, Putney, and South Thanet.

Various other local branches of the Party have also passed motions of solidarity or expressed support for the suspended former leader.

The motions and expressions of support came only a few days after the Party’s General-Secretary, David Evans, warned CLPs not to discuss disciplinary cases. A few months ago he also warned them to avoid discussion of sensitive issues relating to antisemitism.

Apparently as a result of these motions and other inflammatory tweets, the Chair and co-Secretary of Bristol West and other members of that CLP have been suspended from Labour.

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.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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Co-founder of neo-Nazi terrorist group has set up online business selling inflammatory t-shirts

It has been reported that a co-founder of a neo-Nazi terrorist group has set up an online business selling inflammatory t-shirts.

Ben Raymond co-founded National Action as a student with Alex Davies in 2013 but, according to The Independent, distanced himself from the group after it was proscribed by the British Government following repeated calls by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others. He has never been prosecuted for his involvement, while others have been convicted and imprisoned. It is believed that he went on to produce designs for other splinter groups since the ban on National Action, for which he also worked on designs.

It is understood that Mr Raymond operates an online shop specialising in t-shirts and posters with neo-Nazi designs, including swastikas, swords, guns and other Nazi symbols and occult Nazi tropes. The online retailer is called Blackguard.

Apparently, when asked if Blackguard’s Twitter account was operated by Mr Raymond, he replied “yes” from his personal handle. Mr Raymond apparently did not respond to requests for comment from The Independent.

According to one academic specialist, the website is “smuggling symbols and images through in a way that you might get away with…It’s striking but it’s not necessarily immediately obvious what you’re looking at,” unless you are a white supremacist familiar with the motifs.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years and continues to support the authorities following suit.

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Man charged with racially aggravated assault and assaulting a police officer after antisemitic abuse of Jewish victim and attack on Shomrim volunteer and police

A man has been arrested and charged with racially aggravated assault and assaulting a police officer after he yelled antisemitic abuse at a Jewish victim and then attacked a local neighbourhood patrol volunteer and a policeman.

The suspect is alleged to have shouted “F*** Jews, you vote for Trump, go to Hitler – he should kill you!”

A volunteer with Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol, then intervened, as did a police officer, and they were both allegedly set upon by the suspect.

The attack took place on Craven Park Road in Stamford Hill on 13th November.

The suspect has been remanded in custody and will appear at Highbury Magistrates Court today. Shomrim volunteers are supporting the victim.

If you have any more information, please contact the police on 101 or Stamford Hill Shomrim on 0300 999 0123, quoting reference number: CAD2818 13/11/2020.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “This sort of antisemitic abuse is far too common, particularly in Stamford Hill, and this is also hardly the first time that violence has been involved. We applaud Shomrim and the police for their persistent vigilance and wish full recoveries to all of the victims. The suspect, if convicted, must face the full force of the law, otherwise these attacks will only get worse.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

Image credit: Shomrim

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CAA reiterates call for intervention by Charity Commission after another senior figure at Islamic Relief Worldwide has resigned over alleged antisemitism

Yet another figure at Islamic Relief Worldwide has resigned over alleged antisemitism in the third such incident in just six months.

It has now emerged that Tayeb Abdoun, a former interim-CEO at the charity who has worked there for 25 years, resigned on 14th October after being confronted over a picture he reportedly posted on Facebook of a knife with a thumbs up and wrote: “Lay the bodies of the Jews on the top of the mountains, so that no dog in Palestine must suffer hunger.” Other controversial posts were also uncovered, and Mr Abdoun resigned after the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger confronted him.

In a statement, Islamic Relief Worldwide reportedly said: “We continue to work as an organisation to root out anyone that does not meet our core values as a respectful, faith-sensitive, non-discriminatory and principled charity.”

Back in August, the entire board of Islamic Relief Worldwide resigned after a new trustee-director was discovered to have a history of antisemitic posts on social media. He had been appointed to replace another trustee who had previously resigned after his history of antisemitic social media posts was uncovered.

This is therefore the third such incident to rock Britain’s largest Muslim charity in just six months, making our representations to the Charity Commission all the more urgent.

Following the second incident, Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to the Charity Commission. In our letter to the Charity Commission, we wrote: “The episode has shown that IRW’s processes are defective. Given the size of the charity and the severity of the breach, we are writing to invite you to open a statutory investigation into how IRW has been operating and whether the racist views and negligence of some of its trustees have impacted its activities. We believe that the Commission must intervene to chart a new course for IRW, rebuild the public’s trust in its work. This matter has caused considerable concern amongst members of the Jewish community who have sought our support and it is important that the Commission is seen by them to be investigating this matter thoroughly and taking action where it is needed.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “This third incident of alleged antisemitism at Islamic World Relief in just six months, which follows the resignation of the entire trustee board, reinforces the impression that Islamic Relief Worldwide’s processes are defective and makes all the more urgent our call for a statutory investigation by the Charity Commission into how the charity has been operating and whether the racist views and negligence of several of its trustees have impacted its activities. The Commission must chart a new course for the organisation in order to rebuild the public’s trust in the charity’s work.”

It is understood that an independent commission will review the charity’s processes for vetting trustees and directors and its code of conduct, while the organisation’s leadership will receive antisemitism training. The commission will be chaired by the former Attorney-General, Dominic Grieve.

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High Court orders Tony Greenstein to pay CAA £67,886 after suing CAA for calling him a “notorious antisemite” humiliatingly backfires

Tony Greenstein has been ordered by the High Court to pay £67,886 to Campaign Against Antisemitism after his attempt to sue us for calling him a “notorious antisemite” humiliatingly backfired.

Several days ago the High Court struck out Mr Greenstein’s libel claims against us, ruling that it was permissible for us to call him a “notorious antisemite” in articles on our website.

Mrs Justice Tipples denied Mr Greenstein leave to appeal, although Mr Greenstein is still able to petition the Court of Appeal directly.

Campaign Against Antisemitism was represented by Adam Speker QC, instructed by solicitors Keith Mathieson and Alex Wilson of RPC, and advised pro bono by solicitor Dr Mark Lewis who is an honorary patron of Campaign Against Antisemitism.

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Neo-Nazi graffiti found in Woodstock park, and inaction has town councillor fuming

Neo-Nazi graffiti was found in a park in Woodstock, including a swastika, the number 88 (denoting HH, for ‘Heil Hitler’) and other symbols.

The graffiti in the Oxfordshire park was reported to the police as criminal damage and a hate crime.

Town Councillor Sharone Parnes is understood to have urged the town council to issue a “strongly worded” notice expressing “disgust” at the graffiti and calling for the perpetrators to turn themselves in, but is appalled by the council’s apparent reticence to do so before further consultation.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has contacted the Mayor for comment.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

Image credit: Cllr Sharone Parnes

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“Jew process” Councillor Jo Bird under investigation by Labour for third time after reportedly suggesting antisemitism is being privileged over other forms of racism

The controversial councillor, Jo Bird, is understood to be under investigation by the Labour Party for the third time in recent years after reportedly suggesting that antisemitism is being privileged over other forms of racism.

Last week, Cllr Bird reportedly told a meeting of the far-left faction ‘Don’t Leave, Organise’: “As a Jew, I worry about racism against Jewish people. I also worry about privileging the racism faced by Jewish communities in this country as more worthy of resources than other forms of discrimination such as against black people, Palestinians, Muslims and refugees. Abuses of power are measured in detentions, deportations and deaths. Privileging one group over another group is divisive. It’s bad for the many, as well as bad for the Jews.”

Cllr Bird represents the Bromborough Ward on Wirral Council and has a long history of controversy relating to Jews, including renaming ‘due process’ in the Labour Party as “Jew process”, for which she was suspended; supporting the expelled Labour activist and friend of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Marc Wadsworth, who was thrown out of the Party after a confrontation with Jewish then-MP Ruth Smeeth; and worrying about the “privileging of racism against Jews, over and above — as more worthy of resources than other forms of racism.”

Elected to Wirral Council in August 2018, Cllr Bird is a member of Jewish Voice for Labour, the antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation, and she has described Labour’s institutional antisemitism as based on mere “accusations, witch-huntery and allegations without evidence”. She recently failed in her bid for election to Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee.

Cllr Bird rejoined the Labour Party in 2015, when Jeremy Corbyn was running for the Party’s leadership, and last year she had previously been tipped to become a candidate to replace Dame Louise Ellman, a Jewish MP who quit Labour prior to the election due to antisemitism.

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.

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“This is being treated as a hate crime,” police say after swastika daubed in Leeds University hall popular with Jewish students

A swastika was found graffitied with red paint on a hall of residence popular with Jewish students at the University of Leeds.

The word “Nazi” was also painted beside the swastika on a wall in the Charles Morris Hall building.

The University confirmed that the graffiti, found over the weekend, has been removed.

A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police reportedly said: “This is being treated as a hate crime and will be investigated accordingly. Officers are working with the university to identify suspects and anyone with information can contact police on 101, or by using the options on the West Yorkshire Police website. The crime reference is 13200552418.”

It is understood that the University suspects that this represented a “one-off indiscriminate act of vandalism by intruders” and that it was “unaware of any direct threats made to anyone living in the halls of residence”. Security patrols have apparently been increased at halls.

If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected].

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Concern as former Labour MP Ruth George selected as council candidate even as CAA complaint against her is pending

Concerns have been raised following the announcement that former Labour MP Ruth George has been selected as a candidate for the Party in upcoming local council elections, despite a complaint against her having recently been submitted by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

The complaint was submitted on the day that the report into Labour antisemitism by the Equality and Human Rights Commission was published, and details of the incidents relating to Ms George can be found here.

Despite the complaint being outstanding and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge to tear out antisemitism “by its roots” from the Party, Ms George has served as a County Councillor for Whaley Bridge and Blackbrook for the last nine months (she lost her seat in Parliament in the 2019 General Election) and has now been selected for as a candidate for the County Council election in May.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The continued service of Ruth George as a Labour councillor and now her selection as a candidate for the coming elections, while our complaint against her relating to antisemitism remains outstanding, is difficult to square with Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge to tear out antisemitism ‘by its roots’. That complaint, along with the other complaints we have submitted against sitting and former MPs and other officeholders, must be investigated by an independent disciplinary process and concluded within six months.”

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.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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High-achieving neo-Nazi teenager given suspended sentence

An A-star student said to have fallen down “the rabbit hole of the internet” to become a neo-Nazi has been sentenced after pleading guilty to fourteen terror charges and two charges of possessing indecent images of children.

Harry Vaughan, who is eighteen, was given a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years. He was also ordered to attend a rehabilitation programme.

Mr Justice Sweeney, handing down the sentence at the Old Bailey, said: “You are a dangerous offender.”

Mr Vaughan is said to have begun taking an interest in Satanic neo-Nazism at the age of fourteen, unbeknownst to his parents, who were bewildered when he was arrested some years later.

He had “every advantage that could have been afforded to him,” according to his barrister, having been educated at a prestigious grammar school and received four A-star grades in summer exams.

In 2018, he applied to join the System Resistance Network, a white supremacist successor to National Action, which the Government proscribed as a terrorist organisation in 2016 following a long campaign by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others. He wrote at the time that “there is nothing I wouldn’t do to further the cause”.

He was arrested at home on 19th June last year in a counter-terrorism operation against a far-right online forum called Fascist Forge. His laptop was seized, revealing documents relating to antisemitism, Satanism and neo-Nazism, as well as as far-right terrorist book, bomb-making manuals and materials from the Sonnenkrieg Division, a neo-Nazi organisation that was proscribed by the Government this year.

Police also discovered videos of child abuse, leading to the charges of possession of indecent images of children.

The Head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command reportedly said that the case “illustrates it is possible for any young person to be susceptible to radicalisation,” adding: “Harry Vaughan is an intelligent young man who was predicted A-star grades and aspiring to study computing at university. Yet, online, he was an enthusiastic participant of right-wing terrorist forums.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years and continues to support the authorities following suit.

Image credit: Metropolitan Police

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CAA to make submissions to Plaid Cymru after it announces review into antisemitism in its own ranks following publication of damning EHRC report into Labour

The Welsh nationalist party, Plaid Cymru, has announced that it is holding a review into antisemitism in its Party.

The announcement follows the publication of the damning report into antisemitism in the Labour Party by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant in the EHRC’s investigation, having made the formal referral that prompted the launch of the unprecedented full statutory investigation. 

Plaid Cymru’s internal review will reportedly be led by Liz Saville Roberts MP, the leader of the Party’s small contingent at Westminster, and it aims to ensure that there is “zero tolerance” of antisemitism in the Party.

However, the announcement comes shortly after the Party showed that it has no intention of actually tackling antisemitism after deciding not to take action against repeat offender and prospective Welsh Assembly candidate Sahar Al-Faifi.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has details of other concerns relating to antisemitism in Plaid Cymru, and intends to submit representations to the review.

Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price reportedly told BBC Wales: “I think this is a watershed moment, and I think no part of society is immune from it. The Welsh Labour Party is not immune from it, Plaid Cymru is not immune from it…It’s absolutely certain that we are seeing a rising tide of antisemitism, it’s endemic.” He added: “I can’t involve myself for the very good reasons set out in the EHRC report in individual disciplinary cases, but it is my responsibility to ensure our culture, our structures, our processes, do actually fulfil a zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism and any other form of religious prejudice.” He also disclosed that Plaid Cymru election candidates are to undergo training on combating antisemitism.

Joe Glasman, Head of Political and Government Investigations at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “We welcome Plaid Cymru’s announcement of a review into antisemitism in its ranks, in the wake of the EHRC’s damning report into anti-Jewish racism in the Labour Party, instigated after we referred Labour to the EHRC. Plaid Cymru has welcomed our offer of representations, including incidents involving Party members, and we shall make these submissions shortly.

“Plaid Cymru is making the right decision to try to get ahead of this problem, but it will have to show that it is serious. Its recent decision not to take action against repeat offender Sahar Al-Faifi certainly shows that it has work to do to win the confidence of anyone who opposes racism.”

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.

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After years of pressure, conspiracy theorist David Icke is finally banned from Twitter, but not over his antisemitism

After years of pressure from Campaign Against Antisemitism, the conspiracy theorist and antisemitic hate preacher David Icke has finally been banned from Twitter.

Twitter’s decision follows similar moves by YouTube and Facebook several months ago. Mr Icke had some 382,000 followers on Twitter.

These decisions by the leading social media companies to remove Mr Icke from their platforms come after years of promoting the antisemitic commentator, much of whose website traffic is directed from social media. Despite extensive dossiers having been provided to the tech giants by Campaign Against Antisemitism in the past detailing Mr Icke’s racist claims about Jews, it has taken this long to ban him – and in each case it was not even related to antisemitism.

Instead, Mr Icke’s YouTube channel and Facebook page – and now his Twitter handle – were removed because of his misinformation campaign regarding the COVID-19 pandemic (although as part of this campaign he has also claimed that Israel was using the COVID-19 crisis to “test its technology”).

Mr Icke uses social media, his books and his stage performances to incite hatred. His preaching is so absurd that since the 1990s he has been dismissed as a crank, but because he is dismissed, there has been no major opposition to him and he has built up a following of thousands upon thousands of disciples whom he has persuaded to adamantly believe that the world is in the grip of a conspiracy run by the “Rothschild Zionists”. His repertoire includes conspiracy myths and tropes classified as antisemitic according to the International Definition of Antisemitism. Campaign Against Antisemitism has successfully persuaded some venues to pull out of hosting his events. Last month, Ofcom sanctioned the television channel London Live for airing an interview with Mr Icke on COVID-19.

Campaign Against Antisemitism will continue to press social media companies and other outlets to bar Mr Icke and other antisemites from their forums.

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Teenager from Rugby linked to neo-Nazi groups jailed for terror offences

A teenager from Rugby linked to neo-Nazi groups has been jailed for terror offences.

Paul Dunleavy, who is seventeen, was given a sentence of five years and six months in jail after being found guilty of preparing acts of terrorism at Birmingham Crown Court.

The judge ruled that Mr Dunleavy can be named, and reportedly described his terrorist efforts as “inept”, adding: “Your autism impacts on your maturity and understanding.”

Mr Dunleavy had pleaded not guilty, but it was alleged that he had joined the neo-Nazi Feuerkrieg Division group, which the Home Office plans to proscribe.

The court had been told that he had to pass a test to prove his hatred of Jews and that he had “graphic” video footage of a terrorist attack on his telephone and had searched the internet for information about guns, including how to convert a gun that fires blanks into a live weapon.

He had also apparently praised the terrorist who carried out the mass shooting last year in Christchurch, New Zealand, describing such perpetrators as “saints”.

Jurors had been told that he had adopted the “twisted ideology” of Nazis and white supremacists and had participated in far-right chat groups online, where he shared the information about firearms that he had learned.

In one of the messages, the defendant said that he was an administrator of a group called ‘League of Nationalists’, and also said: “Whatever happens I’m going to have a local unit. I’m working on the propaganda and the weapons. I need men.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years and continues to support the authorities following suit.

Image credit: West Midlands Police

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Ofcom fines Islam Channel £20,000 for broadcasting “antisemitic hate speech”

Ofcom has fined the Islam Channel £20,000 for broadcasting a programme that included “antisemitic hate speech”.

Last year, Ofcom determined that the Islam Channel broadcasted “very harmful and highly offensive antisemitic content” in its programme, The Rightly Guided Khalifas.

According to its website, the Islam Channel broadcasts from London and describes itself as providing “alt news, current affairs and entertainment programming from an Islamic perspective,” and it broadcasts to over 136 countries worldwide.

The Rightly Guided Khalifas, a religious education series on the history of the Koran and the measures used to preserve its original wording, claimed that Israel printed hundreds of thousands of deliberately distorted copies of the Koran in 1961 for distribution in Africa and Asia, an assertion based on government propaganda from the period.

The Arabic narration also quoted a “telegraph” from the last century accusing Israel of being “formed on the basis of tyranny and aggression…[and it] continues to live in this tyrannical frame of mind…[and] seeks the destruction of our belief and religion” by distorting the Koran. “In this way, it continues to practice what their forefathers [i.e. the Jews] had done before.”

The English translation on-screen also accused Israel of “poisonous acts”, while the English subtitles added that “the occupying state of Israel (the jews)…is still living in this world with the same evil mind…by doing so the new jews tried to do the same thing their ancestors did when they displaced words from (their) right places [sic].”

The Islam Channel said that The Rightly Guided Khalifas series was produced by an overseas third party rather than in-house, and that it did not endorse its content, despite having broadcast it, noting also that the English translations were produced in the Middle East and claiming that terms such as “Israel”, “Israelis” and “Jews” are used interchangeably there, while insisting it did not endorse this conflation.

Ofcom had regard to the International Definition of Antisemitism, noting in particular the following examples of antisemitism:

  • accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews;
  • holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel; and
  • making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.

Ofcom determined that the material constituted hate speech on the bases that that it conflated Israel and the Jewish people (for both Arabic and English language viewers); held contemporary Jews collectively responsible for allegations (based on a single interpretation) stretching from the establishment of Islam to the 1960s; and ascribed a perpetually negative characteristic to Jewish people (namely corrupting holy books and seeking the destruction of Islam).

Ofcom decided that the broadcast “had the potential to promote, encourage and incite such intolerance among viewers” and that it “represents serious breaches of the [Ofcom Broadcasting] Code”.

The Islam Channel, which is reportedly funded by Saudi Arabia, has been found on multiple occasions in the past to have broadcast programmes featuring political bias and advocacy of marital rape and violence, and has been accused of promoting a radical cleric.

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Cambridge University adopts International Definition of Antisemitism

The University of Cambridge has adopted the International Definition of Antisemitism.

The adoption of the Definition was reportedly agreed at a meeting of the University’s General Board on 4th November.

Last month, the University appeared to be resisting adopting the Definition, despite reiterated calls by the Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, for universities to do so. However, in a welcome move, the University now appears to have reversed itself.

The University’s Jewish Society has applauded the decision, and has stated that it is asking for clarifications on implementation. It has also called for the Students’ Union to adopt the Definition as well.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has consistently backed efforts by the Government to encourage widespread adoption of the Definition by local authorities, universities and public bodies. The UK was the first country in the world to adopt the International Definition, something for which Campaign Against Antisemitism, Lord Eric Pickles and others worked hard over many meetings with officials at Downing Street.

If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected].

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In grotesque attack, Scottish PSC Secretary Mick Napier calls the late former Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks “utter racist swine”

In a grotesque social media post, the Secretary of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Mick Napier, has called the late former Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks “utter racist swine”.

Lord Sacks died over the weekend, prompting mourning in the Jewish community and tributes from around the world.

The researcher David Collier observed that Mr Napier wrote on Facebook: “Utter racist swine, and moral guide for BBC Radio 4 listeners, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has died. He extended a ‘personal invitation’ to Jews to join him and his racist successor [Chief Rabbi Ephraim] Mirvis on the March of the Flags on Jerusalem Day, ‘dancing with our brave IDF soldiers’ in the settler enclave in [sic]”. Mr Napier repeated the insult on Twitter.

The post was ‘liked’ several times, including by the antisemite and expelled Labour member, Jackie Walker. Comments on the post included “Good riddance!” and “May he rot”.

Mr Napier is an activist who was convicted of aggravated trespass and of failing to follow police orders to leave a Jewish-owned cosmetics store in Glasgow following a prosecution supported by Jewish Human Rights Watch.

Last week, a founding member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and expelled Labour member, Tony Greenstein, lost his case against Campaign Against Antisemitism for calling him a “notorious antisemite”.

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High Court rules it was permissible for CAA to call Palestine Solidarity Campaign founder Tony Greenstein a “notorious antisemite” in humiliating case of legal action backfiring

The High Court has today ruled that it was permissible for Campaign Against Antisemitism to call Tony Greenstein a “notorious antisemite” in a humiliating case of legal action backfiring, as he loses a defamation case that he himself brought against us after we called him just that.

An expelled member of the Labour Party and founder of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Mr Greenstein has long sought to have Campaign Against Antisemitism struck off the register of charities, and last year he brought a case against Campaign Against Antisemitism alleging that we had libelled him when we said that he was antisemitic.

We applied to strike out Mr Greenstein’s case because it had no hope of success at a full hearing and should not proceed.

Today, the court agreed to dismiss the entirety of his libel claim, leaving only other minor aspects of the case to be determined at a later hearing.

In a 21-page judgement, Mrs Justice Tipples referred to the International Definition of Antisemitism in the case, noting that “on any objective assessment, an honest person could form the view that these tweets, in which the claimant has referred to ‘Jewish Nazis’, used the word ‘Zios’ (which he knows is antisemitic…) and, having done so, referred to collaboration with the Nazis, were antisemitic statements he made.”

Mrs Justice Tipples also ruled that “The claimant’s tweet compares the people of Israel to the Nazis and, on any objective assessment, an honest person could have held the opinion that that was an antisemitic statement from the claimant.” She added: “The claimant has no real prospect of succeeding on this issue [of libel].”

A significant part of Mr Greenstein’s argument was that Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Chief Executive, Gideon Falter, had been malicious in describing Mr Greenstein as an antisemite and that he did not honestly believe that he was one, but Mrs Justice Tipples dismissed those arguments, finding that “this plea of malice is insufficient and should be struck out.”

As we have previously shown, Mr Greenstein has defended Ken Livingstone’s Nazi apologism, compared Zionists to Nazis on several occasions and regularly characterises the creation of Israel as “racist.” He has thus repeatedly breached the International Definition of Antisemitism in multiple respects.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “For years, Tony Greenstein has sought to discredit the International Definition of Antisemitism and have Campaign Against Antisemitism struck off the register of charities. We have repeatedly called him a ‘notorious antisemite’ and today the High Court ruled that we were perfectly entitled to do so. This is a humiliating defeat for Mr Greenstein who will now have to explain to those who paid his legal expenses through crowdfunding that he wasted their money on such a hopeless claim. All that remains of his action is a minor data protection and privacy claim which we now look forward to dismantling at a future hearing, should he even progress that far.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism was represented by Adam Speker QC, instructed by solicitors Keith Mathieson and Alex Wilson of RPC, and advised pro bono by solicitor Dr Mark Lewis who is an honorary patron of Campaign Against Antisemitism.

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“Al Quds Day” leader Nazim Ali, who blamed “Zionists” for Grenfell Tower tragedy, found to have brought pharmaceutical profession into disrepute, following complaint by CAA

A pharmacist, Nazim Ali, who leads the annual “Al Quds Day” march through London, has been found to have brought the pharmaceutical profession into disrepute following a two-week hearing that culminated today arising from a complaint by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

However, the General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC) fitness to practice tribunal let Mr Ali off with a warning after ruling that his remarks were grossly offensive and that his fitness to practise was impaired, but that his statements were not antisemitic.

Remarkably the GPhC did not present expert testimony from academics or Campaign Against Antisemitism on what constitutes Jew-hatred.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s complaint related to Mr Ali’s actions in 2017, when he led the pro-Hizballah “Al Quds Day” parade for the controversial London-based organisation calling itself the Islamic Human Rights Commission, just four days after the Grenfell Tower tragedy in which over 70 people were burned alive.

Heading the parade, surrounded by the flags of Hizballah, the genocidal antisemitic terrorist organisation, Mr Ali shouted over a public address system: “Some of the biggest corporations who are supporting the Conservative Party are Zionists. They are responsible for the murder of the people in Grenfell, in those towers in Grenfell. The Zionist supporters of the Tory Party. Free, Free, Palestine…It is the Zionists who give money to the Tory Party to kill people in high-rise blocks. Free, Free, Palestine. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

At another point he told marchers: “Careful of those Rabbis who belong to the Board of Deputies, who have got blood on their hands, who agree with the killing of British soldiers. Do not allow them in your centres.”

The events were filmed by members of Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit.

Mr Ali is the Managing Partner of Chelsea Pharmacy Medical Clinic. Campaign Against Antisemitism submitted a complaint to the GPhC, which confirmed that the matter “calls into question the pharmacy professional’s fitness to practise as a pharmacist.”

During Mr Ali’s hearing, his defence emphasised his grovelling apology, in which he acknowledged that his comments were grossly offensive and that they could be perceived as being antisemitic. Mr Ali claimed that he had not made the apology sooner because he had apparently been advised not to do so while legal proceedings were underway, even through those proceedings ended in early 2019 and the apology appeared to have only been issued a short time before the GPhC hearing.

Mr Ali’s defence also made much of his warm relationship with the extremist fringe Jewish group, Neturei Karta, as evidence that he would not have knowingly said something antisemitic, even though Neturei Karta condemns most Jews and has actively supported antisemites.

Mr Ali’s counsel spent the better part of two days arguing that the hearing was a breach of Mr Ali’s right to a private life and right to freedom of expression under Articles 8 and 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998, however the tribunal took a day to consider these arguments and rejected them.

Stephen Silverman, Director of Investigations and Enforcement at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “Since 2017, we have fought to ensure that Nazim Ali faces the consequences of his actions. As a pharmacist, he is bound by professional rules, and we are pleased that due to our complaint his regulator has now agreed that he brought his profession into disrepute. However it is disappointing that the regulator showed so little understanding of the issues at the hearing and only requested that the tribunal issue Mr Ali with a warning, which it did. After more than three years, at least we have succeeded in ensuring that Mr Ali’s record has been publicly marked and his disgrace made official.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism previously sought a criminal prosecution of Mr Ali. When the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) refused to prosecute him, we launched a private prosecution which the CPS disgracefully used its statutory powers to take over and discontinue, protecting Mr Ali from prosecution.

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The Guardian criticised for cartoon employing antisemitic and insensitive motifs and portraying Jeremy Corbyn as saintly martyr

The Guardian newspaper has been criticised for publishing a cartoon employing antisemitic and insensitive motifs.

The cartoon features Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer presenting the head of former Leader Jeremy Corbyn on a platter in a pose deliberately reminiscent of the Caravaggio painting “Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist”, a depiction of the New Testament event of King Herod having Jesus’ mentor, John the Baptist, beheaded at the request of his Jewish stepdaughter Salome.

The drawing, dubbed “After Caravaggio”, was intended to represent the suspension of Mr Corbyn by Sir Keir. However, the implication of the cartoon that Sir Keir has done the bidding of the Jews by suspending and martyring a saintly Mr Corbyn is a deliberate provocation. Mr Corbyn is an antisemite whose Party engaged in unlawful harassment and discrimination against Jews, and the notion that Sir Keir is under the thumb of the Jewish community is an antisemitic conspiracy that has become popular in pro-Corbyn social media groups and on the far-left.

The depiction of Mr Corbyn beheaded was also criticised in view of recent events in France.

The cartoon was drawn by Steve Bell, who has a history of drawing offensive and contentious cartoons, some of which The Guardian has reportedly refused to publish in the past. Mr Bell has reportedly denied using antisemitic tropes in his cartoon when accused in the past.

A spokesperson for The Guardian spokesperson reportedly told the JC: “The Steve Bell cartoon published today portrays his observation on the recent events in the Labour Party.” The Readers’ Editor is reportedly reviewing complaints that the newspaper has received.

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.

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Within minutes of our submission of a complaint against Jeremy Corbyn and fifteen other sitting Labour MPs, Sir Keir Starmer suspends Mr Corbyn pending an investigation

Within minutes of our submission of a complaint against former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and fifteen other sitting Labour MPs in relation to antisemitism, Sir Keir Starmer has suspended Mr Corbyn, pending an investigation.

Our letter to Sir Keir, which followed the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s unprecedented finding that the Labour Party committed unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination against Jewish people, urged him to take action.

The letter read: “That your Party became institutionally racist against Jews, causing more than two in five British Jews to consider leaving the country and necessitating the investigation that has now concluded, is an indelible stain on Labour and on those within your Party who stood by and let antisemitism take hold. The individuals responsible must at last be held to account.”

The letter submitted complaints against Mr Corbyn, Diane Abbott, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Barry Gardiner, Afzal Khan, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Zarah Sultana and others.

The complaint against Mr Corbyn included his statement in reaction to the EHRC’s report, in which he said:“Anyone claiming there is no antisemitism in the Labour Party is wrong. Of course there is, as there is throughout society, and sometimes it is voiced by people who think of themselves as on the left. Jewish members of our party and the wider community were right to expect us to deal with it, and I regret that it took longer to deliver that change than it should. One antisemite is one too many, but the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media. That combination hurt Jewish people and must never be repeated.”

Within minutes of our letter and complaints being publicised, Mr Corbyn was suspended by the Labour Party, pending an investigation.

Joe Glasman, Head of Political and Government Investigations, said: “Shortly after submitting our complaint to Sir Keir regarding Jeremy Corbyn’s statement this morning and his past deeds, we have received confirmation that Mr Corbyn has been suspended from the Labour Party and had the whip withdrawn. This is a hugely significant turning point and an indicator of real change and accountability at last.

“We referred Labour to the EHRC precisely because it was not taking out complaints against Mr Corbyn seriously. Four years since our first complaint, Labour has finally begun to take action. Mr Corbyn is part of the problem, and at last our complaints against him and other sitting Labour MPs who seemed untouchable, are now being acted upon.”

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CAA statement on the EHRC’s report on antisemitism in the Labour Party

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s report is a groundbreaking document. It is the first ever finding by the EHRC of unlawful acts. It heavily criticises the Labour Party’s former leadership. It makes clear recommendations to ensure that there is zero tolerance of antisemitism in the Party in the future. It provides a robust framework for ensuring that the Party complies.

“The EHRC’s report utterly vindicates Britain’s Jews who were accused of lying and exaggerating, acting as agents of another country and using their religion to ‘smear’ the Labour Party. In an unprecedented finding, it concludes that those who made such accusations broke the law and were responsible for illegal discrimination and harassment.

“The debate is over. Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, the Labour Party became institutionally antisemitic. It drove almost half of British Jews to consider leaving the country. For five miserable years, every effort to compel Labour to reform failed. We were left with no choice but to refer the Party to the EHRC, which launched an investigation with us as complainant. The EHRC’s findings and recommendations today – that Labour’s leadership and culture created an unlawful environment that discriminated against Jews – closely align with the hundreds of pages of evidence and argument that we submitted to the EHRC over many months.

“Frankly, this report would not be much different had we written it. It is the dispensing of British justice that British Jews have sorely awaited, but has been denied for too long.

“Jeremy Corbyn and those around him who took part in or enabled the gaslighting, harassment and victimisation of Britain’s Jewish minority are shamed for all time. Those who defended and stood by them are shown to have made possible the closest flirtation that mainstream British politics has had with antisemitism in modern history.

“Sir Keir Starmer now has a long list of reforms to make, including establishing an independent disciplinary process so that those who put Britain’s Jews in fear for their future in this country can at last be held to account for their deeds. To that end, we have submitted complaints against Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and fourteen other sitting MPs and have given Labour six months to conduct transparent investigations and finally deliver justice for the Jewish community.

“We are immensely grateful to everyone who fought alongside us for this day to come. Too many of them have suffered greatly for their principles. They are the best of this country.”

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Background: The EHRC’s full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party, in which CAA is the complainant

Campaign Against Antisemitism first approached the EHRC at the time of the Labour Party Conference in Brighton in 2017. The conference was so rife with antisemitism that Brighton and Hove City Council’s then Labour leader, Warren Morgan, told his own Party that he would not permit use of Council premises for the conference again. Mr Morgan later resigned from the Labour Party over its failure to address antisemitism. Following Campaign Against Antisemitism’s contact with the EHRC, the Chief Executive of the EHRC issued a statement demanding that the Labour Party prove “that it is not a racist party”.Campaign Against Antisemitism made a number of disciplinary complaints to the Labour Party between 2016 and 2018 about Jeremy Corbyn, including about his defence of the antisemitic Tower Hamlets mural in 2012, his Holocaust Memorial Day event in 2010, and his Press TV interview in 2012 (Press TV is an Iranian state broadcaster which Ofcom banned from broadcasting in Britain).

The Labour Party repeatedly refused to open an investigation into our complaints against Mr Corbyn, and consequently on 31st July 2018, Campaign Against Antisemitism formally referred the Labour Party to the EHRC over its institutional antisemitism.

Subsequently, the Jewish Labour Movement and Labour Against Antisemitism Ltd made further submissions, which supported our referral. 

At the EHRC’s request, Campaign Against Antisemitism submitted detailed legal arguments in November 2018. We continued to provide additional legal arguments to the EHRC in relation to subsequent developments, resulting in the EHRC’s announcement on 7th March 2019 that it was starting pre-enforcement proceedings against the Labour Party.

Pre-enforcement Proceedings

Prior to the EHRC opening a statutory investigation, it entered into a pre-enforcement period of engagement with the Labour Party, allowing it to propose a plan of action and make representations to the EHRC giving reasons why enforcement should not commence, and offering to take action voluntarily, under the EHRC’s supervision.

During the pre-enforcement period, the Labour Party had an opportunity to make representations to the EHRC seeking to agree a plan of action that would remove the need for a statutory investigation by offering to implement certain measures against antisemitism, with the EHRC able to monitor compliance.

The Labour Party failed to satisfy the EHRC that it could be trusted to address the antisemitism issue itself.

Investigation (enforcement) process

Campaign Against Antisemitism asked the EHRC to open a statutory investigation under section 20 of the Equality Act 2006 into antisemitic discrimination and victimisation in the Labour Party.

On 28th May 2019 the EHRC announced a full statutory investigation, which enabled it to use its enforcement powers.

A summary of the terms of reference of the investigation can be found here.

Most significantly, the EHRC suspected that the Labour Party “may have itself, and/or through its employees and/or agents, committed unlawful acts in relation to its members and/or applicants for membership and/or associates.” Therefore “the investigation will consider whether the Party carried out such unlawful acts.”

The purpose of the EHRC’s investigation has been to consider whether the Labour Party carried out unlawful acts.

Once the statutory investigation was launched, the EHRC was able to use its powers to compel the Labour Party to reveal details of its handling of antisemitism in recent years, including internal communications such as text messages and e-mails. It is also within the EHRC’s power to seek court injunctions against the Labour Party to prevent further antisemitic discrimination and victimisation, and it can impose an action plan on the Party and enforce compliance with the plan.

The only previous statutory investigation ever conducted by the EHRC was an investigation into unlawful harassment, discrimination and victimisation within the Metropolitan Police Service.

The only other political party to have been subject to action by the EHRC was the British National Party, but that was not a statutory investigation.

The launch of a full statutory investigation by the EHRC into the Labour Party was an unprecedented development, resulting from the EHRC’s acknowledgement that the legal arguments made by Campaign Against Antisemitism were sufficiently compelling to merit investigating whether the Labour Party committed unlawful acts.

Content of our legal submissions

Campaign Against Antisemitism submitted hundreds of pages of legal submissions to the EHRC between 2018 and 2020 with the assistance of specialist human rights counsel Adam Wagner of Doughty Street Chambers and Derek Spitz of One Essex Court Chambers.

The hundreds of pages of Campaign Against Antisemitism’s submissions provided substantial details of incidents for investigation, including incidents directly involving Mr Corbyn.

In summary, Campaign Against Antisemitism made legal arguments that:

  • An unacceptable number of antisemitic incidents of unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation had occurred in Labour in recent years, at all levels of the Party.
  • Under Mr Corbyn’s leadership, Labour’s disciplinary mechanisms for dealing with antisemitism were significantly weakened, and the machinery of the Party was used to victimise those who stand up against antisemitism. 
  • A culture of denial and victimisation developed in some sections of Labour in relation to antisemitism. For example, antisemitism allegations have often been described as “smears”.
  • The result of the toxic culture which surrounds the issue of antisemitism in Labour was that people who suffer discrimination were subjected to victimisation when they raised complaints or that they were reluctant to bring complaints in the first place.
  • Antisemitism in Labour should be judged according to the International Definition of Antisemitism, which Labour itself adopted in 2018 (under pressure) after its adoption by the Government and other major political parties.
  • Labour failed to put in place a fair and effective complaints and disciplinary process to deal with antisemitism.
  • There was substantial evidence that the problem of antisemitism in Labour became institutional.
  • Labour appeared incapable of resolving this issue of antisemitism itself.
  • There was sufficient evidence to warrant a section 20 statutory investigation by the EHRC into whether systemic unlawful acts occurred in the handling of complaints of antisemitism in relation to Labour officials, members and other representatives.

Labour’s reaction to the investigation

The announcement of the investigation following the referral by Campaign Against Antisemitism was, to date, the single most significant development in the fight against antisemitism in the Labour Party, a point acknowledged by both supporters and opponents of the investigation.

Campaign Against Antisemitism continued to receive strong backing from the mainstream Jewish community and was vilified by far-left factions within and without the Labour Party.

Some senior figures in the Labour Party, such as then-Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry, then-Deputy Leader Tom Watson and Lord Falconer, welcomed the EHRC’s investigation (while admitting that it was shameful for the Labour Party to find itself subjected to such a probe). During the Labour leadership contest, the candidates, including Sir Keir Starmer, pledged to implement the EHRC’s recommendations.

However, some elements within the Labour Party tried to undermine the EHRC’s standing, and cast doubt on its independence and thus on its eventual findings, including the Labour leadership under Mr Corbyn and his allies within the Party, who saw the investigation as a threat.

During the 2019 General Election, Labour’s Race and Faith Manifesto pledged to “Enhance the powers and functions of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, making it truly independent, to ensure it can support people to effectively challenge any discrimination they may face.” The implication was that the EHRC was not an independent body but rather an arm of the Conservative Government and therefore that its investigation and subsequent report could not be trusted. At the time, Campaign Against Antisemitism called Labour’s pledge to reform the independent body conducting an investigation into the Party “sinister in the extreme”.

Similarly, in his first interview (given to a fringe blog) since stepping down as Leader of the Labour Party, Mr Corbyn said that the EHRC was made “part of the government machine” by the Conservative Party.

Other far-left Labour activists have claimed that the EHRC itself is racist, specifically against BAME people, or at least that it has prioritised addressing antisemitism over other forms of racism, and that this prioritisation is racist.

With the removal of Mr Corbyn as Leader, his allies turned their ire on the Labour Party as well, accusing it of institutional racism against BAME people rather than Jews. As proof, they cited a leaked internal report titled ‘The work of the Labour Party’s Governance and Legal Unit in relation to antisemitism, 2014 – 2019’, which conceded the scale of the antisemitism problem in Labour but purported to show that some staffers – particularly those allegedly antagonistic to Mr Corbyn’s leadership – had deliberately frustrated the Party’s efforts to address the antisemitism crisis and had made racist or misogynistic remarks toward BAME and women MPs. At the time, Campaign Against Antisemitism described the report as a “desperate last-ditch attempt to deflect and discredit allegations of antisemitism” and a “disgrace”.

The report is subject to an investigation by the Labour Party and its leak has reportedly led to libel and data protection complaints, not to mention threatsagainst Jewish complainants mentioned in the report. It was apparently intended that the report would be submitted to the EHRC, but it is understood that the Labour Party under Sir Keir’s leadership declined to do so.

Some far-left figures within Labour have tried to make the claim that the Party is indeed institutionally racist, but against BAME people rather than Jews.

When the first signs of this argument arose, Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “It is offensive to Jews and BAME people to suggest that tackling prejudice against either community is somehow at the cost of discrimination against the other, and it is an appalling sign of the lengths to which this far-left faction will go to try to exonerate itself from its own central role in Labour’s antisemitism scandal.”

Not just Jeremy Corbyn

Although Campaign Against Antisemitism’s referral of Labour to the EHRC was triggered by the Party’s failure to address our complaints regarding Mr Corbyn, those failures were cultural and institutional.

A culture of denial that antisemitism could exist on the ‘anti-racist’ far-left of the Party was institutionally cemented by the whitewash 2016 Chakrabarti Report. The Chakrabarti Report effectively served to protect the reputation of the Party, and therefore, in an affront to natural justice, recommended that Labour’s disciplinary procedures be kept secret. The result was a process that was not independent, transparent, fair, efficient or accountable.

Consequently, Campaign Against Antisemitism has not submitted further complaints to the Labour Party about MPs, councillors, officeholders and other members because the disciplinary process is not fit for purpose, a deficiency exacerbated by the former Shadow Attorney General’s Report. Sir Keir has since promised to introduce an independent disciplinary process but has not yet done so, and has ignored our calls for him to set out a timeline. Once the Labour Party introduces an independent disciplinary process, as Sir Keir has promised, Labour will have a backlog of complaints to address.

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Irish woman subjected to antisemitic abuse and violence for standing up to far-right activist

An Irish woman was subjected to antisemitic abuse and violence after she became entangled with a far-right activist and conspiracy theorist.

The victim, Aneta Safiak, a court interpreter who lives in Longford, alleged that she was subjected to physical and verbal attacks and online abuse after she objected in May 2019 to her son being included in a photograph posted on Twitter by a far-right activist to illustrate her claim that Irish people were “becoming an ethnic minority in many towns in Ireland.”

Ms Safiak said that the online abuse started immediately and that she has more than 700 screenshots of abusive messages. The insults included “Paid Zionist Hasbara troll” and “If I was Hitler, you and your sort would be first for a shower.” It is not known if Ms Safiak is Jewish.

Others read: “This is the wretch who led a vicious purge and witch-hunt of Irish citizens, financed by foreigners of course” and “Mossad always chooses pretty Ashkenazi b*tches like you to mess up with men [sic]. Seduce them and brainwash.” Yes another read: “You are an enemy to this State. A Mossad paid prostitute.”

Eggs and paint were apparently thrown at her car and house and hate messages were scrawled on windows. The grave of her still-born baby was vandalised and in September Ms Safiak was physically attacked with stones thrown at her back and leg while she was visiting the grave.

“At this stage I really have nothing to lose… I do not feel safe, I do not feel protected, I do not feel supported,” she reportedly told a local newspaper. “We do have a problem with racism and not a lot of people want to do anything about it. But by doing nothing, you’re allowing it to happen,” she declared.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

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Head of BBC World Service apologises for sympathetic coverage for antisemitic mass murderer

The Head of the BBC World Service has personally apologised after the Corporation gave sympathetic coverage to an antisemitic mass murderer.

Jamie Angus, the Director of BBC World Service, described the sympathetic treatment of Ahlam Al-Tamimi, the terrorist mastermind of the 2001 Sbarro Pizza Restaurant attack in Jerusalem, a “lapse in our editorial standards”.

Ms Al-Tamimi is a Jordanian national who was convicted for the terrorist attack, which killed fifteen people, half of whom were children. She was also behind a previous failed terrorist attack. She has repeatedly expressed pride at her actions and never remorse; she was even disappointed that the death toll was not higher. Although she was given several life sentences, she was released as part of a prisoner deal.

However, she recently appealed to the King of Jordan on a live radio broadcast but was cut off. BBC Arabic then rushed to give her a platform for her appeal to be reunited with her husband, who is also a convicted murderer and was released in the prisoner exchange. BBC Arabic provided no context for her notoriety.

Late last week, Mr Angus said that the segment “did not follow the correct BBC procedures by failing to refer the matter to the BBC’s Editorial Policy team or to senior editors in BBC News Arabic. Had they done so, the segment would not have been authorised for broadcast.”

He added that “Al-Tamimi has been convicted of serious crimes” and it was “therefore not a suitable subject” to broadcast.

He insisted that appropriate lessons were being learned.

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Jewish students at Lancaster University say they “will not stop” campaigning until University adopts International Definition of Antisemitism

Jewish students at Lancaster University have pledged that they “will not stop” campaigning until their university adopts the International Definition of Antisemitism.

After the Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, reiterated his call on universities to adopt the Definition, Lancaster University reportedly said: “Our University is committed to building a diverse, inclusive environment where people are able to reach their potential free from prejudice. Antisemitism, racism or hate speech of any form will not be tolerated. With the appointment of a new Vice Chancellor in May 2020, the university’s policies to support equality and diversity are under review as part of a wider Strategy update. A more formal consideration of the [International D]efinition of Antisemitism may take place as part of this. At this stage, no specific timetable relating to any consideration to adopt the [D]efinition has been set, however the matter will be discussed by University management in due course.”

However, the University’ Jewish Society has protested the University’s inaction, with its President saying “We would like it to be implemented. We have never said you can’t have valid criticisms or anything like that. Not adopting this Definition is in itself antisemitic. There is no disadvantage in adopting this Definition.”

The Jewish Society’s Campaigns Officer said: “It is shameful that people in 2020 can’t accept a definition that protects against hate…We love Lancaster, it’s an amazing place, we are heavily involved in campus life and the community. The work we are trying to do is relating to us improving the prospects of Lancaster students because the university can do better and we want them to do better.”

The President added: “We will not stop working until this Definition is adopted.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has consistently backed efforts by the Government to encourage widespread adoption of the Definition by local authorities, universities and public bodies. The UK was the first country in the world to adopt the International Definition, something for which Campaign Against Antisemitism, Lord Eric Pickles and others worked hard over many meetings with officials at Downing Street.

If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected].

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New report exposes antisemitism in overwhelming majority of anti-vaccination networks

A new report has exposed antisemitism in the overwhelming majority of anti-vaccination networks.

The twenty-page report, titled “From antivaxxers to antisemitism: Conspiracy theory in the Covid-19 pandemic” and produced for the Government, urges action against a “resurgence of antisemitism” within the anti-vaccination movement, which it predicts is likely to play a role if and when a vaccination for COVID-19 becomes available.

“Exposing the level of antisemitism amongst the anti-vaxxer movement now is therefore of the utmost importance,” the report warned.

The report, produced by Lord Mann, the Government’s Independent Adviser on Antisemitism, and Dr Lewis Arthurton, a molecular cell biology expert, reviewed 27 leading anti-vaccination networks on Facebook and Twitter and observed antisemitic content in 79% of them.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has previously reported on antisemitism among protests against pandemic lockdown measures, and has monitored the intersection of antisemitism and COVID-19 conspiracy theories over the past several months. Various reports, including by Campaign Against Antisemitism, have shown how the far-right and others have exploited the pandemic to target the Jewish community.

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CAA applauds Hastings Borough Council for adopting International Definition of Antisemitism

Expectations of an acrimonious debate came to nothing as Hastings Borough Council adopted the International Definition of Antisemitism almost unanimously.

With the exception of Cllr Leah Levane, who abstained, it is understood that all councillors present at the 21st October virtual Council meeting agreed to the adoption. Cllr Levane is a co-Chair of Jewish Voice for Labour, an antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation.

The motion was proposed and promoted by Cllr Dany Louise, who bravely resigned from the Labour Party in 2019, saying at the time that “sensible people have long ago abandoned the Hastings and Rye branch of the Labour Party” and that she had been “driven out” because Labour had become a “welcoming environment for antisemites”. Later in the year, she revealed the dismissive reactions of erstwhile colleagues when she rightly raised the issue of antisemitism, including that “Jews should complain quietly”, references to “the Jewish question” and that she herself might have a “right-wing motivation”.

Cllr Louise now sits as an Independent, and Campaign Against Antisemitism praises her and others for pushing adoption of the Definition, and welcomes Hastings Borough Council’s decision.

Cllr Louise gave an impassioned speech at the meeting, saying: “In the last few years, antisemitism has entered the national public discourse in a truly frightening and morally repugnant way. Where once it was the preserve of the far right, it has now become commonplace on the left as well. Shockingly, there has been widespread denial of this fact, with far too many people somehow casting it as yet another Jewish conspiracy theory. The denial itself has become another form of antisemitism, enthusiastically entertained by many who would otherwise call themselves part of the Community of the Good.”

She also rightly noted that the eleven examples “are indivisible from the Definition”, and that any “modified version” of the Definition is “no longer the…Definition”.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We are delighted that Hastings Borough Council has joined other local authorities in adopting the International Definition of Antisemitism, something for which we and others have long campaigned ever since we secured the adoption of the Definition by the British Government in 2016. We are particularly grateful to Cllr Dany Louise, formerly of the Labour Party but who quit over antisemitism and now sits as an Independent, for bringing and promoting the motion to adopt the Definition so passionately.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism recently published its first Audit of Local Authorities, documenting the campaign for widespread adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by local authorities.

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Former Mayor of Luton and current candidate for Bedfordshire Police chief is suspended by Labour over alleged antisemitism

The former Mayor of Luton, who is currently Labour’s candidate for Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner, has been suspended by the Party over alleged antisemitism.

Tahir Khan, who served as Mayor of Luton in 2016-17, will no longer be able to represent Labour in the 2021 election for the senior police job, and a new selection process is reportedly underway.

Although the basis of the suspension is unclear, Mr Khan is believed to have posted Rothschild conspiracy theories on social media in the past and to have claimed that the BBC is a “Zionist channel”.

A Labour spokesman reportedly said: “The Labour Party takes all complaints of antisemitism extremely seriously and they are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We are pleased that this case is being investigated by Labour, but the Party must make its processes transparent so that the Jewish community and the public can see whether and what action has been taken. The Party’s failed disciplinary processes are why we referred Labour to the EHRC in the first place, and it must now urgently introduce an independent disciplinary process in order to restore confidence in the Party’s procedures.”

On 28th May 2019, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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Attempt by police officers to block disciplinary action over antisemitic and racist WhatsApp messages has reportedly cost Police Scotland nearly £200,000

An attempt by ten police officers to prevent disciplinary proceedings against them in connection with antisemitic and racist Whatsapp messages has cost Police Scotland nearly £200,000, it has been reported.

Whatsapp messages described as being “sexist and degrading, racist, antisemitic, homophobic, mocking of disability and included a flagrant disregard for police procedures by posting crime scene photos of current investigations,” were discovered in the course of an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct on the part of another officer, who was later cleared.

After the messages were discovered in 2016, Police Scotland’s Professional Standards department sought to discipline the officers implicated in the messages in November 2017. However, the Scottish Police Federation tried to block the disciplinary proceedings on behalf of the officers on the basis that they were entitled to privacy under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and a common law right to privacy. Last month, however, three appeal judges upheld an earlier ruling that rejected those arguments, claiming that the duty to uphold professional standards on the police force overrode the right to privacy and that it was proportionate for Police Scotland to use the messages.

Following the ruling, The Ferret submitted a Freedom of Information request to Police Scotland, which revealed that its legal bill to date is £189,366.04 (including VAT).

Police Scotland reportedly noted in its reply that “subject to the outcome of any further proceedings, Police Scotland intends to seek an award of expenses in its favour as a result of being successful both in the outer and inner houses of the court of session.”

A spokesperson for Police Scotland reportedly said: “Because of their position, our officers are held to higher standards than ordinary members of the public and this is consistently made clear from the first day of training. The inner house judgment underlined that these high standards also apply to the virtual space. The vast majority of our officers conduct themselves in line with our values of fairness, integrity and respect. Where inappropriate conduct is brought to our attention it will be considered by our professional standards department. All probationary officers still involved in this long running court action have been placed on restricted duties pending further proceedings.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Police Federation reportedly said: “The SPF does not comment on any individual legal cases.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We welcome this judgement, so that the messages in question can be properly investigated and the public can be confident that everyone will receive equal treatment without discrimination by the police in Scotland.”

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Sky HISTORY axes The Chop after CAA and others protested inclusion of contestant tattooed with apparent neo-Nazi symbols

Sky HISTORY has reportedly axed its programme, The Chop: Britain’s Top Woodworker, after Campaign Against Antisemitism and others protested the inclusion of a contestant who appeared to have neo-Nazi symbols tattooed on his face.

The contestant, Darren, was introduced by Sky HISTORY in a video on Twitter with the caption: “Meet the Woodman, the Bloke-With-All-The-Tattoos or Darren as we like to call him. #TheChop”, and he was due to feature on the show hosted by comedian Lee Mack.

The contestant is covered in tattoos, including on his face, where one tattoo reads “88”, a popular number in neo-Nazi numerology that denotes the phrase “Heil Hitler”, since ‘H’ is the eighth letter of the alphabet. Other tattooed numbers include 23/16, denoted White Supremacy, 18 for Adolf Hitler, and 1488, another white supremacist figure.

Sky HISTORY tried to defend one tattoo on the basis that 1988 was the year his father died, but this was disputed by a journalist on social media.

Now, the channel has reportedly cancelled the show, which was due to commence on Thursday.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Sky HISTORY made a terrible mistake by including in ‘The Chop’ an individual adorned with what appear to be neo-Nazi tattoos without providing serious evidence to show that the tattoos mean something other than how they appear. These tattoos would be plainly visible to viewers on the show, including younger viewers, which is unacceptable. Sky HISTORY is right to cancel the show until it can satisfy viewers that they and their families will not be subjected to neo-Nazi propaganda.”

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CAA joins sceptics in calling out Sky HISTORY after it insists tattoos on face of The Chop contestant are not Nazi symbols

Sky has insisted that the tattoos on the face of a contestant on its woodcutting show, The Chop, are not Nazi symbols.

Despite pushback by sceptics, Sky HISTORY has defended its choice of contestant on the show, which is hosted by Lee Mack.

The contestant, Darren, is introduced by Sky HISTORY in a video on Twitter with the caption: “Meet the Woodman, the Bloke-With-All-The-Tattoos or Darren as we like to call him. #TheChop.”

The contestant is covered in tattoos, including on his face, where one tattoo reads “88”, a popular number in neo-Nazi numerology that denotes the phrase “Heil Hitler”, since ‘H’ is the eighth letter of the alphabet.

In response to criticism, Sky HISTORY has claimed that “Darren’s tattoos denote significant events in his life and have no political or ideological meaning whatsoever. Amongst the various numerical tattoos on his body, 1988 is the year of his father’s death.”

According to one journalist, however, the contestant’s father was on the electoral role until 2011, indicating that he did not in fact die in 1988.

Other tattooed numbers include 23/16, denoted White Supremacy, 18 for Adolf Hitler, and 1488, another white supremacist figure.

Sky HISTORY went on to say: “The production team carried out extensive background checks on all the woodworkers taking part in the show, that confirmed Darren has no affiliations or links to racist groups, views or comments. Sky HISTORY is intolerant of racism and all forms of hatred and any use of symbols or numbers is entirely incidental and not meant to cause harm or offence.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Sky HISTORY has made a terrible mistake by including in ‘The Chop’ an individual adorned with what appear to be neo-Nazi tattoos without providing serious evidence to show that the tattoos mean something other than how they appear. These tattoos will be plainly visible to viewers on the show, including younger viewers, which is unacceptable. If Sky HISTORY is indeed ‘intolerant of racism’ as it claims, then it must urgently provide a credible clarification or remove the contestant from the programme.”

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Academics protest Education Secretary’s call, backed by CAA, for universities to adopt International Definition of Antisemitism

Academics have reportedly protested a call by the Education Secretary for universities to adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism.

Gavin Williamson wrote a letter to university heads calling on their institutions to adopt the Definition after a study showed that a limited number had done so, despite urging from the Government over the past several years and threats of loss of funding.

He also said that the Office for Students, which regulates higher education in England, could be tasked with taking regulatory action against universities, including over funding, if they fail to adopt the Definition by the end of this year.

“If I have not seen the overwhelming majority of institutions adopting the Definition by Christmas then I will act,” Williamson wrote.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has consistently backed efforts by the Government to encourage widespread adoption of the Definition by local authorities, universities and public bodies. The UK was the first country in the world to adopt the International Definition, something for which Campaign Against Antisemitism, Lord Eric Pickles and others worked hard over many meetings with officials at Downing Street.

However, universities have protested the intervention, with a spokesperson for Universities UK saying: “We recommend universities do all they can to tackle antisemitism, including considering the [D]efinition, whilst also recognising their duty to promote freedom of speech within the law. UUK has set up a taskforce to consider what can be done to address all forms of harassment, violence and hate crime on campus, including on the basis of religion. We are in regular contact with Jewish community leaders and student groups to ensure that universities are supported to do all they can to tackle antisemitism.”

A spokesperson for the University of Oxford, which has not adopted the Definition, reportedly said:“Harassment and discrimination of any kind, including harassment on racial or religious grounds, are totally unacceptable at Oxford University and we have strong policies in place to guard against them.”

Similarly, a spokesperson for the University of Cambridge reportedly said: “The University of Cambridge does not tolerate discrimination in any form. We are an inclusive community that welcomes staff, students, alumni, collaborators and visitors from a wide variety of backgrounds, including people of all faiths and none. We have a student-facing webpage dedicated to resources on the disclosure and prevention of hate crime, which explicitly links to the International Definition of Antisemitism sanctioned by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance as a reference point. Any behaviour that would fall within the [D]efinition would be covered by the University’s current Rules of Behaviour. The University keeps its Rules of Behaviour under review and therefore, will continue to monitor its approach.”

At SOAS, it has been reported that academics expressed their furious opposition to adoption of the Definition in an internal discussion thread, with one lecturer allegedly claiming that the Definition was a “Zionist” attempt to redefine antisemitism. Another academic defended the Definition and was apparently attacked by colleagues in the thread.

If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected].

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A-star student who fell down “rabbit hole of internet” to become neo-Nazi pleads guilty to terror charges

An A-star student said to have fallen down “the rabbit hole of the internet” to become a neo-Nazi has pleaded guilty to fourteen terror charges.

Harry Vaughan, who is eighteen, is said to have begun taking an interest in Satanic neo-Nazism at the age of fourteen, unbeknownst to his parents, who were bewildered when he was arrested some years later.

He had “every advantage that could have been afforded to him,” according to his barrister, having been educated at a prestigious grammar school and received four A-star grades in summer exams.

In 2018, he applied to join the System Resistance Network, a white supremacist successor to National Action, which the Government proscribed as a terrorist organisation in 2016 following a long campaign by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others. He wrote at the time that “there is nothing I wouldn’t do to further the cause”.

He was arrested at home on 19th June last year in a counter-terrorism operation against a far-right online forum called Fascist Forge. His laptop was seized, revealing documents relating to antisemitism, Satanism and neo-Nazism, as well as as far-right terrorist book, bomb-making manuals and materials from the Sonnenkrieg Division, a neo-Nazi organisation that was proscribed by the Government this year.

Police also discovered videos of child abuse, which also led to charges to which Mr Vaughan has pleaded guilty.

The Head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command reportedly said that the case “illustrates it is possible for any young person to be susceptible to radicalisation,” adding: “Harry Vaughan is an intelligent young man who was predicted A-star grades and aspiring to study computing at university. Yet, online, he was an enthusiastic participant of right-wing terrorist forums.”

Mr Vaughan faces sentencing at the Old Bailey in the coming days.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

Image credit: Metropolitan Police

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Outspoken union leader Len McCluskey, who repeatedly downplayed antisemitism in Labour, apologises for saying a Jewish politician should “go into a room and count his gold”

The outspoken Unite union leader, Len McCluskey, who has repeatedly downplayed antisemitism in the Labour Party, has apologised after saying that a Jewish politician should “go into a room and count his gold”.

Mr McCluskey made the comment about Lord Mandelson, a New Labour grandee and former minister, in an interview with the BBC. Told that Lord Mandelson had praised the new Leader of the Labour Party, Mr McCluskey told Newsnight: “I stopped listening to what Peter Mandelson said [sic] many, many years ago. I suggest that Peter just goes into a room and counts his gold, not worry about what’s happening in the Labour Party – leave that to those of us who are interested in ordinary working people.”

Lord Mandelson has made no secret of his Jewish heritage in the past. His grandfather founded the Harrow United Synagogue and his father worked at the JC. Lord Mandelson said in 2010: “It’s not that I am religious. It’s the extended family, which part of me wants to be part of.”

The notion that Jews are rich and self-interested is an age-old antisemitic trope.

Unite defended Mr McCluskey’s remark, reportedly saying in a statement: “Mr Mandelson’s religion was not relevant to the comments made by Mr McCluskey. Indeed, to the best of our knowledge Mr Mandelson is not Jewish. The ordinary meaning of the statement made by Mr McCluskey is one of his belief that in recent years Mr Mandelson has had more interest in increasing his own wealth than in fighting for social justice for working class people. The suggestion of any antisemitic meaning to the commentary would be ludicrous.”

However, late last night, Mr McCluskey tweeted: “Before this gets out of hand, let me say language is important and I apologise to Peter Mandelson and anyone else if mine has caused hurt.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “No wonder that Len McCluskey was among those who always insisted that they never witnessed antisemitism in the Labour Party or continually downplayed it, seeing as they can’t even tell when they use antisemitic tropes themselves.”

On 28th May 2019, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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CAA concerned by some of the nominees for the 2020 Ethnicity Awards

The Ethnicity Awards has announced its nominees for its 2020 prizes. Many have done laudable work and set tremendous examples for the advancement of minorities and racial harmony in our society. However, a small proportion of the nominees are troubling in respect to their past comments or conduct in relation to the Jewish community.

In the Inspirational Personality category, the celebrity Jameela Jamil is applauded for launching and using her Instagram account “to create a safe and radically inclusive space on social media”. What goes unmentioned is her sharing over this summer of a video from 1990 featuring the antisemitic hate preacher Louis Farrakhan, with the caption: “Someone please tell me the name of this extraordinary man who so perfectly sums up white fear in under a minute.” She deleted the video after an outcry, but not before it was seen and shared by many of her followers, including other celebrities.

In the same category, the radio and television personality, Reggie Yates, is praised for his work helping people “steer clear of crime or substance abuse”. Again, unmentioned is his 2017 comment that it is “great” that the young generation is not “managed by some random fat Jewish guy from north west London, they’re managed by their brethren”, adding that they were “idiots”, “dickheads” and not “your people”. He subsequently apologised.

A nominee in the Charity or Community Initiatives category, Black Lives Matter UK, appears to be the collective behind the @UKBLM Twitter account, which posted an antisemitic tweet claiming that “mainstream British politics is gagged of the right to critique Zionism” – redolent of the notion that the Jews or the Jewish state exercise outsized influence in British politics – and refused to apologise. The Black Lives Matter Movement is also recognised in the Media Moment 2020 category.

Another nominee in the Charity or Community Initiatives category is the activist group Show Racism the Red Card, lauded as “the UK’s largest anti-racism educational charity”. Show Racism the Red Card has, however, been embroiled in controversy over its blind eye to antisemitism, demonstrated, for example, in its appointment of the outspoken filmmaker Ken Loach to a judging panel. The debacle eventually led one of the charity’s trustees to resign in protest against this appointment and Show Racism the Red Card’s disregard for the views of the Jewish community.

Among the Political Figures are numerous MPs who defended Jeremy Corbyn over antisemitism, including Dawn Butler, who sat on Mr Corbyn’s front bench and served as one of his most loyal colleagues, and Marsha De Cordova. It is concerning that these figures should be celebrated so soon after their involvement in an episode that terrified British Jews, almost half of which considered fleeing the country. That does not seem like a credential for an ‘ethnicity award’.

Given that there are so many worthy figures and organisations who have done so much to further the standing of minorities in the UK, it is disappointing that these controversial nominees, who have in recent years provoked controversy in relation to the Jewish minority – and indeed in almost every case they have done so specifically over the past twelve months – have been included.

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BBC tells CAA it cannot disclose how it has dealt with employee embroiled in antisemitism controversy, but today it has emerged that he has resigned, leaving questions about Corporation’s handling of the controversy

Campaign Against Antisemitism contacted the BBC this week for an update on how it has dealt with an employee caught in a controversy over antisemitic and trolling tweets, but the BBC refused to disclose whether it has taken any action beyond launching an investigation. Today, however, The Times has learned that the journalist, Nimesh Thaker, has resigned, leaving questions about how seriously the BBC took the matter and why it refuses to divulge its actions.

Last month, Campaign Against Antisemitism and the JC revealed that Mr Thaker, who has been a BBC journalist for more than twenty years at BBC World News, used a Twitter account in his name and then an anonymous account to post controversial and even antisemitic tweets, in clear breach of the BBC’s guidelines.

Mr Thaker used both accounts to conduct official BBC business as well.

Using an account in his own name, Mr Thaker posted tweets describing antisemitism accusations against Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party as “smears” and trolled public figures who were campaigning against antisemitism. He also used the account to troll Campaign Against Antisemitism and to harass the editor of the JC and the actress and writer Tracy-Ann Oberman, tweeting at them dozens of times. He has also retweeted controversial political activists who themselves have come under fire for antisemitism, such as the notorious antisemite Jackie Walker, trolled Labour MPs over antisemitism, and defended Ken Livingstone and supported the disgraced former Labour MP, Chris Williamson. He also trolled his own BBC colleagues. The JC showed that he also behaved similarly with an anonymous account.

The Culture Secretary called the revelations “very concerning”, and the BBC launched an investigation, during which Mr Thaker reportedly resigned, thereby apparently escaping scrutiny.

The BBC told Campaign Against Antisemitism that while the Director of BBC News “very much understands your interest in this matter, and that of the wider Jewish community, however our position remains that we are unable to comment about individual employment matters…Please be assured that the BBC takes allegations such as this very seriously.”

However, the response failed to acknowledge that Campaign Against Antisemitism had a direct stake in the matter, not merely as an organisation that combats antisemitism but because we helped to bring the matter to light in the first place. Moreover, the response is concerning to the extent that it implies a double standard in how other racism controversies have been handled by the BBC in the past – rapidly and publicly – and how this matter has been dealt with.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The BBC’s refusal to disclose whether it took any action at all against Nimesh Thaker is unacceptable. While there are reports that he has resigned from the Corporation, even if true this does not signal whether the BBC itself has taken this matter seriously at all. Mr Thaker’s former colleagues, the Jewish community and licence fee payers all deserve to know how the BBC treats antisemitism, and whether it acts with the same gusto against expressions of anti-Jewish hatred as it does other forms of racism.”

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Outrage as police suggest no hate crime motive after arresting suspect who drove moped into a group of Jewish pedestrians in Stamford Hill during Jewish festival

The Jewish community has expressed outrage after police in Hackney suggested that there appeared to be no hate crime motive after arresting a man who drove a moped into a group of Jewish pedestrians in Stamford Hill.

It is understood that on 10th October over the weekend – the Jewish festival of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah – a male drove a moped onto the pavement on Clapton Common, colliding with Jewish children.

The suspect was held by bystanders before police officers – reportedly in a nearby unmarked van – arrested him.

However, while the police have confirmed that “the rider of the moped has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, driving without insurance and assault (ABH),” nevertheless, “there is nothing to indicate that this is a hate crime.”

In correspondence with Campaign Against Antisemitism, locals have reacted to this interpretation with disbelief, and we call on the police not to rule out a hate crime motive in its investigation.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

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Swastikas discovered near Synagogue in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Antisemitic graffiti has been reported in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

The report was made by a member Jewish community on 7th October.

The graffiti appeared across the street from Temple Israel, the first and only currently active established synagogue and institution of the Jewish community in Portsmouth since 1910. The imagery included New Hampshire Governor John Sununu with a nazi salute alongside two large swastikas.

Upon the recent discovery, officials form the City Department of Public Works were alerted and dispatched to remove the offensive vandalism. Following social media coverage, several community members volunteered to meet at the site and paint over the defaced property.

Rabbi Kaya, of the Temple Israel, said in a public statement that the synagogue had subsequently received reports from several other towns facing antisemitic graffiti in public areas, all of which appeared to be politically motivated. It is unclear as to whether or not these incidents are linked. The Rabbi outlined that, while these hateful messages, created by a minority, seek to “confuse, threaten and provoke”, many residents of the town of Portsmouth rallied with immediate support and openly condemned these acts in solidarity with the Jewish community.

The community member who reported the incident, however, expressed concern at the lack of media coverage from local press. He wrote in a public letter: “This act of deafening silence from the [local] newspaper stands in complete contrast to an army of individuals who mobilised within hours to paint over the swastikas and denounce hate”.

Investigations into the incident continue.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.

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Plaid Cymru shows it has no intention of tackling antisemitism after the Welsh nationalist party takes no action against repeat offender

Plaid Cymru has shown that it has no intention of tackling antisemitism after the Welsh nationalist party decided not to take action against a repeat offender.

Prospective Welsh Assembly candidate Sahar Al-Faifi tweeted in June in connection with the racist killing of George Floyd: “If you wonder where did these American cops trained, look no further than Israel. Oppression is one and the struggle is transitional.”

The claim that Israel was somehow linked to the American incident is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that caused controversy when it spread over the summer, also implicating various Plaid Cymru members.

Ms Al-Faifi reportedly said: “I understand the concern of the Jewish community and I will always continue to work with Jewish members in Cardiff to make a more safe and open society for all. I presented all evidence required in response to the antisemitism allegation to the Plaid Cymru hearing panel who made the decision to exonerate me. I and Plaid Cymru pride ourselves on being open and inclusive as a party and members. We reject all forms of discrimination and prejudice and challenge it wherever and whenever it may arise.”

She said that her tweet was based on a report by Amnesty USA that, she claimed, was later amended, and “subsequently, my tweet was deleted.” However, not only did the Amnesty USA article not say that American police forces had learned specific policing techniques from Israel — merely that American police train with Israeli police, as police forces across the world do — but Amnesty International released a statement explicitly denying any linkage between Israel the death of Mr Floyd

In an e-mail to Party members, she said that antisemitism “is an anathema to me, as are all types of racism. It is distressing that a small minority have targeted me. As a Muslim, as a refugee and a woman I have faced barriers that very few can understand.”

However, Ms Al-Faifi was previously suspended by the Party over historic antisemitic posts, but was subsequently reinstated without sanction.

Plaid Cymru reportedly said: “The disciplinary process has finished and no further action is being taken in this case…The party has a zero tolerance approach to antisemitism and all forms of prejudice and discrimination.”

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.

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Senior member of JVL calls for Labour members to “resist” Sir Keir Starmer’s efforts to address antisemitism in the Party

A senior member of Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) has called for Labour members to “resist” Sir Keir Starmer’s efforts to address antisemitism in the Party.

Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, who serves as JVL’s Media Officer and is also the Vice-Chair of Chingford and Woodford Green Labour Party, reportedly told an online meeting of Harrow and Brent Palestine Solidarity Campaign in late September: “In the past year we haven’t just seen victory for the Zionist lobby, we’ve seen a close collaboration between the pro-Israel advocates and the entire political elite and establishment. We’re talking about the interests of imperialism and colonialism worldwide, we’re talking about the interest of the capitalist financial system — so we’re up against it.”

She went on to say that “we should be working to resist the imposition of the [International Definition of Antisemitism]…on councils.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been among the those promoting the widespread adoption of the Definition, including among local councils.

She also protested a letter by Labour’s General-Secretary warning Constituency Labour Parties against discussing certain legally or reputationally damaging issues, particularly relating to antisemitism. Ms Wimborne-Idrissi said: “it is now impossible to discuss the General Secretary’s letter saying that we may not discuss those specific issues. This has to be resisted.”

JVL is an antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has consistently backed efforts by the Government to encourage widespread adoption of the Definition by local authorities, universities and public bodies. The UK was the first country in the world to adopt the Definition, something for which Campaign Against Antisemitism, Lord Eric Pickles and others worked hard over many meetings with officials at Downing Street.

On 28th May 2019, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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Private Eye claims one of Grazia’s new writers, hired to “fight for diversity”, claimed Holocaust commemoration can represent the “erasure of brown trauma”

One of Grazia magazine’s new writers – hired in order to “fight for diversity, inclusion and women’s rights” – has reportedly claimed that commemoration of the Holocaust can represent the “erasure of brown trauma”.

According to Private Eye, Stephanie Yeboah, who is now a contributing writer for Grazia, has previously stated on social media that “You know how I love Jews”, “Every Jew has an attic, but not every attic has Jews”, and “AUSCHWITZ Gas Chamber Music LMAO SHM [laughing my a*** off, shaking my head]”.

Last January, during the 75th anniversary commemorations of the liberation of Auschwitz, when the President of the UN General Assembly said that “The Holocaust remains the most horrific genocide in human history,” Ms Yeboah reportedly tweeted: “There have been bigger and more horrific genocides. They happened to brown people though, so I guess it doesn’t matter, huh?”

Responding to protest from another user, Ms Yeboah said: “I know what the occasion is [the 75th anniversary] and I’m doubling down on what I said. Of course it’s tragic, but the erasure of brown trauma is a real issue.” She added: “Lol of course it matters when Jews are killed. Nothing else matters more. We learn about it in school. It’s *THEE* [sic] most important thing. But it also discounts the other absolutely despicable things that have happened. So pls don’t play the oppression card here.”

In December 2019, protesting the exposure of antisemitism in the Labour Party to, in her view, the exclusion of racism in other parties, she also tweeted that “There’s a hierarchy of prejudice which always leaves black and brown people at the bottom.” She has also tweeted: “I haven’t seen any empathy/sympathy shown from those complaining about antisemitism towards those who have suffered under this Islamophobic/racist government.”

The notion that commemoration of historic antisemitism is either unwarranted or somehow detracts from or prevents the memorialisation of other tragedies is a popular antisemitic idea in some circles.

Campaign Against Antisemitism will be writing to Grazia to seek an investigation.

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Jeremy Corbyn’s chief of staff sought to force out MPs who protested Labour antisemitism, according to report

Jeremy Corbyn’s Chief of Staff sought to force out Labour MPs who protested antisemitism in the Party, according to a report.

In WhatsApp messages, Karie Murphy expressed disappointment in April 2019 in reaction to seven Labour MPs quitting the Party in February, according the JC. She reportedly wrote: “F**king idiots. All the work I did to trigger them and they leave before I had the pleasure.” It appears that the message as reported is referring to so-called “trigger ballots” by local Labour Party branches to deselect incumbent MPs.

Efforts to deselect MPs who opposed antisemitism in Labour was a major issue during Mr Corbyn’s tenure, with three Jewish women MPs — Luciana Berger, who was among the seven who quit; Dame Louise Ellman, who quit later in the year; and Dame Margaret Hodge, who decided to continue to take the whip from Labour — all repeatedly threatened with deselection by pro-Corbyn elements in the Party and in their local constituency parties.

This report lends credence to the claim that at least some of these deselections were being encouraged by Mr Corbyn’s inner circle.

The messages also apparently show that Ms Murphy was involved in removing Keith Birch of the Unison union from the equality portfolio on the Labour Party’s ruling National Executive Committee. Mr Birch had called for the Party to adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism, which was controversial on the pro-Corbyn far-left of the Party. Ms Murphy reportedly wrote: “We took out Keith so Unison are p***ed. He has been a c**t for years.”

Labour has reportedly confirmed that it has opened an investigation into Ms Murphy’s messages.

A spokesperson for the Labour Party reportedly said: “Labour takes all complaints extremely seriously and they are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken.”

Mr Corbyn, despite promising not to nominate peers to the House of Lords, nominated Ms Murphy, among others. The appointment has been blocked, however, due to claims of bullying by Ms Murphy. Mr Corbyn has reportedly appealed the decision.

On 28th May 2019, the EHRC launched a full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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Ash Sarkar complains she was “crucified” for criticising Labour antisemitism as she and Owen Jones continue to whitewash their role in defending Jeremy Corbyn amid antisemitism allegations

The controversial far-left activist-journalists, Ash Sarkar and Owen Jones, are continuing their effort to distance themselves from the antisemitism scandal that engulfed Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, now that the electorate rendered its verdict clear and the Equality and Human Rights Commission prepares its report into the Party.

In an interview to promote Mr Jones’ new book, Ms Sarkar, a contributing editor of Novara Media, lamented how both she and Mr Jones had been “really crucified” in the “debate” over the antisemitism scandal.

She said: “The most emotionally challenging and difficult part of the book to read, especially for me, was on antisemitism. And I think the reason why it was so emotionally difficult was [that] both you and I have a shared experience of being really crucified by both polarised sides of the debate. On the one hand, doing media appearances and being seen as, you know, the living embodiment of vicious, vitriolic antisemitism; and then, on the other hand, certain sections of the Left decrying me as a ‘traitor’ for saying more needs to be done, or maybe this needs to be handled in this way, or maybe it’s not all a ‘smear’ and that there are these things that need to be dealt with. So I think, as a chapter, it’s very emotionally painful.”

It is extraordinary that Ms Sarkar and Mr Jones (to the extent that he agrees with her) could see themselves as victims of Labour’s antisemitism scandal, when they used their considerable influence and wide-reaching platforms to defend Mr Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party at every opportunity, in spite of its rampant antisemitism and the terror it caused British Jews.

One might forgive Ms Sarkar’s use of the phrase “really crucified” as an unintended further insult, suggesting as it does that it is the Jewish community that is to blame for her “emotional pain”.

Viewers will draw their own conclusions from Ms Sarkar’s revelation that it was her, rather than the Jewish community, who was the real victim in this sorry saga.

Ms Sarkar has previously defended activist Ewa Jasiewicz’s graffitiing of the Warsaw Ghetto and complained of the “silencing effects” of the International Definition of Antisemitism.

On 28th May 2019, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right. It also showed that 42% of British Jews considered leaving the UK, of which 85% cited antisemitism in politics.

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Seventeen-year-old teenager from Rugby linked to neo-Nazi groups found guilty of preparing terrorist acts

A seventeen-year-old from Rugby linked to neo-Nazi groups has been found guilty of preparing for acts of neo-Nazi terrorism.

Jurors deliberated for fifteen hours over four days before unanimously deciding to convict at Birmingham Crown Court. The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had pleaded not guilty.

It is believed that he is alleged to have joined the neo-Nazi Feuerkrieg Division group, which the Home Office plans to proscribe.

The court had been told that the defendant had to pass a test to prove his hatred of Jews and that he had “graphic” video footage of a terrorist attack on his telephone and had searched the internet for information about guns, including how to convert a gun that fires blanks into a live weapon.

He had also apparently praised the terrorist who carried out the mass shooting last year in Christchurch, New Zealand, describing such perpetrators as “saints”.

Jurors were told that he had adopted the “twisted ideology” of Nazis and white supremacists and had participated in far-right chat groups online, where he shared the information about firearms that he had learned.

In one of the messages, the defendant said that he was an administrator of a group called ‘League of Nationalists’, and also said: “Whatever happens I’m going to have a local unit. I’m working on the propaganda and the weapons. I need men.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years and continues to support the authorities following suit.

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Far-right groups recruiting children as young as twelve through livestreaming events on YouTube

Far-right groups are recruiting children as young as twelve through livestreaming events on YouTube, according to The Times.

The events reportedly include live interviews with teenagers who are considered to be rising stars in far-right circles, aimed at viewers born in the 1990s and 2000s.

It is understood that groups such as Patriotic Alternative, a fascist organisation founded last year, are using such tactics, including through “Zoomer Night”, a regular event livestreamed as part of the group’s “Patriotic Talk” series.

In one recent such event on YouTube, four males in their teens and early twenties talked about their concerns over the supposed “complete erasure of white Europeans” and “white genocide”, and how “white people being written out of their own history”. One participant said: “The [British] Government is preparing for a future without white people and that should be obvious to everybody.”

Other far-right individuals and groups are reportedly using the same tactics.

Police believe that the far-right constitutes the fastest-growing terrorist threat to Britain.

Patriotic Alternative reportedly said: “It is not our intention to ‘recruit’ anybody because our way of thinking is already widespread. It is simply our intention to provide a voice for the millions of people who already agree with us.”

YouTube reportedly said: “We have strict policies that prohibit hate speech. We terminate channels that repeatedly or egregiously violate our policies. After updating our guidelines to better address supremacist content, we saw a fivefold spike in video removals and have terminated over 25,000 channels.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat for years and continues to urge the Jewish community to remain vigilant and welcomes the seriousness with which the police are treating the danger posed by the far-right.

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Housing and Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick defiant over death threats in connection with proposed Westminster Holocaust Memorial

Robert Jenrick has sounded a note of defiance in the wake of death threats made against him in connection with the proposed Westminster Holocaust Memorial.

The Housing and Communities Secretary has been given counter terrorism police protection over what was described in reportage as a “series of vicious attacks”, including antisemitic letters and threats “to burn down his home, and to kill his family”.

Mr Jenrick, whose wife is Israeli-born, reportedly told the JC: “The behaviour of some of the opponents to the memorial has been shocking and disgraceful. The fact that I have been subjected to these smears, and my family to antisemitic abuse and death threats only shows the paramount importance of the memorial.”

Mr Jenrick also welcomed Sir Keir Starmer’s support for the proposed Memorial.

A final decision on the application to construct the memorial is expected after an ongoing public inquiry.

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Disgraced Chris Williamson disinvited from Royal Holloway Students’ Union in compliance with hate speech policy

Royal Holloway’s Students’ Union has disinvited the disgraced former MP Chris Williamson from a Debating Society event in order to comply with its policy on hate speech.

In a statement, the Students’ Union said: “Over the weekend the Students’ Union was made aware of an event Debating Society had planned, involving the former Labour MP Chris Williamson, that contravened our Guest Speaker Policy – a policy introduced following the October 2019 referendum on No Platform for Hate Speech.

“No advance notice of this event was given to the Students’ Union and the society has failed to follow the guidance and training that has been delivered to them over the summer. The event has subsequently been cancelled and robust discussions will now take place with the society to understand why they have circumvented the policy, brought the Students’ Union’s reputation into disrepute, and to understand if further action is required.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism welcomes the disinvitation to Mr Williamson, whose views were anathema even to Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party.

If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected].

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CAA investigation reveals more antisemitism and problematic social media activity from Labour’s councillors at beleaguered Sandwell Council

After Campaign Against Antisemitism reported on the numerous investigations, resignations and suspensions of Labour councillors on Sandwell Council – including a Leader and the current Interim Leader – a concerned member of the public has submitted further evidence of antisemitism from members of the Council.

So far, the Leader of the Council, Cllr Yvonne Davies, resigned from Labour in the midst of an antisemitism controversy; Cllr Joanne Hadley, Cllr Ian Jones and Cllr Mohammed Yaseen Hussain have been suspended from the Labour Party for reasons unknown; the interim Leader, Cllr Maria Crompton, and Cllr Bob Piper are understood to be under investigation, although reasons have not been provided; and Cllr John Edwards has also been revealed to have shared problematic social media content, and it is not clear if any action has been taken.

The new evidence, some of which has also been unearthed by Campaign Against Antisemitism, concerns two of the councillors on the above list and one further councillor, and indicates that the problems on Sandwell Council and in the local Labour Party are even worse than previously reported.

Cllr Bob Piper, in 2016, defended the disgraced former London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, and insisted that “Hitler’s pact with the Zionists is historical fact, not a matter of opinion.” He also shared a post on Israel in 2014 that said: “And, appallingly (and promiscuously), Israel deploys, yet abuses, the suffering and memory of Holocaust victims to confer on itself a spurious moral supremacy, and to justify these shameful inhumanities on others.”

Cllr John Edwards repeatedly opposed the adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by the Labour Party; defended Jeremy Corbyn’s and the Party’s records on antisemitism; defended the disgraced then-Labour MP Chris Williamson; welcomed Labour’s absurd and abortive antisemitism investigation into then-MP Ian Austin; criticised then-Deputy Leader Tom Watson for speaking out against antisemitism; supported those who tried to deselect the Jewish woman MP, Luciana Berger; and boosted Jewish Voice for Labour, an antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation, even facilitating the membership in that group of the disgraced journalist, Mira Bar-Hillel. As we have previously reported, he also implied comparisons of Israeli policy to the Nazis in breach of the Definition by saying to then-Prime Minister David Cameron that “when you leave Auschwitz David Cameron go to Gaza”.

Cllr Laura Rollins sent several tweets in 2013 referencing “rich Jewish boys”, a “rich Jewish trendsetter” and “rich Jewish friends”. Cllr Rollins deleted those tweets but they were caught by other Twitter users, including the disgusted local MP.

Campaign Against Antisemitism recently published its first Audit of Local Authorities, documenting the campaign for widespread adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by local authorities. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council has not adopted the Definition, and we call on it urgently to do so and to incorporate the Definition into its codes of conduct for councillors and staff, so that the Council, as well as the Labour Party, can hold councillors to account when they promote antisemitic discourse.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “These new revelations, together with what we already know, indicate that there is an endemic problem in Sandwell’s Labour Party. Labour must consider opening a full investigation into Sandwell’s Labour Party, the reasons for the various suspensions and investigations (and any outcomes) must be publicised, and Sandwell Council itself must itself take action if it to show its opposition to racism. In particular, the Council must adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism and incorporate it into its codes of conduct for councillors and staff.”

On 28th May 2019, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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London-based Arabic newspaper prints antisemitic cartoon implying condemnation of Muslims who do not kill Jews

A London-based Arabic-language newspaper has printed an antisemitic cartoon that appears to condemn Muslims who do not seek to kill Jews.

The Qatari-owned Al-Quds Al-‘Arabi newspaper, which is based in London, printed a cartoon in its 20th September edition showing figures that appear to be the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and an Emirati, the former standing behind a rock and the latter casting aside a sword.

The cartoon plays off an infamous Hadith that reads: “The Last Hour would not come until the Muslims fight the Jews, and the Muslims kill them to a point that the Jew[s] shall hide behind the rock[s] and the tree[s], and the rock or tree will say: ‘O Muslim, O servant of Allah! This is a Jew behind me, so come and kill him!’ Except the Gharqad, being one of the Jews’ trees.”

In the cartoon, the rock is in despair, saying to the Emirati: “O Muslim…O servant of Allah…What are you doing!!?”

The implication – with the Israeli Prime Minister standing behind the rock with a tree in the background – is that the Emirati is betraying an Islamic teaching by making peace with a Jewish leader instead of seeking to kill him.

Campaign Against Antisemitism will be writing to the newspaper and the Independent Press Standards Organisation, and we thank CAMERA UK for drawing attention to the matter.

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Hundred Handers append far-right stickers to street furniture in Liverpool

The neo-Nazi Hundred Handers group has appended far-right stickers to street furniture in Liverpool.

The branded stickers, one of which reads “Britain Is Under Occupation” with a Star of David and the other “They Are Sexualising your CHILDREN”, were discovered in Walton Hall Park and posted on Instagram by a disgusted observer. They have apparently been removed.

The leader of the Hundred Handers, an online group that encourages users to print and distribute stickers and posters, was recently unmasked.

A few months ago, members of the proscribed National Action group were sentenced to prison, having engaged, amongst other activities, in far-right stickering and recruitment campaigns. At the time, Campaign Against Antisemitism commented that we have monitored and reported on far-right stickering operations, including on university campuses, for a long time, including by the far-right Hundred Handers group.

We continue to call on the authorities to take action against these seemingly low-level incidents, including because they are gateways into more heinous and dangerous activity.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFxWNnaH8zN/?igshid=1jaubuc8txczp
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CAA condemns Mendip District Council for refusing to adopt International Definition of Antisemitism

Mendip District Council in Somerset has voted unanimously to reject the adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism.

The matter came before the Council in February of this year but a vote only took place this week, with 35 councillors voting against with none in favour and seven abstaining.

It is understood that the Council determined that it was not necessary to adopt the Definition because existing policies on equality and discrimination were sufficient.

Campaign Against Antisemitism recently published its first Audit of Local Authorities, documenting the campaign for widespread adoption of the Definition by local authorities. Mendip is almost unique in having considered adoption of the Definition but ultimately rejected it.

Rejecting the Definition is completely unacceptable at a time when antisemitism is so common in local politics.

Politically, the Council has no overall control but is dominated by the Liberal Democrats, with the Conservatives and the Greens also holding numerous seats.

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Following discussions with CAA, Google acts to remove disgusting “Jewish baby stroller” meme from image search

Following discussions with Campaign Against Antisemitism, Google has acted to remove the disgusting “Jewish baby stroller” meme from its image search engine.

Campaign Against Antisemitism approached our contacts at Google after we received a number of reports that searching for “Jewish baby stroller” using Google Images returned images of a gas barbecue oven, in a disgusting reference to the gassing and cremation of Jewish children along with their parents by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.

The problem was that the search term “Jewish baby stroller” reveals what is known as a data void. In short, unlike other search terms such as “blue baby stroller” or “lightweight baby stroller”, which return helpful content, there is no helpful content for “Jewish baby stroller” because it is not something that people search for and there is no such thing as a “Jewish baby stroller”. Therefore, the only content that Google’s algorithms could find was the abhorrent meme.

Soon after we contacted Google, the company apologised and took steps to improve its algorithm.

A spokesperson for Google said: “We apologise. These [search results] don’t reflect our opinions. We try to show content matching all key terms searched for, as people normally want. But for ‘data voids’ like this, it can be problematic…We’ve done considerable work with improving data void situations and finding systematic improvements.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Having discussed this with Google, we understand how this situation arose. We are pleased that Google listened and acted quickly. We are grateful to everyone who reported this to us.”

Ironically there are still some images of the meme still available on Google Images, but they are only from articles explaining why the meme is so despicable.

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New book confirms CAA’s claim that Jeremy Corbyn’s allies were worried about Labour adopting the International Definition of Antisemitism because he would be found to have breached it

A new book appears to confirm that Jeremy Corbyn’s allies were worried about the Labour Party adopting the International Definition of Antisemitism in 2018 because Mr Corbyn, then the Leader of the Party, would be found to have breached it, as Campaign Against Antisemitism has long maintained.

The new book, by controversial journalist Owen Jones, claims on behalf of Mr Corbyn’s allies: “If the [International Definition of Antisemitism] was passed in full, Corbyn’s enemies would trawl through the back catalogue of comments made by the Labour leader and [Seamus] Milne himself, then submit official complaints to the Party on the basis that they stood in violation of the Definition. That would trigger a disciplinary procedure, leading to their possible suspension, necessitating Corbyn’s removal as leader.”

This is an incredible admission of what was known to Campaign Against Antisemitism and others: Mr Corbyn had breached the Definition on multiple occasions in the past, and that if he had been treated by the Party as it was meant to treat all of its members, he would have to be disciplined.

Indeed, by the summer of 2018, Campaign Against Antisemitism had submitted over several years three complaints to the Labour Party regarding Mr Corbyn, all of which were ignored or dismissed by the Party without proper consideration, let alone serious investigation, as befitted the matters raised. This failure by the Party’s institutions led to the formal referral of the Labour Party to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) by Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant in the EHRC’s ongoing investigation. Another group – Labour Against Antisemitism Ltd – also reports that it submitted a complaint against Mr Corbyn in August 2018.

Mr Jones’ book, titled This Land: The Story of a Movement, immediately goes on to explain why Labour’s institutions were unfit to deal with our complaints and, in effect, why the EHRC was compelled to intervene: “As Andrew Fisher pointed out, however, this was nonsensical: there was a pro-Corbyn majority on the Party’s National Executive Committee, and the General Secretary, Jennie Formby, was a committed Labour leftist who would never countenance such a move.” In other words, there was no need to be concerned about Mr Corbyn being found to have breached the Definition and being disciplined, because his allies were in control of the Party’s corrupted disciplinary mechanisms and would shield him from the consequences of his record.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “These revelations confirm what we have always known, namely that Jeremy Corbyn had breached the International Definition of Antisemitism but that his allies, who controlled Labour’s corrupted disciplinary mechanisms, would protect him from complaints like ours, thereby shielding him from the consequences of his long record of antisemitism. Here is further corroboration from inside sources that Labour is institutionally antisemitic, and further confirmation that we were right to refer the Party to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.”

On 28th May 2019, the EHRC launched a full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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With multiple local councillors and a Party activist suspended by the Labour Party, in some cases over antisemitism, Sandwell Labour appears to have a serious problem

Another local councillor in Sandwell has been suspended by the Labour Party, joining several colleagues who have been suspended by the Party in recent months. At least one case – the most high-profile – involved alleged antisemitism, while reasons in the other cases have not been disclosed.

Cllr Mohammed Yaseen Hussain is the third Labour councillor at the local authority to be suspended by the Party in September alone. It is not clear why he has been suspended. Cllr Joanne Hadley and Cllr Ian Jones have also been suspended. Official reasons have not been provided. Also under investigation are Sandwell’s interim Leader, Cllr Maria Crompton, and another colleague, Cllr Bob Piper. In none of these cases is it known whether or not antisemitism played a role, as it has in other suspensions.

Cllr Crompton became interim Leader after Cllr Yvonne Davies, the Leader of Sandwell Council, resigned from her post in July and was suspended by the Labour Party pending investigation, after Campaign Against Antisemitism called for decisive action by the local authority and the Party over her social media history.

Cllr Yvonne Davies is being investigated by the Party over tweets she sent in 2018, one of which promoted a petition calling for a parliamentary debate over whether Israel has an “improper influence” over British politics, a notion reminiscent of historically popular claims of excessive Jewish power in national politics. In another tweet, Cllr Davies linked to a story titled “Is Israel’s hand behind the attacks on Jeremy Corbyn?”, alongside which she commented: “This makes interesting reading if anyone is wanting to understand where all this emphasis on Labour and antisematism (sic) comes from…” According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g. claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterise Israel or Israelis” is an example of antisemitism.

A few days later, another Labour councillor – John Edwards – was revealed to have a record of problematic remarks, including describing accusations of antisemitism as “smears”, calling criticism of the disgraced then-Labour MP Chris Williamson a “smear campaign”, describing the Definition as “unfit for purpose”, and implying comparisons of Israeli policy to the Nazis in breach of the Definition by saying to then-Prime Minister David Cameron that “when you leave Auschwitz David Cameron go to Gaza”. Cllr Edwards has been a Labour councillor for forty years.

In addition, a local businessman and Party activist, Basharat Khan, has also now been suspended by Labour. It is believed that he was suspended after a series of social media posts that the Labour Party said “may reasonably be seen to involve antisemitic actions, stereotypes and sentiments.” One post, from August 2014, shows a cartoon image of a man with a Star of David on his sleeve cutting up a small child, with Mr Khan’s caption: “Until the Kings of KSA [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] are overthrown Israel will continue its killing and destruction of the people of Palestine.”

Mr Khan reportedly said that he was trying to highlight to political turmoil in the Middle East, in particular “Israel’s bombing of Palestine,” adding: “I’m not antisemitic. I have never been antisemitic. I have friends in the Jewish community, the Sikh community, the Hindu community, every community. I am sorry if I got it wrong. It was not my intention to hurt anybody.”

Mr Khan is the complainant in the case against Cllr Hadley, alleging that she made racist comments in a telephone call, which she denies.

A Labour Party spokesman reportedly said: “The Labour Party takes all complaints extremely seriously and they are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken.”

The string off Sandwell suspensions comes after Campaign Against Antisemitism reported on an antisemitism scandal engulfing Labour in Haringey in London.

Campaign Against Antisemitism recently published its first Audit of Local Authorities, documenting the campaign for widespread adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by local authorities. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council has not adopted the Definition.

On 28th May 2019, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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Police investigating “targeted” cyber-attack on annual gala dinner of major Jewish communal organisation, leading to speculation of an antisemitic motivation

The police are understood to be investigating a cyber-attack on the annual dinner of a major Jewish communal organisation in the UK.

The Centenary celebration of the United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA), a major Jewish charity, was marked with a gala online dinner last night, but the event was marred by a severe technical disruption.

It is understood that the event company operating the platform believes that the cyber-attack was “targeted”, which has led to speculation that there may have been an antisemitic motivation.

In a statement, UJIA explained that the evening “was disrupted by a targeted cyber-attack”. The effect of the disruption was that hundreds of registered attendees were unable to access the event, but it was then streamed on YouTube, where they were able to watch it.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has urged communal institutions to take precautions to safeguard against antisemitic disruption of online events. We now urge the police to undertake a full investigation and bring the culprits to justice, with charges to take account of any antisemitic motivation.

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Wife of former Conservative MP and minister makes concerning references to “Jewish lobby” in her political memoir

The wife of a former Conservative MP and minister has been criticised over references to the “Jewish lobby” in her political diaries.

In her new Diary of an MP’s Wife, Lady Sasha Swire, who is married to Sir Hugo Swire, says that an “investigation into the Jewish lobby infiltrating Parliament” was being conducted in 2017 by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee under the leadership of the Conservative Crispin Blunt MP, who led the Committee at the time.

Although Mr Blunt has long been viewed with suspicion by the Jewish community, the terms of reference of his 2017 inquiry into involvement in Westminster by foreign states and interested parties made no reference to a supposed ‘Jewish lobby’, which is a phrase redolent of antisemitism. It is not clear whether the notion that the inquiry was, despite appearances, in fact designed to investigate supposed “Jewish” influence in Westminster was shared by Mr Blunt or simply an invention of Lady Swire.

A similar reference was made in connection with a 2015 rumour that Jeremy Corbyn might appoint a “Minister for Jews” if he were elected Prime Minister. Lady Swire wrote: “My God, the Jewish lobby will be throwing the kitchen sink at this one!” She also wrote of Mr Corbyn that “the fact he shakes hands with Palestinian freedom fighters” is “the only bit of him I like too.”

The language of a “Jewish lobby” is a staple of antisemitic discourse and has absolutely no place in contemporary political debate. Lady Swire’s casual use of the term in her memoir is revealing.

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.

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Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey says he is “furious” that Greta Sidhu-Robb was shortlisted as Party candidate and says vetting system is “completely flawed”

The new Leader of the Liberal Democrats has said that the Party’s vetting process is “completely flawed” after a candidate was shortlisted despite a past antisemitism scandal.

Sir Ed Davey made the comments in an event with Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel and a Jewish communal organisation at the Party’s annual conference, and was referencing the recent revelation that Greta Sidhu-Robb, who was recently shortlisted as a Liberal Democrat candidate for the London mayoralty, had made antisemitic comments when she was a Conservative candidate in the 1997 General Election (she apologised for the comments at the time and again more recently when they re-emerged).

When the historic comments re-emerged, Sir Ed said that “I was furious, furious. The vetting system was completely flawed – at least it was in this case. I am determined we don’t make that mistake again. This particular individual had also said two other things, unrelated to antisemitism, that should have been found by the vetting process. It cannot happen again. People know my feelings.”

The new Leader also reiterated his Party’s support for the International Definition of Antisemitism and argued that it should be included in any new online harms legislation.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has called for the Government to bring forward its Online Harms Bill immediately, and a parliamentary petition in support of this position can be signed here.

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.

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“It’s absolutely shocking – a giant symbol of hate”: Swastika spray-painted on car near Bristol over Yom Kippur

A swastika was spray-painted on a car near Bristol over the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.

The incident took place in Kingswood, a small town in Gloucestershire near Bristol.

A Jewish man who lives next door to where the graffiti was found said that he was “absolutely shocked” to see it. “It’s awful, it’s a gut punch. Me and my wife, who is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivor, feel anxious about this…We used to feel it was quite a safe neighbourhood. It has put us on edge. It’s a sign that people are starting to feel empowered enough to do something like this. It’s absolutely shocking – a giant symbol of hate.”

Police have opened an investigation.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

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SOAS professor accuses Israel of being a “Western virus” and exploiting the Holocaust for political ends

A professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) has called Israel a “Western virus” and accused the Jewish state of using the Holocaust as the “clincher argument” in its “presumed right over Palestine”.

Dr Haim Bresheeth, who is a Professorial Research Associate at SOAS’s Centre of Global Media and Communication, made the comments in a debate hosted by the controversial pro-Iranian charity Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC).

Dr Bresheeth reportedly claimed that “This form of Islamophobia [since the Crusades] has never disappeared from the West and explains the great centrality of Zionism to Western regimes Israeli presumed rights over Palestine are seen as, within Zionism, as exclusive and religious-based with the Holocaust deals at the clincher argument. This is very useful because no one seems to be able to say anything about this combination of, you know, Judeo-Christian and Holocaust arguments…The West had conceived of Zionism as the bulwark of Western capitalism against Islam and the Arab world and used it to open the Middle East for western interests, and this is continuing. Exactly along the lines developed by Herzl over a century ago. In this way Israel became the Western virus in the region during the Cold War, developing its political outlook as a Western/US outpost in the Near East – an agenda gradually adopted by the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Apartheid South Africa, and most importantly the EU.”

Also featuring in the debate, which was on the subject of the “normalisation” of Israel, was Dr Marwa Osma, a Lebanese commentator who has appeared on the Iranian-backed Press TV and has called for support for “armed resistance” along with “international pressure” against supposed “Zionist aggression”, according to the JC.

The chair of the charity, Massoud Shadjareh, also reportedly claimed that there was “huge concern the way that there has been a policy of the Zionists to normalise themselves in all different arenas,” apparently including interfaith programmes between Jews and Muslims. He is reported to have said: “the institution of interfaith was used as one of the tools for this and you know, you could ask yourself, you could look into it, why is it that all the Jewish organisations who are involved in interfaith are actually Zionists while we know there is a huge number of anti-Zionists, non-Zionists in the Jewish community and none of them are represented.”

A similar absurd argument has previously been advanced by the conspiratorial Bristol University academic, Dr David Miller.

It is understood that after the debate was uploaded onto the IHRC’s YouTube channel, the following disclaimer was provided: “All views are the speakers’ own and do not necessarily reflect the views of IHRC.”

SOAS has long been a hotbed of antisemitism among UK campuses.

SOAS reportedly told the JC: “One of SOAS’s core values is Freedom of Speech and we encourage the SOAS community to express themselves openly, with mutual tolerance and intellectual freedom. However, freedom of expression may not be exercised as hate speech or to threaten the safety or freedom of expression of others. We have a clear and explicit zero-tolerance policy in relation to antisemitism and all forms of racism. This particular event was not a SOAS organised event and we are not responsible for its content. Views that are expressed at such events by individuals are not views expressed on behalf of SOAS itself.”

If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected].

Image credit: SOAS

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As Metropolitan Police confirm to CAA that Wiley was not in the UK during his antisemitic tirade, CAA instructs lawyers to pursue the case abroad

The Metropolitan Police Service has confirmed to Campaign Against Antisemitism that Wiley was not in the UK during his antisemitic tirade in July. Under Home Office rules, that means that the Metropolitan Police must give primacy to police in the jurisdiction where Wiley was at the time.

In anticipation of this development, Campaign Against Antisemitism has already appointed lawyers in that jurisdiction and we will pursue justice abroad. At this time we will not give further details.

On 24th July, the rapper, whose name is Richard Kylea Cowie but who is known as Wiley, spent days engaged in an escalating rant against Jews. After likening Jews to the Ku Klax Klan and claiming that Jews had cheated him and were “snakes”, Wiley tweeted that Jews should “hold some corn”, which is a slang expression meaning that they should be shot. He added “Jewish community you deserve it”. He also called on “black people” to go to “war” with Jews.

Wiley repeatedly evoked conspiracy theories that Jews were responsible for the slave trade and that modern-day Jews are in fact imposters who usurped black people — a conspiracy theory that has incited acts of terrorism against Jews, such as a stabbing attack in Monsey in New York in December.

In the days that followed, Wiley continued to rail against Jews on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Following discussions with Campaign Against Antisemitism, a major 48-hour boycott of Twitter and Instagram in which we participated, and a viral stunt in which we projected antisemitic tweets onto Twitter’s London headquarters, Twitter, Facebook (which owns Instagram), Google (which owns YouTube) and TikTok agreed to remove Wiley from their platforms, depriving him of access to his nearly one million social media followers.

Campaign Against Antisemitism is continuing its response to this incident, including:

  • Filing a criminal complaint abroad against Wiley;
  • Continuing to meet with Twitter, Facebook and Google to address their response to antisemitism on their platforms;
  • Working with the Cabinet Office’s Honours Forfeiture Committee to ensure that Wiley’s MBE is revoked;
  • Seeking a change in policy so that racists are automatically stripped of their honours in future (please help by signing our Parliamentary petition);
  • Urging the Government to bring forward legislation to regulate social networks and force them to remove racist incitement (please help by signing our Parliamentary petition); and
  • Working with the music industry to remove Wiley’s awards and ensure that he is shunned for his racism.

Stephen Silverman, Director of Investigations and Enforcement at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “At this stage we are able to confirm that the Metropolitan Police Service has closed its investigation due to jurisdictional issues and that we have instructed lawyers abroad to pursue this matter. When antisemites incite hatred against Jews, we will pursue them, including across borders if necessary. We will provide further details at a later date.”

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Two Labour councillors in Cumbria investigated for alleged antisemitic comments online

Two Labour councillors in Cumbria are reportedly being investigated over alleged antisemitic comments that they posted online.

The investigations into the two Copeland Borough Council councillors – Tom Higgins of Egremont ward and Graham Calvin of Moor Row and Bigrigg ward – follow the expulsion of former Councillor Bill Kirkbride from the Labour Party over “offensive” social media posts.

It is reported that a Facebook account appearing to belong to Cllr Higgins referred to Israel and its “co-conspirators in the USA”, while Cllr Calvin apparently made a comment about Jewish donors to the Labour Party, although he reportedly told the BBC that his remarks were making a point about party funding and were not targeted at Jewish people.

A Labour spokesman said: “The Labour Party takes all complaints of antisemitism extremely seriously and they are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures.” The Copeland Labour group reportedly said that it could not comment on individual cases.

Apparently a third investigation is also underway, into Cllr Dave Banks, who objected in a Council meeting in February to the adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by the local authority, saying that “antisemitism is not an attack on Jews or the Jewish faith; it is an attack on the Israeli state.” He did, however, vote in favour of adoption and has since apologised for his comments, apparently telling a later Council meeting that he had gotten them “all wrong”.

Copeland Borough Council adopted the Definition but without explicitly including the integral examples.

Campaign Against Antisemitism recently published its first Audit of Local Authorities, documenting the campaign for widespread adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by local authorities.

On 28th May 2019, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

Image Credit: Copeland Borough Council

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Two teenagers suspected of graffitiing swastikas in Borehamwood arrested

Two teenagers who are suspected of arson and graffitiing swastikas in Borehamwood have been arrested.

The graffiti was found on Monday evening, the day after Rosh Hashanah, in several locations, including The Campions, Retford Close and Sawtry Way, and was reported by a local councillor, Jeremy Newmark.

Hertfordshire Constabulary reportedly said: “Police were called at around 8pm on Monday 21 September to report that two men were acting suspiciously near a van in Stapleton Road, Borehamwood. Officers attended and discovered the van had been broken into and a small fire had been started nearby. Graffiti was also discovered on a number of garages and vehicles in the area. A 18-year-old man from Borehamwood was arrested on suspicion of arson, criminal damage to a vehicle, racially aggravated criminal damage, going equipped, interference with a motor vehicle and burglary (non-dwelling). A 16-year-old boy from Borehamwood was arrested on suspicion of arson, interference with a motor vehicle, criminal damage, burglary (non-dwelling) and racially aggravated criminal damage.”

The graffiti has been cleaned.

Cllr Newmark reportedly said that he was “appalled to receive multiple reports from concerned residents about a spate of antisemitic graffiti on Council garages and street furniture in and around that area,” adding: “Together with other Ward Councillors I’ve previously called for action on the growth of antisocial behaviour around this lovely neighbourhood.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

Image credit: Cllr Jeremy Newmark

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Suspended nurse who led anti-mask protests defends her use of “Auschwitz” and “Nazi” comparisons

A suspended nurse who has led protests against mask-wearing and lockdown restrictions has defended her use of comparisons to Auschwitz and Nazis.

Kate Shemirani has reportedly described the NHS as the “new Auschwitz” and claims that the Government’s policies to control the pandemic are reminiscent of “Nazis”.

In a recent protest in London, however, she defended the comparisons, saying: “When I likened this to Auschwitz and the cattle trucks – you tell me the difference? Because the only time in history I could find where the doctors and nurses were able to end people’s lives was the nurses of the Third Reich. The nurses of the Third Reich are here today. I don’t care if they find it offensive. I find it offensive that our elderly have been murdered in care homes. Stop being a special snowflake and saying you’re offended. They are killing our elderly, our most vulnerable.”

According to the JC, Ms Shemirani has also made frequent reference to the Jewish financier, philanthropist and political activist, George Soros.

She has been suspended as a registered nurse for eighteen months pending an investigation into her past alleged comments on COVID-19 and 5G conspiracy theories.

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The Guardian corrects Ruth Bader Ginsburg obituary following complaints by CAA and others

The Guardian has confirmed to Campaign Against Antisemitism that, following our complaint, its obituary for the late Jewish United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been corrected to clarify that she remained a proud Jew throughout her life.

The obituary originally claimed that Justice Bader Ginsburg had “abandoned her religion” in her teenage years and reiterated in reference to her “Jewish religion” that she “had given [it] up 46 years earlier.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to The Guardian to alert the editors to the error, saying that although Justice Bader Ginsburg “did abandon the religious dimension of her Jewish upbringing, she did not abandon her Jewish identity, which she never hid over the course of her career, and which American Jews long celebrated.” We asked that the obituary be corrected to clarify this distinction.

The corrected relevant sentences now read: “she nevertheless remained deeply committed to her Jewish identity” and “Ginsburg’s Jewish identity…”.

The article also notes: “This article was amended on 22 September 2020 to clarify that while Ruth Bader Ginsburg moved away from strict religious observance at 17, her Jewish identity remained important throughout her life.”

We are grateful to The Guardian for promptly corrected the obituary, both for Justice Bader Ginsburg’s legacy but also because, for wider perceptions of Jews, it is vital that the public understands that the religious dimension of Judaism is only one element of Jewish identity. Unlike some other religions, Jewish identity is not limited to religious practice and beliefs; Jewish identity can be felt and expressed in ethnic, national and cultural ways as well. Even if a Jewish individual is not religiously observant, he or she can still express Judaism (and be a victim of antisemitism) in other ways.

We are also grateful to others, such as CAMERA, who also submitted complaints to The Guardian.

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Swastika graffiti discovered over Rosh Hashanah in Preston

A graffitied swastika was discovered over Rosh Hashanah on a wall in Preston.

The Nazi symbol was removed on Monday morning, the day after the conclusion of the Jewish New Year festival.

It had been found on Saturday by Cllr Pav Akhtar, who told the JC that several Jewish residents contacted him. Cllr Akhtar reportedly said: “I live in an area with a small Jewish population. The threat of the far right and neo-Nazi symbols repeatedly appearing is really worrying.”

The police are investigating.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

Image credit: Cllr Pav Akhtar

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Visibly Jewish couple has foreign object thrown at their car in Stamford Hill

A visibly Jewish couple had a foreign object thrown at their car in Stamford Hill.

The attack took place on Warwick Grove on 17th September and was reported by Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol.

If you have any more information, please contact the police on 101 or Stamford Hill Shomrim on 0300 999 0123, quoting reference number: CAD2611 17/09/2020.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

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Labour Shadow Minister Lyn Brown reportedly endorses JVL member who said antisemitism is a “smear” promoted by “Israeli diplomatic service” for Party’s ruling NEC

A Shadow Minister has reportedly endorsed a candidate for the Labour Party’s ruling National Executive Committee who said that antisemitism is a “smear” promoted by the “Israeli diplomatic service”.

Lyn Brown, the MP for West Ham and Shadow Minister for Prisons and Probation, backed Roger Silverman in an email to local members.

Mr Silverman, who is a member of Jewish Voice for Labour, the antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation, has reportedly written: “The charge that the Labour Party and specifically Jeremy Corbyn are soft on antisemitism is outrageous. It is the latest and most bizarre of a series of monstrous smears by the right-wing establishment…I wouldn’t blame the Israeli diplomatic service for promoting such accusations; it is their job to use every means at their disposal to avoid the election of a British government sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. In this case the smear campaign has been taken up by the British establishment.”

He also wrote in 2016: “Zionism today is one of the most virulent manifestations of racism.”

Nevertheless, Ms Brown said in her email that Mr Silverman’s candidacy “encapsulate[s] the truth” and that she was “hopeful” that he would be nominated.

According to the JC, Mr Silverman was suspended by Labour in 2016 over his alleged involvement with Militant and online comments about the direction of the Party, but was reinstated by Jeremy Corbyn. He apparently become involved in Jewish Voice for Labour and also backed the disgraced then-MP Chris Williamson.

A spokesperson for Ms Brown, told the JC: “Lyn was not aware of any complaints about Roger Silverman and wrote the email in an inclusive way to support members of her local party. She would never support anyone who holds antisemitic views.”

On 28th May 2019, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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Court fines two men for yelling “Go back to where you came from” to Jews on Carlisle train

A court has fined two men for racially aggravated disorderly behaviour after they shouted “go back to where you came from” at a group of Jews on a Carlisle train.

The defendants, Paul Biaylock and Ian Routledge, admitted to making the comments on a journey between Newcastle and Carlisle in February.

The victims were visibly Jewish, owing to their skullcaps.

“The group were talking and laughing among themselves and both defendants could be heard making racially abusive comments,” Carlisle’s Rickergate Court was told.

Neither defendant was represented by a lawyer, and the sentences took into account the admissions of guilt. Mr Blaylock and Mr Routledge were fined £200 and £250 respectively, with both incurring additional costs and a victim surcharge. The fines were higher owing to the racial element of the offences.

Recently, Campaign Against Antisemitism reported that police were investigating antisemitic abuse shouted on Church Street in Carlisle.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

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As CAA turns six and Rosh Hashanah approaches, whatever next year brings, together we will do whatever it takes to defend against antisemitism

With the Jewish New Year upon us, Campaign Against Antisemitism marks the sixth anniversary of our launch and reflects on some key moments and achievements of the past year.

It seems like an age ago that almost half of Anglo-Jewry was considering leaving the country, with considerable fear that the antisemite, Jeremy Corbyn, could become Prime Minister of Britain.

Our campaign to raise awareness of antisemitism in politics included exposing how Mr Corbyn’s allies were placing a cast of Jew-baiters in dozens of constituencies and culminated with the publication of our Antisemitism Barometer 2019, which showed that voters who held antisemitic views were particularly drawn to Mr Corbyn and that far-left antisemitism had overtaken the antisemitism of the far-right. We also began publishing our case files exposing antisemitism in political parties, which showed that Mr Corbyn was personally responsible for 24 incidents of involvement in antisemitic discourse and that Labour Party candidates for Parliament accounted for a frightening 82% of incidents across all parties.

We gave voice to the concerns of the Jewish community at our star-studded #TogetherAgainstAntisemitism rally in Parliament Square in December 2019, featuring Robert Rinder, Tracy Ann Oberman, Tom Holland, the President of the Hindu Forum of Britain and the founder of Muslims Against Antisemitism. It was the largest Anglo-Jewish demonstration against antisemitism since our rally outside the Royal Courts of Justice six years ago.

We carefully monitored the Labour Party primary, documenting the records of all the candidates so that Party members could make informed choices. Once Sir Keir Starmer was elected, we have held him to his election pledges on antisemitism, praising him for his successes, such as sacking Rebecca Long-Bailey for sharing an antisemitic conspiracy theory, and criticising his failures, such as refraining from taking action against Diane Abbott and Bell Ribeiro-Addy after they shared a platform with expelled Labour members. We also published a first-of-its-kind analysis of the records of every member of the Shadow Cabinet on antisemitism – what they said and did over the past five years and, more revealingly, what they did not.

As the complainant in the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s full statutory investigation into the Labour Party, which was launched following a formal referral by Campaign Against Antisemitism, we continued to make detailed legal submissions to the Commission and defended the integrity of its investigation in the face of repeated attempts to undermine it by Mr Corbyn and his allies, including through a contrived and dangerous leaked internal Labour Party report.

We have also been at the forefront of fighting antisemitism across all political parties, including the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, the Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru and the Brexit Party, and in local politics.

We have exposed antisemitic memes relating to COVID-19, and over the summer we shone a spotlight on antisemitism in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and changed the conversation overnight, even in the face of threats to our safety, and highlighted how real Civil Rights heroes like Martin Luther King Jr knew that we must unite to beat hate and declared that we would not let the voices of division within BLM trample their legacy. Meanwhile, we have continued to confront antisemitism on the far-right, with new charges against notorious antisemites.

Our efforts to tackle anti-Jewish racism on social media were perhaps best showcased in our response to grime artist Wiley’s multi-day antisemitic tirade. We immediately called for Wiley to prosecuted, for his MBE to be revoked – and the Cabinet Office has confirmed to us that it has opened a case – and for his 2019 Ivors Inspiration Award to be rescinded. We also joined the #NoSafeSpaceForJewHate 48-hour walkout from social media in protest at inaction by technology companies, whom we continued to call out and with whom we were in constant contact until Wiley was removed from each platform in turn. We even literally shone a light on racism at Twitter’s London headquarters to successfully pressure the company to act. We also launched two Parliamentary petitions: one calling for racists like Wiley to be stripped of their MBEs, which can be signed here, and the other calling for the Government to bring forward Online Harms Bill this year, which can be signed here.

This Rosh Hashanah, we wish all of our supporters, Jewish and non-Jewish, a happy, healthy, safe and successful year ahead, and ask for your help to continue our vital work.

Whatever next year brings, together we will do whatever it takes to defend against antisemitism. Shana tova!

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“Ultranationalist” terrorist group, the British Hand, is recruiting children on Instagram and Telegram

It has been reported that teenage members of a neo-Nazi group are using Instagram to recruit and promote propaganda.

The group, called the British Hand, uses a skull and crossbones logo combined with rifles over a Union Jack as its logo and launched in July on the popular social media platform, Instagram, which is owned by Facebook. The official account has been shut down multiple times, but members continue to use their personal accounts to disseminate the group’s message.

The British Hand is led by an individual believed to be fifteen who lives with his mother in Derby and attends school. He has claimed to be planning a terrorist attack, according to Hope Not Hate. Other members have reportedly pledged to infiltrate the army in order to acquire training in the use of firearms.

The report says that children as young as twelve as being groomed online by neo-Nazis, whose leader describes the group as “ultranationalist” and its goal as “to get rid of Islam and those little BLM [Black Lives Matter] f***ers.”

Once recruited, the members join an encrypted Telegram chat room. It is believed there are fifteen core members in their teenage years or early twenties.

Facebook, which owns Instagram, reportedly said: “We ban groups and individuals that engage in hateful and violent activities and remove content that represents, praises or supports them – including the content brought to our attention by The Sunday Times. Between April and June, we removed more than four million pieces of content related to dangerous organisations across Facebook and Instagram.”

Police believe that the far-right poses the fastest-growing terrorist threat.

It comes as it emerged that the fascist New British Union was also seeking to recruit teenagers on social media, and a few months after several members of the proscribed neo-Nazi National Action terrorist group were convicted. Earlier this year, a teenager from Durham was also convicted of terrorism offences.

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Fears that New IRA in Northern Ireland is courting and being armed by antisemitic genocidal terrorist group Hizballah

Concerns have been raised that the New IRA is courting and being armed by Hizballah, an antisemitic genocidal terrorist group.

The New IRA is apparently seeking weapons and financing from the Middle East terrorist group, according to an assessment by MI5. Apparently, it was established in 2017 that contact had been made between the two groups, but although security services in Northern Ireland and Ireland suspect that mortars and assault rifles have been imported, the weapons have not yet been found.

Representatives of the New IRA apparently visited the Iranian Emabssy in Dublin to sign a book of condolences for the Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, who masterminded Iran’s deadly military operations across the Middle East and was assassinated by the United States.

Hizballah is an Iranian terrorist proxy.

The New IRA is considered to be the largest republican terror group and is responsible for a series of attacks on police and the murder of journalist Lyra McKee.

Last year, following a gruelling effort over several years by Campaign Against Antisemitism and our allies, Hizballah was finally proscribed completely by the then-Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, with the support of the then-Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt. Ensuring that the Government completely proscribes Hizballah has been an important objective for Campaign Against Antisemitism since our charity was established.

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Maxine Peake, who shared antisemitic conspiracy theory, attends JVL annual conference and describes it as “wonderful”

Maxine Peake, the controversial activist-actress who shared an antisemitic conspiracy theory earlier this year, has reportedly attended the annual conference of Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL), the antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation.

The conference featured numerous controversial figures, including the notorious antisemite and expelled Labour member Jackie Walker; as well as senior JVL figures such as co-Chair Jenny Manson, Media Officer Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, and Secretary Glyn Secker; Cllr Jo Bird, infamous for comments about “Jew process”; and Graham Bash, who is Ms Walker’s partner and has been investigated by Labour over comments about “Jewish exceptionalism”.

It is understood that on leaving Sunday’s AGM, Ms Peake remarked that “this has been just wonderful. Thank you all so much. I sadly have to leave, but feel inspired and educated.” Glyn Secker, said: “Thank you very much, Maxine.” Another attendee apparently remarked: “Great to have you on board.”

There was reportedly some controversy at the meeting over the involvement of non-Jews in the organisation. Cllr Bird apparently said: “Please could solidarity members respect that this meeting is a rare and valuable space for Jewish members to debate with each other. Your observations would be welcome later.” She later feared that such ‘solidarity members’ were continuing to “prioritise their contributions over Jewish members.” Two attendees apparently complained that as “non-Jews” JVL’s constitution prohibited them from voting.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has previously urged the BBC to take Ms Peake off the air for promoting an antisemitic conspiracy theory.

On 28th May 2019, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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Sir David Attenborough holds reunion for families of two Jewish refugee sisters who came on the Kindertransport and were looked after by his parents

Sir David Attenborough has reunited the families of two Jewish refugee sisters who were cared for during WWII by his parents.

Irene and Helga Bejah fled Nazi Germany on the Kindertransport, aged thirteen and twelve, in August 1939, as part of the operation that brought 10,000 refugee children to Britain.

Their mother had died years before and their father was deported to Auschwitz. Another sister was too old to be eligible for the Kindertransport and was left behind but reportedly survived the Holocaust.

Mary and Frederick Attenborough took in the girls, who lived with them and their three sons in Leicester for seven years and became like “sisters” to Sir David and his two brothers.

One of the brothers, Richard, the late filmmaker who became Lord Attenborough, also commented in the past how his mother involved her sons in the decision to take in the girls, knowing that it might impact the attention that she was able to give them. “My parents,” he said, “always stood up and were counted wherever they saw an injustice being done.”

After the War, the sisters moved to New York City to join their uncle.

Sir David has now revealed that last July he hosted a reunion for the sisters’ descendants, describing it as “an unforgettable afternoon” and saying “it’s a credit to my parents”.

Helga’s daughter, said: “I think the gravity of the visit really didn’t hit me or David until we were saying goodbye and hugging, because he was very modest and saying, ‘It’s really my parents’, and was not taking any type of accolade or responsibility. I think when he looked at all of us leaving, it hit him that we would probably not have existed if it was not for the humanitarian kindness of his family.”

Helga’s daughters have reportedly left her diaries, letters and other personal papers on long-term loan to Leicester University, in order to ensure that the Attenborough family’s act is recorded for posterity.

The two sisters have died, but their elder sister is reportedly alive, at 99 years old.

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John McDonnell says it’s “ridiculous” to think he “shared a platform” with expelled antisemite Jackie Walker even though he is president of the LRC where she is an officer

John McDonnell has claimed that it is “ridiculous” to suggest that he ‘shared a platform’ with expelled Labour members at the Labour Representation Committee’s (LRC) Annual General Meeting on 5th September, as it was an open meeting and he could not control who spoke.

The controversial former Shadow Chancellor made the comments in response to calls to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to discipline him for sharing a platform with former Labour members expelled in connection with antisemitism, in accordance with Sir Keir’s leadership pledge.

In particular, the meeting was attended by the notorious antisemite Jackie Walker, as well as expelled member Tony Greenstein.

Mr McDonnell reportedly said in response to the accusations: “Don’t be ridiculous. Speaking to an open Zoom meeting which is not hosted by me or whose audience is not selected by me or even monitored by me, could not in any rational judgement be construed as providing a platform, support or campaigning for individuals who may or may not be attending.”

However, Mr McDonnell, who is the president of the LRC, omitted to note that Ms Walker is a board member of the LRC. Not only was it likely, therefore, that she might speak alongside him, but in any event given her history of unashamed racism toward Jews the fact that the LRC, and by reasonable extension its President, John McDonnell, have continued to stand by her is itself abominable.

Mr McDonnell has yet to be held to account for his involvement in the LRC, a pro-Corbyn pressure group with a long history of belittling claims of antisemitism and publishing extremely disturbing articles. The LRC also supported Cllr Jo Bird, infamous for her “Jew process” comments, for a seat on the Labour Party’s ruling National Executive Committee. Cllr Bird was also present at the LRC’s AGM.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “John McDonnell claims that it is ‘ridiculous’ to suggest that he has ‘shared a platform’ with those who happened to speak at the Labour Representation Committee’s AGM. But he studiously avoids addressing why he continues to serve as the President of that controversial group at all, particularly while notorious antisemite and expelled Labour member Jackie Walker is one of its officers. Who does he think he’s fooling?”

On 28th May 2019, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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CAA disgusted and concerned at fascist New British Union’s youth recruitment

The New British Union (NBU), a self-described fascist organisation, is recruiting youth members on social media.

In a tweet, the NBU announced that “Now 8-16 year olds have the opportunity of joining New British Union’s new Fascist youth branch, where children can learn about the great ideas behind the philosophy of Fascism! Join Britain’s fastest growing Blackshirts Fascist Party today!”

The NBU uses the same symbol as its predecessor, the British Union of Fascists, a 1930s group led by Oswald Mosley that infamously clashed with Jews and anti-fascist campaigners at Cable Street in East London.

The NBU’s motto is “restoring faith in fascism” and its flag was recently seen at a protest against pandemic lockdown rules led by the antisemitic hate preacher David Icke and Piers Corbyn, the conspiratorial brother of the former Labour leader.

Fascism has no place in democratic society and Campaign Against Antisemitism will continue to monitor this group and its activities.

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Sir Keir Starmer admits Labour’s sixteen-month-long investigation into suspended NEC member Pete Willsman over antisemitism allegations is taking “too long”

Sir Keir Starmer has admitted that the Labour Party’s investigation into antisemitism allegations in connection with Pete Willsman is taking “too long”.

The Labour leader made the comments to Nick Ferrari on LBC.

In May 2019, the Party was provided with a recording of Mr Willsman, who is suspended from Labour but still sits on its ruling National Executive Committee, saying that the Israeli Embassy was behind allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party, a popular antisemitic trope.

Sixteen months on and the investigation is yet to conclude. Sir Keir admitted that “it has taken too long, and I want it to be speeded up.” Although he declined to comment on the case, he insisted that he “did not want to dodge the challenge. On the cases, on the particular challenge of the speed, I now get regular reports on my desk telling me about why cases aren’t going as quickly as they should. We have got new processes in place, we’ve got a new approach. We are acting much much more quickly.” He went on to asset that “I am determined we will deal with it. I think in fairness, anybody looking at this will say we are taking this seriously. We are taking action. And we will be judged by the action we take.”

On 28th May 2019, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In the first release of its Antisemitism in Political Parties research, Campaign Against Antisemitism showed that Labour Party candidates for Parliament in the 2019 general election accounted for 82 percent of all incidents of antisemitic discourse by parliamentary candidates.

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.

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Liberal Democrats drop prospective London mayoral candidate after her past antisemitism is revealed

The Liberal Democrats have quickly moved to drop a prospective mayoral candidate after her past antisemitism was revealed.

Last week, the Party announced that Geeta Sidhu-Robb and Cllr Luisa Porrit would vie for the Party’s nomination for the London mayoralty.

However, video has now emerged of Ms Sidhu-Robb, who is a millionaire businesswoman, former corporate lawyer and “juice diet” entrepreneur, making antisemitic statements in her 1997 General Election campaign as a Conservative candidate standing against Jack Straw.

In the video, Ms Sidhu-Robb is seen saying: “The Labour Party is going around with a microphone at the moment saying ‘she’s against Islam, she’s not Muslim, she’s not one of us: don’t vote for her because she’s against Islam.’ And this is making it racist, it’s making it personal, particularly considering the fact that my husband actually is Muslim. So, we’re just going to pull the gloves off. I’m going to get a car and walk around, drive through town telling everybody Jack Straw’s a Jew. How’s a Muslim going to vote for someone who’s Jewish? That’s it. That’s what happened and that’s what we’re going to do about it.”

The footage then shows the car driving around the neighbourhood with a voice through a megaphone saying: “Don’t vote for a Jew, Jack Straw is a Jew”, “If you vote for him you’re voting for a Jew”, and “Jews are the enemy of Muslims”.

Later in the video, Ms Sidhu-Robb claimed that she had acted because she was “furious” but had regretted doing it. She said: “I didn’t want racism and bigotry to play a part in anything that I had anything to do with,” she said. “I object strenuously to it. I did it because I was furious. So, I must admit I wish I hadn’t done it.”

Ms Sidhu-Robb went on to lose the election to Mr Straw and eventually left the Conservative Party and joined the Liberal Democrats.

After the video was unearthed, Ms Sidhu-Robb has reportedly reiterated that she deeply regretted her “appalling behaviour”.

A Liberal Democrat spokesperson reportedly said: “The Liberal Democrats take all allegations of this nature extremely seriously. A complaint has been received by the party and will be actioned in accordance with our processes.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “While Ms Geeta Sidhu-Robb claimed to have been subject to unacceptable racist political campaigning in 1997, she was absolutely wrong to respond by indulging in antisemitism and, worse still, encouraging it among voters. It was right that she recognised at the time that she was wrong to do it, and she is right to reiterate that apology now. Even so, the Liberal Democrats are also right to recognise that she cannot possibly stand as the Party’s candidate for the London mayoralty following these revelations, and the Party’s investigation should determine what further steps are needed to verify whether she is fit to remain a member.”

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.

https://twitter.com/antisemitism/status/1305585932280750080?s=20
https://twitter.com/GeetaSidhuRobb/status/1305464185959088129?s=20
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Spitting Image under fire for caricature of Mark Zuckerberg with gratuitously big nose

The satirical puppet show, Spitting Image, has come under fire for a caricature of Mark Zuckerberg with a gratuitously big nose.

The image of the founder and CEO of the social media giant, Facebook, has been revealed by the rebooted television show, eliciting complaints that the caricature has employed antisemitic stereotypes such as a big, hooked nose and ghoulish appearance.

Mr Zuckerberg is Jewish.

It has also previously been reported that Spitting Image undertook a consultation about the portrayal of black characters in its programme, out of concern about racist images and tropes. It is unclear if Jewish or other minority characters were also the subject of consultations of their own.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Spitting Image should explain why a Jewish personality has been caricatured to appear with a gratuitously large, hooked nose and ghoulish appearance, when in real life Mark Zuckerberg is not associated with either of those physical features. Satire is integral to comedy and a vital part of our public conversation, but it should be based in reality and not on lazy and offensive stereotypes.”

The new season of Spitting Image is due to appear on ITV on the streaming service, Britbox.

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CAA reveals that BBC journalist Nimesh Thaker, now under investigation by the BBC, shared antisemitic posts and trolled BBC colleagues in his own name

Campaign Against Antisemitism can reveal that the BBC journalist, Nimesh Thaker, who has recently been criticised for antisemitic comments on his anonymous Twitter account, also had another – now-deleted – Twitter account in his own name, which he used to post antisemitic material and criticise other BBC journalists.

Using the handle, @thaker_nimesh, Mr Thaker, who has been a BBC journalist for more than twenty years at BBC World News, posted tweets describing antisemitism accusations against Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party as “smears” and trolled public figures who were campaigning against antisemitism.

He used the account to troll Campaign Against Antisemitism and to harass the editor of the Jewish Chronicle and the actress and writer Tracy-Ann Oberman, tweeting at them dozens of times. He has also retweeted controversial political activists who themselves have come under fire for antisemitism, such as the notorious antisemite Jackie Walker, trolled Labour MPs over antisemitism, and defended Ken Livingstone and supported the disgraced former Labour MP, Chris Williamson.

As with Mr Thaker’s subsequent anonymous Twitter handle, @BotheredThat, Mr Thaker openly used his @thaker_nimesh handle for work purposes, such as booking interviews on the BBC. He also used the handle to criticise the BBC and his colleagues, such as BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg, whose Twitter account he accused of being “officially the Tory fan club message board” and whom he urged to “do some digging…what is the money for journalism please,” among other claims.

Abandoning this personal account in favour, apparently, of pseudo-anonymity, Mr Thaker then adopted the handle @BotheredThat for both work and abusive tweets, accusing antisemitism campaigners of “smears” (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here for examples) and claiming that antisemitism campaigners believe that anyone who criticises Israel is an antisemite, 

According to BBC guidelines for employees, “All BBC activity on social media, whether it is ‘official’ BBC use or the personal use by BBC staff is subject to the Editorial Guidelines and editorial oversight in the same way that our on-platform content is. We should take particular care about maintaining our impartiality on social media, both in our professional and personal activities […] BBC staff should avoid bringing the BBC into disrepute through their actions on social media.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism submitted a complaint to the BBC about Mr Thaker some weeks ago, and the BBC has confirmed that an investigation is underway.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The BBC must swiftly and transparently investigate Nimesh Thaker for his blatant breaches of the Corporation’s social media policy, including posting appalling comments online, using an account in his own name as well as an anonymous account.

“More broadly, this should be a moment of reflection for the BBC, whose relations with the Jewish community have been strained for many years. If licence fee payers are to have confidence in the broadcaster, it must show zero tolerance for antisemitism by its employees – on screen and off.”

Mr Thaker was approached for comment.

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Police appeal for witnesses after man shouts antisemitic abuse in Carlisle

Police in Carlisle are appealing for witnesses after a man shouted antisemitic abuse.

The incident occurred at around 15:00 on Saturday 29th August on Church Street.

A Cumbria Police spokesman reportedly said: “There is no place for hate on the streets of Cumbria and these type of incidents are dealt with vigorously and appropriately.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact PC 2870 Willis on 101, referring to incident 160 of 2ndSeptember, or call Campaign Against Antisemitism.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

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Two Haringey Labour councillors suspended by Party in relation to antisemitism in the latest of antisemitism scandals at the local authority

It is understood that two Labour councillors in Haringey have been suspended by the Party in connection with antisemitism, which represents just the latest in a string of antisemitism scandals at the local authority over the past few years.

The first suspended councillor, Cllr Preston Tabois, was reported by Guido Fawkes to have appeared to endorse the despicable notion that Jews murdered each other in the Holocaust in some masterplan to create the State of Israel, and other antisemitic conspiracy theories. Cllr Tabois was also slated to be a Labour candidate for the London Assembly.

The Labour Party reportedly said: “The Labour Party takes all complaints of antisemitism extremely seriously and they are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken.”

The other suspended councillor is Cllr Noah Tucker, who was exposed earlier this year as having told Tottenham’s Constituency Labour Party to drop a “zero-tolerance” clause from an antisemitism motion that it was debating. Cllr Tucker is reported to have suggested that Israel was somehow to blame for the racist killing of George Floyd, which is a popular antisemitic conspiracy theory, and he has also defended the disgraced then-Labour MP Chris Williamson.

Cllr Tucker reportedly said: “I am an opponent of racism in all its forms including antisemitism. Social media posts have been collated, including selective editing, seemingly in a malicious attempt to falsely associate me with antisemitism. States and organisations which engage politically are legitimately subjects of discussion and criticism. I am confident that a fair process by the Labour Party will reinstate me soon to full membership.”

Another local councillor, Gideon Bull, was previously exposed by Campaign Against Antisemitism as having referred to a Jewish Labour councillor as “Shylock” and consequently withdrew as the Party’s prospective parliamentary candidate in Clacton in the 2019 General Election. It is understood that Cllr Bull is intending to seek the Haringey mayoralty.

In 2018, two Jewish councillors in Haringey revealed that “it has become impossible to operate as a Jewish councillor in the Haringey [Labour] Party without having your views and actions prejudged or dismissed in terms that relate to your ethnicity,” and that “Haringey Labour is definitely not a safe space for Jews.”

The local authority is sometimes dubbed the “Corbyn Council” for its high proportion of Momentum councillors. Its former Leader and the most senior Labour woman in local government at the time, Cllr Claire Kober, stood down in 2018 after ten years in the post in protest against antisemitism, saying: “The levels of antisemitism I’ve seen in the Labour Party are just astonishing. The only thing I see that’s worse than sexism in the Labour Party is antisemitism.”

Cllr Kober was instrumental in the Council’s adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism in 2017, which came amid threats and heckling from the public gallery.

That adoption will not mean much if the Council itself does not investigate and take disciplinary action against the offending councillors, in addition to the Labour Party.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Something is rotten in the London Borough of Haringey. This one Labour-dominated local authority has seen a Council Leader step down in protest at Labour’s antisemitism, another councillor withdraw as a parliamentary candidate over antisemitism, two further councillors suspended by the Labour Party over antisemitism, and Jewish councillors complain of being the targets of antisemitism or having their identity give rise to prejudice by fellow local Party members.

“Under previous leadership, Haringey adopted the International Definition of Antisemitism. Not only must Labour investigate the local Party in the borough, but the Council itself must now launch its own investigations and take action against the offenders. This disgraceful state of affairs is totally unacceptable.”

A further councillor, who has sought to challenge the current Council Leader, has also reportedly been suspended by the Labour Party over an alleged anti-Muslim comment. In addition, another councillor has also previously been suspended from the Labour Party, although he has reportedly denied that his suspension is related to antisemitism and there is no indication that the suspension was related to antisemitism.

Campaign Against Antisemitism recently published its first Audit of Local Authorities, documenting the campaign for widespread adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by local authorities.

We are seeking to recruit a General Counsel a Creative Communications and Events Officer a Communications and Research Manager an Education and Outreach Intern to join our London office

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Campaign Against Antisemitism is a volunteer-led charity dedicated to exposing and countering antisemitism through education and zero-tolerance enforcement of the law. Everything that we do is done by people who volunteer their time, using donations contributed by members of the public. Join the fight against antisemitism by subscribing to our updates, volunteering, or donating.