Charity Director suspended and reported to watchdog after allegations of antisemitism surface
The Director of a charity has been suspended and reported to the Charity Commission after allegations of antisemitism have surfaced.
Bus Users UK, a charity that works to ensure transport is more inclusive and accessible, lists Hugh Jaeger as a Trustee, Director, and “Chair of Bus Users Oxford and an active campaigner for bus services” on its website. However, yesterday they took the decision to suspend him after a history of inflammatory tweets were revealed.
In a 2019 post, Mr Jaeger reportedly wrote that “In 1948 Zionists copied the Nazis to liquidate several villages” and also shared an inflammatory cartoon along with the caption: “Pic of an Israeli Magav border police thug sums up why Zionism is evil & why Palestinians must resist.”
According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism.
In another post, Mr Jaeger allegedly condemned “racist Israel”, while in different one, he said that it was founded by “State terrorists who massacre, steal land, apply apartheid, murder children and commit war crimes have ruled Israel ever since.” He also defended the controversial Labour candidate Lisa Forbes, despite her deeply problematic social media activity.
In a blog post from December 2019, Mr Jaeger reportedly wrote that “No one has proved that antisemitism is any more common in Labour than it is in UK society as a whole.”
Taking action on Mr Jaeger’s surfaced tweets, Bus Users UK wrote from their Twitter account: “Hugh Jaeger has been asked to step back from his duties as a trustee of Bus Users while the Board considers his position. Bus Users is not a political organisation and is not aligned to any political viewpoint. We are a charity campaigning for accessible transport for everyone.”
Mr Jaeger was also reported to the Charity Commission by the GnasherJew Twitter account.
Larry Sanders, the former Green Party Spokesperson on Health and Social Care and brother to former Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, drew criticism for tweeting: “Hugh Jaeger is not antisemitic.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism has long called for tougher regulations on social media sites and that social networks proactively search for and remove hate speech from their platforms. We also continue to make representations to the Government on this matter.
