Tolpuddle Village Hall latest venue to cancel screening of antisemitism-denial film
Tolpuddle Village Hall has agreed to cancel a screening of a propaganda film about the antisemitic former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The screening of the film Oh, Jeremy Corbyn! The Big Lie was scheduled to be shown next month, but the booking is understood to have been made by a third party, and not by the venue itself, which we understand was not made aware of the nature of the film.
According to the Tolpuddle Radical Film Festival, which were the organisers of the screening, they initially hoped to show the film at the annual Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival, but withdrew due to “censorship by the secretary.” It then sought to screen the film independently at the Village Hall, which has now decided to cancel the booking.
The news comes shortly after, following action by Campaign Against Antisemitism, Glastonbury Festival, YMCA, Basildon Council, the national pub retailer Greene King, and independent venues, have cancelled screenings of the film.
The film claims that it “investigates the ‘secret war’ waged against Corbyn” and questions whether there was an “orchestrated campaign” against the former Party leader.
The film’s contributors include a who’s who of controversial figures such as Jackie Walker, who has previously stated that Jews were “chief financiers” of the African slave trade; the filmmaker Ken Loach, who caused outrage when, during an interview with the BBC, he refused to denounce Holocaust denial. Both were expelled from the Labour Party; Graham Bash, the Political Officer of Jewish Voice for Labour, an antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation; and Moshe Machover, a professor and Holocaust revisionist. All have been expelled from the Labour Party, although Mr Machover was readmitted.
Also involved is Andrew Murray, a close adviser to Mr Corbyn who, in 2005, authored an article in which he claimed that the roots of the 9/11 terror attacks lay in “Zionist colonialism” of the Balfour Declaration.
The film is narrated by comedian Alexei Sayle who claimed in 2014 that BBC presenter Emma Barnett, who is Jewish, supported the murder of children following an article and radio interview in which she had decried antisemitism amongst anti-Israel activists.
Campaign Against Antisemitism commends the Village Hall for its swift and decisive action to cancel the screening as soon as we brought it to its attention.
Additionally, we received confirmation from the Widcombe Social Club that a planned screening of the film, at which Mr Loach was also due to speak, was cancelled, as has one at Havant and Emsworth United Reformed Church and the independent book retailer, October Books.
It has also been reported that, following our correspondence with Glastonbury, the major trade union Unite has also banned screenings of the film on its premises.
Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.
