My single biggest gripe with the Labour Party over the past few years arises from their refusal to combat the false claims that have reinforced the Tory Party propaganda to do such catastrophic damage to the progressive Socialist movement thus depriving us of a descent Government. It never had to get this bad if only Corbyn had fought back vigorously, bringing legal suits for defamation to Court if necessary, to denounce the growing web of lies. By the time vocal Chris Williamson tried to call the party out for overblown apologetic grovelling the ‘new truth’ had been constructed balanced precariously around rumours and deliberate misinterpretations aimed at targeting Corbyn. He was punished for his honesty, a casualty of the Zionist witch-hunt determined to protect apartheid Israel from criticism. Now it is time for the pack of cards to come tumbling down; perhaps not in time to save our democracy that is now in grave peril. Williamson is determined to challenge the EHRC and we should support his effort to expose the truth in Court.
The Electronic Intifada examines whether EHRC is really capable of a truly independent judgement regarding the conduct of the disciplinary Labour Party in an Article entitled, “Has the UK’s ‘Labour anti-Semitism’ probe been rigged?” They reveal that, “The UK’s official equality watchdog is facing questions over its impartiality after it was revealed that one of its commissioners failed to declare financial links to the ruling Conservative Party. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) last year launched an investigation into the Labour Party amid accusations that it is institutionally anti-Semitic. Newsweek has revealed that EHRC commissioner Pavita Cooper made donations totalling $4,400 to the Conservative Party. Cooper’s donation was not declared when she took up the role in 2018. Cooper and her husband also hosted a fundraising event for their local Conservative member of Parliament.” As examined in an earlier post, this information is one of several conflicts of interest that tie EHRC to the Tory Party.
The Electronic Intifada report on who initiated the probe, “The investigation into Labour was launched at the request of two pro-Israel lobby groups in May 2019. It is expected to report sometime this summer. The supposedly impartial watchdog also appointed one of the same groups’ leaders to its panel of legal advisers mere days before it announced its probe of Labour. The Jewish Labour Movement’s vice chair Sarah Sackman said she was ‘delighted’ to have been given the post.” The concern is that JLM is openly hostile to Corbyn, but she was, “Delighted to have been appointed to @EHRC panel of lawyers. Really looking forward to working with their fantastic legal team @eprochaska and co. on #equalities #discrimation Sarah Sackman (@sarahsackman) May 16, 2019 A spokesperson for Sackman at her law firm denied to The Electronic Intifada that she had discussed the investigation with anyone at the EHRC at any stage. ‘Her appointment to the panel was entirely independent and unrelated,’ he said.”
Electronic Intefada say, “Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn charged in an interview with Middle East Eye that the Conservative government has in recent years politicized the EHRC.” I wrote an earlier post Middle East Eye. The Tories “decided to take away its independent status and make it part of the government machine,” Corbyn had said last month and last year, “after the EHRC first announced it may investigate Labour’s anti-Semitism ‘crisis,’ activists said it was ‘part of the witch hunt against Jeremy Corbyn’.” They said, “The first of the two pro-Israel organizations that referred Labour to the EHRC was right-wing anti-Palestinian group the Campaign Against Antisemitism. It was founded in 2014 during that year’s Israeli war against the people of the Gaza Strip, in order to shield Israel by smearing critics of its actions as anti-Semitic. In December the group claimed to have ‘slaughtered’ Corbyn after Labour’s general election defeat. The group then attempted to have the video of these disturbing comments removed from the internet.”
According to the Electronic Intifada, “The second group that referred Labour to the EHRC is the Jewish Labour Movement – a Zionist organization affiliated to Labour which acted as a proxy for the Israeli embassy during its long war against Jeremy Corbyn. Labour party ‘risks bankruptcy over antisemitism investigation’ https://t.co/MSwAOm3Kut — Adam Langleben (@adamlangleben) October 12, 2019 One Jewish Labour Movement activist last year tweeted out an article claiming that Labour ‘risks bankruptcy’ – from the same investigation his group had helped instigate. For years the Jewish Labour Movement smeared its own party as anti-Semitic, as a political weapon against Corbyn, the left-wing leader many supporters of Israel despised.”
The Electronic Intifada claim that, “Having insisted that Labour was ‘institutionally anti-Semitic’ under Corbyn, a false allegation that it repeated in its submission to the EHRC, the Jewish Labour Movement has now abruptly decided that ‘we are not going to get the answer to the question ‘is Labour institutionally anti-Semitic’.” Why the sudden about face? Electronic Intifada have logically reached the conclusion that, “With the former leader now safely out of the way and his successor Keir Starmer purging the party of the left, the Jewish Labour Movement no longer needs to destroy the leadership. Left-wing group Jewish Voice for Labour called the Jewish Labour Movement’s submission to the EHRC, ‘gossip, distortion, double standards and presumed guilt’.” Smoke and mirrors will not hold up in Court which is why it is so important to fight these defamation cases by offering support to both Corbyn, whose legal fund is at £329,000, for a case against John Ware and Williamson, with a fund of £23,000, for his case against EHRC.
According to the Electronic Intifada, “Last year, the day after the EHRC announced the start of its formal investigation, the Jewish Labour Movement told its members that ‘a problem of leadership and culture’ meant that Labour had become a party which ‘discriminates against Jews and that it has become an unsafe space for them.’ In an email to members obtained by The Electronic Intifada, the Jewish Labour Movement said that it had ‘retained top law firm Mishcon de Reya’ to represent it to the EHRC – led by James Libson. Mishcon de Reya is the high-profile law firm that has repeatedly represented the government of Israel and other Israeli bodies in the UK.”
Electronic Intifada report that, “Libson himself has been part of the Mishcon legal team in at least two cases against the boycott of Israel. In 2012 this writer witnessed him watching in a London court room as the Israel lobby accused the University and College Union of supposed ‘institutional anti-Semitism’ – the same false charge now brought against the Labour Party.” Thankfully, “The University and College Union was completely vindicated in 2013, when the case against it failed on all counts.” They say that, “The Judge famously dismissed the complaint as ‘an impermissible attempt to achieve a political end by litigious means,’ and threw out claims that opposition to Zionism was inherently anti-Semitic.” This should have created a legal precedent that discouraged future frivolous politically motivated Lawfare. ‘It would be very unfortunate if an exercise of this sort were ever repeated,’ Judge A. M. Snelson warned.” Unfortunately this hasn’t deterred the Zionist Lobby from similar bullying tactics to shut down Boycott Divest and Sanction Campaigns.
Proudly remember how it was the external pressure of boycotts that ultimately secured political change in apartheid South Africa. The Zionist wouldn’t be reacting with legal challenges if this wasn’t an effective strategy, so we must continue to support ‘Boycott, Divest and Sanction.’ Electronic Intifada say, “The second known anti-Palestinian case pursued on behalf of Israel by Libson was that of Moty Cristal. An Israeli army colonel, Cristal sued public sector union Unison as well as the National Health Service after they declined his offer to host a workshop on ‘negotiations.’ The case was ultimately dropped. Former Jewish Labour Movement chair Jeremy Newmark (who resigned in disgrace in 2018 amid serious financial irregularities) was also deeply involved in the Israel lobby’s case against the academics and teachers’ union. In 2012, Newmark told an Israeli newspaper that he and his Israel lobby group of the time – the Jewish Leadership Council – were ‘liaising closely with the government of Israel’ on the Cristal case.”
Electronic Intifada report that, “At a conference in 2011, Newmark told pro-Israel activists to join political parties “and become a voice for Israel.” You can watch his comments in a video that is included in this article, they say, “It was obtained by The Electronic Intifada but was later deleted by conference organizers from YouTube. Newmark was a leading force in the 2015 revival of the Jewish Labour Movement specifically to fight Corbyn. The group’s main strategy was to smear Corbyn and his supporters as anti-Semitic – and it worked. The campaign involved increasingly thuggish tactics over the years before Newmark was forced out.” We have waited patiently for the Tory Government to release the Russia Report in the hope of determining if there was any Russian interference in UK Elections, but we were told that they hadn’t bothered to look. I think this is highly unlikely, but a good reason to keep the issue of foreign meddling in our election quiet is that an in depth investigation would reveal serious interference by Israel!
The Electronic Intifada said that, “Huda Elmi, a left-wing member of Labour’s ruling national executive, last year said the EHRC should be abolished. She later backpedaled. The Equality & Human Rights Commission is a failed experiment. If tomorrow it were to cease in existence, most of the people it was created to support wouldn’t even notice.” She said, “We need to abolish it & bring back separate, well resourced governmental bodies for each equality strand! Huda Elmi (@hudaelmi_) March 7, 2019. As well as the Newsweek revelation, communist newspaper The Morning Star ran a series of exposés last year of a string of conflicts of interest at the EHRC.” They say, “Journalist Phil Miller revealed a litany of the body’s financial ties to the Conservative Party and the government.” We cannot allow the ruling Tory Party to weaponize an organization that is in place to defend Equality and Human Rights; this is expecially important now as this Tory Government are getting set to ‘redefine’ our future Human Rights!
According to Electronic Intifada, “Perhaps the clearest sign so far of the EHRC’s institutional bias against Labour is how it has repeatedly refused to investigate the Conservatives for their endemic bigotry against Muslims, even while investigating Labour for supposed anti-Semitism.” They report that, “Writing for The Financial Times, Trevor Phillips – a former EHRC chair who has himself made Islamophobic comments for years without consequence – insisted that his ex-colleagues should “ignore protests that the Conservative Party should also be investigated for Islamophobia,” because it would be “aiding and abetting anti-Semitism.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson has attacked Muslim women as “letter boxes.” One poll last year showed that almost two-thirds of Conservative Party members consider Islam a “threat to Western civilization.” And 43 percent of those polled said they would refuse to accept a Muslim prime minister. By comparison, even polling commissioned by the Campaign Against Antisemitism confirms that the Labour Party is one of the least likely to have members with any anti-Semitic views.”
It is vitally important that we Support the Chris Williamson Legal Case against EHRC to publically expose the control this Tory Government has over a supposedly independent regulatory body as this toxic manipulation is certainly not confined to EHRC and will get worse. John Ware has fallen eerily silent now that the Funding for Corbyn’s Defence is over £329,000; he realizes bully and bluff will not render a rapid payout. The funding is sufficient to proceed to Court even if Ware tries to drop the case: I hope Corbyn realizes he must countersue to clear his name as the multiple attacks on Labour, will spiral out of control to bankrupt the party. We must also support JVL and Press Gang to prevent vexatious cases trying to gag honest journalism. The Tories still feel threatened the truth will emerge. The entire façade that made their fake ‘landslide victory’ in the Covert 2019 Rigged Election seem credible will go so we can attack the myth of ‘borrowed votes,’ get a full investigation and remove this Tory Government from office. DO NOT MOVE ON!