I haven't heard all of the latest tape leaked to the press, for obvious political purposes, by enemies of the Labour Party, but from what I've heard from it, on the news, there is nothing that is anti-Semitic or warrants Pete Willsman's suspension let alone immediate expulsion.
The accusation that what Willsman says on the tape is overtly anti-Semitic comes down to his speculation that the Israeli Embassy was probably behind the campaign against Corbyn, and his supporters by creating a moral panic about rampant anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, which had become institutionally anti-Semitic under Corbyn. Its claimed that this is overtly anti-Semitic, because it falls into established anti-Semitic tropes about Jews controlling important institutions.
So, let's examine that. What is the "important institution" that Willsman is suggesting is controlled by Jews here? It is the Israeli Embassy! Is the Israeli Embassy controlled by Israeli Jews? Of course it is. Who else would you expect to control the Israeli Embassy, Outer Mongolians?
The other "anti-Semitic trope" associated with this is that this Jewish controlled Israeli Embassy, is accused of acting in a manner to further the interests of the Israeli state, by seeking to undertake actions in concert with others, in Britain. Shock horror, states attempt to further their own interests, by all sorts of means including covert and conspiratorial means, and the Israeli state itself acts in that manner. One element of actual anti-Semitism, particularly "Left anti-Semitism", is holding the Israeli state to a different set of standards and requirements than any other bourgeois state. That swings both ways. It is not "anti-Semitic" to claim that the Israeli state, and its Embassy acts to further the interests of Israel by all sorts of means, including covert and conspiratorial means, it is to claim that it acts in exactly the same way as every other state in doing so. It is, in fact, anti-Semitic to expect that the Israeli state would somehow act differently to every other state in that regard.
And, of course, not only would we expect the Israeli Embassy, like the Embassy of any other state, to act in whatever way it saw fit, to further the interests of Israel, including trying to undermine the position of anyone it saw as an opponent of that state, but we know that the Israeli State, and its agents, working out of its Embassies, has a long record of doing that, including assassinating its opponents across the globe, kidnapping Israeli citizens that spoke out about the nuclear programme of the Israeli state, and of course, yes, the Al Jazeera video that the British media have been far less forthcoming about than the Willsman tape, showing a representative of the Israeli state offering £1 million to British politicians to undermine other British politicians it saw as hostile to Israel, and its policy in respect of the Palestinians.
So, what is anti-Semitic about pointing out well known facts, and drawing conclusions from them. When the Skripals were poisoned, everything we knew about the vile regime of Putin in Russia pointed the figure immediately in that direction. There was, at the beginning, no evidence to back it up, and in the days and weeks that followed, the actions of the British state itself gave rise for questioning whether the obvious conclusion that Russia was responsible was valid. Yet, the facts meant that it was always going to be the case that speculation pointed the finger in Putin's direction, and quite rightly. So, given that the job of the Israeli Embassy is to promote the interests of the Israeli state, given that the Israeli state, like other states, has a long track record of intervening across the globe to assassinate, and undermine its political opponents, given that there was video footage of the Israeli state offering a £1 million slush fund to undermine British politicians that are critical of Israel, why wouldn't it be quite rational to speculate that the Israeli state, via the Israeli Embassy, and its contacts with sympathisers in Britain, would try to further its interests by undermining its opponents, one of whose most visible is Corbyn, by such means.
Here is the problem with the extension of the definition of anti-Semitism, in that it means that its no longer possible even to accuse the Israeli state of acting in the same normal methods of any other state, without being accused of anti-Semitism, purely on the basis that it is the Israeli state that is being criticised.
The other element of the accusation of anti-Semitism is the suggestion that Willsman in his comments was denying the existence of anti-Semitism, in the Labour Party. But, Willsman has done no such thing. He has merely argued that claims of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party have been grossly exaggerated, and have been so for overtly political reasons so as to undermine Corbyn and his supporters. He may be right or wrong in believing that to be the case, but it is certainly not prima facie anti-Semitic to speculate that it may well be the case given the other evidence to support such a belief. Considering the facts, Willsman's speculation seems at least to have the potential for being correct.
After all, claims of the Labour Party being institutionally anti-Semitic, of anti-Semitism being rife across the Labour Party has itself become a trope repeated ad nauseum by the Tory media, and by Corbyn's opponents at home and abroad. Yet, on the basis of the actual cases brought before the NEC, they constitute only 0.1% of Labour Party members. The instances of anti-Semitism in the Tory Party, not to mention the instances of Islamaphobia, even highlighted by Baroness Warsi, are much greater than is the case with the Labour Party, and the same would probably be true of any large organisation in Britain. Yet, it is only the Labour Party that has been singled out as having this problem, which obviously raises the question why, and who it is that is pushing that agenda, Cui Bono?
If we look at the charges of anti-Semitism brought to the NEC, by some leading Labour MP's, it turned out, even at the first hurdle, that 80% of those listed in those allegations were not even Labour Party members!! Of the rest, it was found that another 200 had no case to answer. When such a large number of charges are brought that even prima facie should never have been brought forward, other than for reasons that those bringing them forward were seeking to create the impression that a much larger problem exists than actually does, it begs the question of what the real motivation of those bringing these spurious charges actually is. The fact that, in every case, those bringing the charges are MP's that from the beginning have been hostile to Corbyn, and those that support him, is at least strong circumstantial evidence as to what those real motives are. After all, the suspensions and witchunting of activists, has resulted in a proportionally large number of Jewish Labour Party members actually being the ones that have been expelled for "anti-Semitism"!
It may, of course, be merely coincidence that many of those MP's that have brought these charges, 80% of which were found to have no substance, are opponents of Corbyn, members of The Labour Friends of Israel, or have connections with BICOM, which itself on its website, shows that a number of its senior personnel are former members of the Israeli state, but if it were Corbyn and his supporters who were shown to be hobnobbing with say representatives of the Russian state, members of lobby groups in parliament and in the Labour Party supporting Russia, and if it was found that the Russian Embassy was offering large amounts of Russian gold to anyone who assisted in undermining its opponents in parliament, I wonder how far we would find any justified criticism, and suspicion of those links described as merely circumstantial, and nothing more than long-held, anti-Russian tropes.
The other element in the release of this tape is its timing. The tape is reportedly several months old, and yet has only just been released, suggesting it has been held back for use at the most advantageous time. It has, of course, allowed Corbyn's opponents to launch another attack on him, via their prince across the water, Tom Watson. The reason for the release of the tape now is obvious. The Corbyn/Stalinist Brexit agenda has led to catastrophe. Surveys show that 60% of Labour Party members, let alone voters, voted for other parties than Labour in the European parliament elections. Corbyn's disastrous policy of economic nationalism, and social democracy in One Country is destroying the party, which now stands in joint fourth place in the polls alongside the Tories, and only just above the Greens, with the Liberals have been resurrected by Corbyn, having a clear lead over all the other parties.
At the same time, the party kicked out Campbell for having voted Liberal. On that basis it would have to expel more than half its members who did the same. That, of course, is what Corbyn's Morning Star advisers are recommending! Corbyn has undermined himself and the Left of the Party that until now has supported him, by poking his supporter base in the eye over Brexit. He has isolated himself locked off behind his tiny cabal of Stalinist advisers. Over the last three years he, and his leadership have continually buckled and backtracked when faced with opposition from the right. he has stood by whilst the witchunting campaign has proceeded. Now the forces of the right, as they always do are pressing forward further, as they see his obvious weakness following the Brexit disaster. Corbyn will almost certainly buckle over Willsman too.
At the same time we see the same Stalinist trolls, and fake news sites coming out with infantile attacks on anyone like Paul Mason who even points out the disaster the Left in the Party,a nd the Party itself is being led into. I don't do Twitter, and having read some of the tweets sent to Paul Mason, which read like the tantrums of petulant, spoiled young children, I can safely say I have no intention of ever wasting my life ever bothering with it. As Corbyn's disastrous strategy weakens his position and that of the Left, allowing the right to reassemble and reorganise, as seen by the rsurgent Liberals, instead of recognising the errors they have made, the Stalinists advising Corbyn instead double down on the rejection of reality, and turn their attack on those that lift the curtain on it.
Fortunately, this is not the Stalinist Russia of the 1930's when that same phenomenon resulted in show trials, executions and assassinations. The worst they can do is idiotic tweets. It is time for the grown ups in the room to take control.
The other element of the accusation of anti-Semitism is the suggestion that Willsman in his comments was denying the existence of anti-Semitism, in the Labour Party. But, Willsman has done no such thing. He has merely argued that claims of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party have been grossly exaggerated, and have been so for overtly political reasons so as to undermine Corbyn and his supporters. He may be right or wrong in believing that to be the case, but it is certainly not prima facie anti-Semitic to speculate that it may well be the case given the other evidence to support such a belief. Considering the facts, Willsman's speculation seems at least to have the potential for being correct.
After all, claims of the Labour Party being institutionally anti-Semitic, of anti-Semitism being rife across the Labour Party has itself become a trope repeated ad nauseum by the Tory media, and by Corbyn's opponents at home and abroad. Yet, on the basis of the actual cases brought before the NEC, they constitute only 0.1% of Labour Party members. The instances of anti-Semitism in the Tory Party, not to mention the instances of Islamaphobia, even highlighted by Baroness Warsi, are much greater than is the case with the Labour Party, and the same would probably be true of any large organisation in Britain. Yet, it is only the Labour Party that has been singled out as having this problem, which obviously raises the question why, and who it is that is pushing that agenda, Cui Bono?
If we look at the charges of anti-Semitism brought to the NEC, by some leading Labour MP's, it turned out, even at the first hurdle, that 80% of those listed in those allegations were not even Labour Party members!! Of the rest, it was found that another 200 had no case to answer. When such a large number of charges are brought that even prima facie should never have been brought forward, other than for reasons that those bringing them forward were seeking to create the impression that a much larger problem exists than actually does, it begs the question of what the real motivation of those bringing these spurious charges actually is. The fact that, in every case, those bringing the charges are MP's that from the beginning have been hostile to Corbyn, and those that support him, is at least strong circumstantial evidence as to what those real motives are. After all, the suspensions and witchunting of activists, has resulted in a proportionally large number of Jewish Labour Party members actually being the ones that have been expelled for "anti-Semitism"!
It may, of course, be merely coincidence that many of those MP's that have brought these charges, 80% of which were found to have no substance, are opponents of Corbyn, members of The Labour Friends of Israel, or have connections with BICOM, which itself on its website, shows that a number of its senior personnel are former members of the Israeli state, but if it were Corbyn and his supporters who were shown to be hobnobbing with say representatives of the Russian state, members of lobby groups in parliament and in the Labour Party supporting Russia, and if it was found that the Russian Embassy was offering large amounts of Russian gold to anyone who assisted in undermining its opponents in parliament, I wonder how far we would find any justified criticism, and suspicion of those links described as merely circumstantial, and nothing more than long-held, anti-Russian tropes.
The other element in the release of this tape is its timing. The tape is reportedly several months old, and yet has only just been released, suggesting it has been held back for use at the most advantageous time. It has, of course, allowed Corbyn's opponents to launch another attack on him, via their prince across the water, Tom Watson. The reason for the release of the tape now is obvious. The Corbyn/Stalinist Brexit agenda has led to catastrophe. Surveys show that 60% of Labour Party members, let alone voters, voted for other parties than Labour in the European parliament elections. Corbyn's disastrous policy of economic nationalism, and social democracy in One Country is destroying the party, which now stands in joint fourth place in the polls alongside the Tories, and only just above the Greens, with the Liberals have been resurrected by Corbyn, having a clear lead over all the other parties.
At the same time, the party kicked out Campbell for having voted Liberal. On that basis it would have to expel more than half its members who did the same. That, of course, is what Corbyn's Morning Star advisers are recommending! Corbyn has undermined himself and the Left of the Party that until now has supported him, by poking his supporter base in the eye over Brexit. He has isolated himself locked off behind his tiny cabal of Stalinist advisers. Over the last three years he, and his leadership have continually buckled and backtracked when faced with opposition from the right. he has stood by whilst the witchunting campaign has proceeded. Now the forces of the right, as they always do are pressing forward further, as they see his obvious weakness following the Brexit disaster. Corbyn will almost certainly buckle over Willsman too.
At the same time we see the same Stalinist trolls, and fake news sites coming out with infantile attacks on anyone like Paul Mason who even points out the disaster the Left in the Party,a nd the Party itself is being led into. I don't do Twitter, and having read some of the tweets sent to Paul Mason, which read like the tantrums of petulant, spoiled young children, I can safely say I have no intention of ever wasting my life ever bothering with it. As Corbyn's disastrous strategy weakens his position and that of the Left, allowing the right to reassemble and reorganise, as seen by the rsurgent Liberals, instead of recognising the errors they have made, the Stalinists advising Corbyn instead double down on the rejection of reality, and turn their attack on those that lift the curtain on it.
Fortunately, this is not the Stalinist Russia of the 1930's when that same phenomenon resulted in show trials, executions and assassinations. The worst they can do is idiotic tweets. It is time for the grown ups in the room to take control.
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