Tony Greenstein

Last updated

Tony Greenstein is a British left-wing activist and writer. An anti-fascist and former squatter, he was a founder member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and stood for parliament as a representative of the Alliance for Green Socialism. In 2018, he was expelled from the Labour Party for "harassment" and "abusive language", over allegations of antisemitism. [1] Greenstein is opposed to Zionism which he believes is a racist and supremacist ideology.

Contents

Early life

Greenstein grew up in Liverpool. He was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family and his father was Rabbi Solomon Greenstein, who opposed Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists at the Battle of Cable Street in 1936. [2] [3] He moved to Brighton to study Maths and Chemistry at Brighton Polytechnic and was elected vice-president of the student union. In 1974, he became involved in housing activism alongside Steve Bassam and squatted in derelict hotels before negotiating a licence to live at Lansdowne Place. [4]

In 1980, he was one of the founders of the Brighton Campaign Against Youth Unemployment and he was also involved with anti-fascist campaigns. [4] Greenstein actively opposed the far-right National Front and neo-nazi British Movement in Brighton during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, as a member of the Brighton & Hove Anti-Fascist Committee and Anti Fascist Action. In more recent years he has been involved in campaigning against far-right groups such as the British National Party, English Defence League and March for England (MfE) in the city. [5] [6]

Career

In 2013, Greenstein was secretary of the Brighton and Hove Unemployed Workers Centre, a community centre in Hollingdean. [7] He was a founder member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and in the 1980s, he ran the Labour Movement Campaign for Palestine. [8] [9] In 2005, he stood unsuccessfully for parliament in the Brighton Pavilion constituency for the Alliance for Green Socialism, getting 188 votes. [10]

Greenstein was barred from joining the Labour Party in 2015 and then joined following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader. [11] He was suspended in 2016 regarding accusations of antisemitism and then expelled in February 2018 after a review by Labour's National Constitutional Committee. [12] In 2019, Greenstein sued the Campaign Against Antisemitism for libel over its claim that he was a "notorious antisemite". [13] The High Court dismissed the claim in 2020. [14] Greenstein had previously co-founded Labour Against the Witchhunt and told a Jewish Voice for Labour meeting during the 2018 Labour Party Conference that charges of antisemitism in the UK Labour Party were designed to destabilise Corbyn. [15]

In December 2021 Greenstein accepted a two-year restraining order in return for the Crown Prosecution Service dropping two charges of harassment against the Labour party's disputes team. The restraint order prevented him from further contacting the disputes team. [16] [17]

In September 2023 Greenstein was given a 9 month prison sentence, suspended for two years, for his part in a Palestine Action attack on the factory of Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms company, at Shenstone near Walsall. He was convicted, with three others, of intent to cause criminal damage. [18] [19]

Selected works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish Socialists' Group</span> British Jewish socialist organisation

The Jewish Socialists' Group (JSG) is a Jewish socialist collective in Britain, formed in the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Zionism</span> Opposition to Zionism

Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestine—a region partly coinciding with the biblical Land of Israel—was flawed or unjust in some way.

The Jewish Labour Movement (JLM), known as Poale Zion (Great Britain) from 1903 to 2004, is one of the oldest socialist societies affiliated to the UK Labour Party. It is a member of the progressive coalition of Avodah/Meretz/Arzenu/Ameinu within the World Zionist Organization. Its sister parties are the Israeli Labor Party (Havodah) and Meretz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Williamson (politician)</span> British politician (born 1956)

Christopher Williamson is a British politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby North from 2010 to 2015 and again from 2017 to 2019. He was Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government from October 2010 to October 2013. Williamson was previously a local councillor in Derby, representing the Normanton ward from 1991 until 2011 and serving twice as leader of Derby City Council.

British Jews have experienced antisemitism - discrimination and persecution as Jews - since a Jewish community was first established in England in 1070. They experienced a series of massacres in the Medieval period, which culminated in their expulsion from England in 1290. They were readmitted by Oliver Cromwell in 1655. By the 1800s, an increasing toleration of religious minorities gradually helped to eliminate legal restrictions on public employment and political representation. However, Jewish financiers were seen by some as holding disproportionate influence on British government policy, particularly concerning the British Empire and foreign affairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Kyle</span> British politician (born 1970)

Peter John Kyle is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hove and Portslade, formerly Hove, since 2015. Kyle previously served as Shadow Minister for Victims and Youth Justice, Shadow Minister for Schools, and Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campaign Against Antisemitism</span> British non-governmental organisation

Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) is a British non-governmental organisation established in August 2014 by members of the Anglo-Jewish community. It conducts litigation, runs awareness-raising campaigns, organises rallies and petitions, provides education on antisemitism and publishes research.

The Chakrabarti Inquiry was a 2016 investigation into allegations of antisemitism and other forms of racism in the United Kingdom's Labour Party. Chaired by barrister Shami Chakrabarti, the inquiry was launched following comments made by two high-profile Labour figures, Naz Shah and Ken Livingstone, that some asserted were antisemitic in nature; Shah, a Member of parliament, and Livingstone, the former mayor of London, were subsequently suspended from the party pending an investigation. The inquiry presented its findings on 30 June 2016, stating that although antisemitism and other types of racism were not endemic within Labour, there was an "occasionally toxic atmosphere".

Marc Wadsworth is a British black rights campaigner, broadcast and print journalist and BBC filmmaker and radio producer. He founded the Anti-Racist Alliance in 1991 and two years later, also helped set up the justice campaign for murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence. Wadsworth launched an early citizen-journalism news portal, The-Latest.com. In 2008, Wadsworth's reporting triggered the resignation of Mayor of London Boris Johnson's spokesman.

<i>The Lefts Jewish Problem</i> 2016 book by Dave Rich

The Left's Jewish Problem: Jeremy Corbyn, Israel and Anti‑Semitism is a 2016 book by Dave Rich. The book argues that new antisemitism is "masked as anti-Zionism" in left-wing politics.

There have been instances of antisemitism within the Labour Party of the United Kingdom (UK) since its establishment. One such example is canards about "Jewish finance" during the Boer War. In the 2000s, controversies arose over comments made by Labour politicians regarding an alleged "Jewish lobby", a comparison by London Labour politician Ken Livingstone of a Jewish journalist to a concentration camp guard, and a 2005 Labour attack on Jewish Conservative Party politician Michael Howard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish Voice for Labour</span> British political organisation

Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) is a British organisation formed in 2017 for Jewish members of the Labour Party. Its aims include a commitment "to strengthen the party in its opposition to all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism ... to uphold the right of supporters of justice for Palestinians to engage in solidarity activities", and "to oppose attempts to widen the definition of antisemitism beyond its meaning of hostility towards, or discrimination against, Jews as Jews".

Jacqueline Walker is a British political activist and writer. She has been a teacher and anti-racism trainer. She is the author of a family memoir, Pilgrim State, and the co-writer and performer of a one-woman show, The Lynching. She held the roles of Vice-Chair of South Thanet Constituency Labour Party and Vice-Chair of Momentum before being suspended and ultimately expelled from the party for misconduct.

Jenny Rachel Manson is a British Jewish activist, author, former civil servant, former Labour Party councillor for Colindale on Barnet London Borough Council, and co-chair of Jewish Voice for Labour.

Peter Rupert William Willsman is a British political activist who was a member of the Labour Party's National Executive Committee and the secretary of the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy.

Labour Against the Witchhunt (LAW) was a group formed in late 2017 to campaign against what it regarded as politically motivated allegations of antisemitism in the UK Labour Party, which it called a "witchhunt". It also campaigned against what it regarded as unfair disciplinary action taken by the Labour Party against its members, particularly in relation to such allegations of antisemitism. The group supported individual members facing disciplinary action and called for changes to the party's disciplinary procedures and code of conduct.

Keep Talking is a conspiracy theory discussion group in the United Kingdom. Topics of its speakers have included the supposed faking of 9/11 and the 7/7 London terror attacks, the alleged hidden agendas behind assassinations of public figures and "secret" agendas of the Brexit negotiations. Researchers Dave Rich of the Community Security Trust and Joe Mulhall of Hope not Hate, after a three-year investigation into the group, reported that meetings often discussed alleged Jewish conspiracies, including Holocaust denial. Rich and Mulhall also reported that regular attendees included far-right activists, at least one former Labour Party member, and unspecified far-left activists.

Zionist antisemitism or antisemitic Zionism refers to a phenomenon in which antisemites express support for Zionism and the State of Israel. In some cases, this support may be promoted for explicitly antisemitic reasons. Historically, this type of antisemitism has been most notable among Christian Zionists, who may perpetrate religious antisemitism while being outspoken in their support for Jewish sovereignty in Israel due to their interpretation of Christian eschatology. Similarly, people who identify with the political far-right, particularly in Europe and the United States, may support the Zionist movement because they seek to expel Jews from their country and see Zionism as the least complicated method of achieving this goal and satisfying their racial antisemitism.

Zionist as a pejorative or Zio is a term commonly used by "anti-Zionists" as described by academics, political parties and civil rights organizations as antisemitic, including but not limited to the American Jewish Committee (AJC), Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the British Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats.

References

  1. ↑ "Labour Activist Tony Greenstein Expelled from Party over Antisemitism". 18 February 2018.
  2. ↑ Tony Greenstein, The Fight Against Fascism in Brighton & the South Coast, Brighton History Workshop, p.4, 2011.
  3. ↑ https://tonygreenstein.com/2015/06/the-death-of-my-father-rabbi-solomon/ The Death of my Father Rabbi Solomon Greenstein, Tony Greenstein, 1 December 2011.
  4. 1 2 Greenstein, Tony. "40 years on: Memories of student protests, squatting, and street politics". Brighton & Hove Independent. Archived from the original on 6 December 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  5. ↑ Tony Greenstein, The Fight Against Fascism in Brighton & the South Coast
  6. ↑ Finn Scott-Delany, Brighton Argus, (22 April 2014), Politics of the far-right never welcome in city https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/11163330.politics-of-the-far-right-never-welcome-in-city/
  7. ↑ Garner, Bill (24 March 2013). "The Big Interview: Tony Greenstein". The Argus. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  8. ↑ Rosen, Armin (20 February 2018). "Another Labour Party Leader Expelled for Anti-Semitism". Tablet Magazine. Archived from the original on 12 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  9. ↑ Rich, Dave (6 September 2016). The Left's Jewish Problem: Jeremy Corbyn, Israel and Anti-Semitism. Biteback Publishing. p. 101. ISBN   978-1-78590-151-5. Archived from the original on 12 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  10. ↑ "Result: Brighton Pavilion". BBC News . 6 May 2005. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  11. ↑ Spiro, Zachary (2 April 2016). "Labour welcomes back blogger who compares Israelis to Nazis". The Times . Archived from the original on 24 May 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  12. ↑ Forrester, Kate (18 February 2018). "Labour Activist Tony Greenstein Expelled From Party Over Antisemitism". HuffPost UK. Archived from the original on 20 February 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  13. ↑ Rocker, Simon (15 February 2019). "Definition of antisemitism under the spotlight in anti-Zionist campaigner's libel battle against charity". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  14. ↑ Frot, Mathilde (6 November 2020). "Tony Greenstein's 'notorious antisemite' libel claim dismissed by court". The Jewish Chronicle . Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  15. ↑ Smith, Mikey (24 September 2018). "Labour anti-Semitism is 'witch hunt' to topple Corbyn, expelled activist claims". Mirror. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  16. ↑ "Tony Greenstein 'handed restraining order'". The Jewish Chronicle . 3 December 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  17. ↑ "Expelled Labour member given restraining order preventing contact with party's complaints team". 2 December 2021.
  18. ↑ "International News Letter – September 2023". Midwifery. 124: 103777. September 2023. doi:10.1016/j.midw.2023.103777. ISSN   0266-6138. S2CID   260360910.
  19. ↑ "Greenstein escapes prison despite being found guilty of plotting to damage Israeli firm's factory". Jewish News. 6 September 2023.
  20. ↑ "Arabs, Jews, and Socialism: 3. Zionism and the Holocaust". Workers' Liberty. Retrieved 13 July 2024.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.