Jewish Labour Movement

Last updated

Jewish Labour Movement
AbbreviationJLM
Formation1903
Location
  • United Kingdom [1]
Membership (2020)
3,000 [2]
National movement chair
Mike Katz [3]
Parliamentary chair
 Margaret Hodge [4]
National secretary
Adam Langleben [5]
National vice chairs
Affiliations
Website jewishlabour.uk OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Formerly called
Poale Zion

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. [8] 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) [7] and Meretz. [9]

Contents

JLM is affiliated to the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland. [7] Its objects are to maintain and promote Labour or Socialist Zionism as the movement for self-determination of the Jewish people within the state of Israel, and to support, develop and promote political activists who work to enable the objects and values of the Jewish Labour Movement. [7]

Aims and membership

The organisation's aim is stated as "To organise and maintain a political movement of Jewish people within the UK Labour Party and the international labour movement". [10]

Full membership is open to Jewish people, while non-Jewish supporters can apply for ally membership. Only full members are eligible for a vote in JLM processes and internal elections. Members of parties which oppose the Labour Party in elections are ineligible for membership. [10]

The values of the JLM are centred around a connection between socialism, the Labour Party and socialist Zionism, and the values which are espoused by these movements, including international peace and cooperation, social justice, equality and freedom. This doctrine is enshrined in the organisation's constitution and values, which state their values as including 'international peace and cooperation,' 'democratic socialism in the UK and Israel, 'the application of 'Jewish ethical principles to create a society based on social justices and a sustainable environment', 'to promote the centrality of Israel in Jewish life' and opposition to 'fascist, racist and anti-Semitic groups.' [11] [12]

Poale Zion

Establishment

The origins of Poale Zion in Britain were in the Ma'aravi ("Western") Society, formed in London in 1902 by Jewish socialist journalist Kalman Marmor, under the influence of the Eastern European Labour Zionist movement led by Marxist theorist Ber Borochov. [13] Branches of Poale Zion were formed in London and Leeds in 1903/04 and 1905 respectively, [14] [15] and in Manchester and Liverpool by 1906. [13] Two branches were formed in London, one by the garment workers union, one by the Independent Cabinet Makers Union. [16] A permanent headquarters was opened in Whitechapel in February 1904, [16] and a nationwide organisation was launched at a conference in Manchester in 1906. [17] [18]

Early 20th century

Poale Zion was active in Britain during World War I, under the leadership of J Pomeranz and Morris Meyer, and influential on the British labour movement, including on the drafting (by Sidney Webb and Arthur Henderson) of the Labour Party’s War Aims Memorandum, recognising the "right of return" of Jews to Palestine, a document which preceded the Balfour Declaration by three months. [19] [16] In this period, it published the periodical Jewish Labour Correspondence. [20]

After World War I, Poale Zion published several pamphlets in Yiddish and a Yiddish journal, Undzer Veg. [17] Shlomo Kaplansky collaborated with the Independent Labour Party in setting up the Vienna International of socialist parties. [21]

In mid-1920, the World Union of Poale Zion in Vienna set up a Poale Zion office in London, led by Shlomo Kaplansky and David Ben-Gurion. The office was in rooms in Petticoat Lane, where Moshe Sharett worked part-time translating Yiddish into English. They built contacts with both Labour and the Independent Labour Party, [21] and succeeded in becoming affiliated to the British Labour Party in 1920 under the name of The Jewish Socialist Labour Party, claiming membership of 3,000, although actual membership was a few hundred. One issue that they tried to influence policy on was the northern border of Palestine which was being decided at the San Remo conference. They hoped that it would be extended as far as the Litani River. They had only limited success in influencing Labour Party Middle East policy and the office closed in March 1921. [22] [23] However, party leader Ramsay MacDonald was influenced by PZ, who would publish his pamphlet A Socialist in Palestine (1922) documenting his visit to Palestine. [24]

In 1923, Leah L'Estrange Malone became the organisation's first female chair. [25]

By 1928, the World Union of Poale Zion claimed to have 1,000 members in the United Kingdom. [26] World PZ leader Dov Hoz was based in the UK in 1928, and set about reviving and re-organising Poale Zion (Great Britain), including inspiring PZ members to become more active in the mainstream Labour Party. [27] Young Poale Zion was launched in Bethnal Green, London, in 1928, by Sam Dreen. [28]

Poale Zion and Dov Hoz played a crucial role in the 1930 Whitechapel and St Georges by-election, swinging the Jewish vote behind the non-Jewish Labour candidate, James Henry Hall, rather than the Jewish Liberal candidate Barnett Janner. [29]

In the 1940s, Poale Zion (Great Britain) claimed a membership of nearly 2,000. [17]

Late 20th century

In 1957, Poale Zion played a role in the formation of Labour Friends of Israel, [17] [30] with which it continues to work.

In June 1982, Poale Zion formed a Scottish branch, with the MP for East Kilbride, Maurice Miller, becoming its chair. [31] In the mid-1980s, PZ claimed a paper membership of 2,000. [32]

Before the Arab-Israeli war of 1967, Poale Zion represented the dominant pro-Zionist view within the British Labour Party. However, as the left became increasingly anti-Zionist, relations with the left of the party were increasingly tense. For instance, in April 1983 women members of Poale Zion were prevented from attending an International Women's Day seminar at the Greater London Council's County Hall, [30] and in 1984 it was proposed that the Labour Party end the connection. [33]

In 1985, Eric Heffer suggested Poale Zion as a model for a black socialist society, as a way for Labour Party Black Sections to represent black and minority members within the party structure. [34] In the 1990s, PZ affiliated to the Anti-Racist Alliance, a black-led anti-racist movement closely aligned to the Labour Party Black Sections and founded by Marc Wadsworth, and later to its successor the National Assembly Against Racism. [35]

Leading postwar members of Poale Zion included Maurice Orbach; [36] [37] Samuel Fisher, Baron Fisher of Camden; [38] Leo Abse, who set up the Cardiff branch in 1948; [39] Mary Mikardo [40] and Ian Mikardo; [41] Simon Pinner and his son Hayim Pinner, who was president of the youth wing and editor in the 1960s of its paper Jewish Vanguard; [42] the brothers Leslie and Harold Lever (Leslie served as chair); [43] Percy Sassoon Gourgey, secretary in 1959 and chair 1964–67; [44] [45] Sidney Goldberg, general secretary at the time of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war; [40] and Eric Moonman, chair in the 1970s. [46] Reginald Freeson served as the political secretary of Poale Zion, co-chair and editor of its journal Vanguard in the late 1980s to early 1990s. [44] In the 1990s, Lawrie Nerva was chair. In 2002, Louise Ellman was vice-chair.

Jewish Labour Movement

2004–2015

Poale Zion (Great Britain) was relaunched as the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) in 2004 in response to changes within global left Zionism during the Second Intifada, with an increased focus on Britain's Jewish community. [33] [47] [48] [49] Louise Ellman recounts that the July 2004 'launch at the House of Commons was a highly successful event, with the Israeli Ambassador and the Foreign Office Minister responsible for Middle East matters as guest speakers. Messages of goodwill were delivered from the Prime Minister, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the World Labour Zionist Movement'. [49] Louise Ellman rose from being vice-chair to chair in 2006, a position she held until 2016.

There were JLM speakers at the official commemorations of the Battle of Cable Street on its 75th [50] and 80th [51] anniversaries in 2011 and 2016 respectively.

In the 2015 Labour Party leadership election, JLM nominated Yvette Cooper. [52]

The 2016 restructure

After ten years in the role, Louise Ellman retired as chair to become Honorary President. [53] Her successor, Jeremy Newmark, was a former CEO of the UK's Jewish Leadership Council and a former spokesperson for the previous Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks. He had also stood as a Labour candidate for Parliament in 2017, in Finchley and Golders Green. Sarah Sackman and Mike Katz were elected as Vice-Chairs. [54] Sackman had stood as Labour's candidate in the Finchley and Golders Green constituency in the 2015 general election while Katz was selected as a Labour Party candidate in the 2016 London Assembly election. Peter Mason, the former director of London Jewish Forum and a councillor in Ealing, became national secretary. He was also elected to Labour's National Constitutional Committee, which handles disciplinary cases, the first JLM candidate to be elected to a national committee for 20 years. It followed a report by former Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti that recommended a transfer of powers to the NCC. [55]

The Jewish Chronicle, observing that '(JLM's) affiliation to Labour as a socialist society means it benefits from inside access to the party's various structures and systems', said that 'Mr Newmark is adamant that, to win the battle, Jews have to remain in the party rather than decamp in the face of Jew-hatred.' [53] Newmark said "There are some people who have left the party. I respect their position and understand it up to a point but I don't agree with it on any level. If you leave a political vacuum, others will come in and fill it. The whole purpose of JLM is to become an organising focus within the party and a space for people who feel Labour is their political home." [53] In March 2016, David Hirsh of Engage, in an article entitled "Jew hate and today's Left", noted that "The Jewish Labour Movement—the old Poale Zion—is emerging as a key organising focus within the Labour Party." [56] The JLM was described by The Jewish Chronicle as a 'gathering-place for moderates concerned about the direction the party is taking under Mr Corbyn' and affiliate membership was established for non-Jews. Membership increased to around 1,000 with a "flood" of affiliate members showing their "support and solidarity". [53] The 2016 JLM annual general meeting voted unanimously to adopt a new structure to enable it to increase its engagement inside the Labour Party on a local, regional and national basis. [54] In the 2016 Labour Party leadership election, when MPs unsuccessfully sought to replace Jeremy Corbyn, JLM nominated Owen Smith after over 90% of its members voted for him in an internal ballot. [47] Some commentators[ who? ] concluded that the revived JLM wished to remove or weaken Corbyn and others sympathetic to the Palestinians. [57]

Young people who had had some success in their early political careers were appointed to a range of roles in the organisation. They included networks officer, Rachel Wenstone, former National Union of Students vice-president; political education officer, Jay Stoll, a senior parliamentary assistant to a Labour MP and former general secretary of the London School of Economics' student union; campaigns officer, Adam Langleben, who had been elected to Barnet Council; and youth and student officer, Liron Velleman, still a student but holding a role in the party's Chipping Barnet branch. In July 2016, Ella Rose was appointed as the organisation's first director. [58] [53] Rose was formerly a Union of Jewish Students president and a Public Affairs Officer at the Israeli Embassy. [59] She also sat on the advisory board of the Jewish Leadership Council's Lead programme and on the Board of Deputies of British Jews. [60]

In September 2017, the JLM held its first ever one-day conference. [61]

By February 2018, the JLM had over 2,000 members, according to National Secretary Peter Mason. [62]

Leadership and organisation

In February 2018, Jeremy Newmark resigned as chair of the JLM after The Jewish Chronicle published an internal audit report into his conduct while he was CEO of the Jewish Leadership Council. It was alleged that, between 2006 and 2013, he defrauded the council of more than £10,000. The newspaper claimed that the council had covered up his alleged behaviour and accepted his resignation on the grounds of ill health. Newmark denied any wrongdoing, though he resigned as Chair of the JLM two days later to enable him to respond to the allegations. [63] [64] Later in February, the JLM reported some financial matters to the police for investigation. [65] He was replaced by Ivor Caplin. [66]

In October 2018, the Director, Ella Rose, left for a role with the Holocaust Educational Trust. [67]

In April 2019, Mike Katz was elected National Movement Chair, defeating Ivor Caplin, and Ruth Smeeth was elected as Parliamentary Chair, succeeding Luciana Berger, who resigned from the Labour Party in February 2019. [3] Joe Goldberg, Sarah Sackman and Stephane Savary were elected as National Vice-Chairs. In January 2020, Margaret Hodge became Parliamentary Chair while Ruth Smeeth, who was no longer an MP, became a National Vice-Chair. [68]

In October 2019, the Honorary President, Louise Ellman, resigned from the Labour Party but said that she was not planning to support another party, meaning she remained eligible to be a member.

The Jewish Labour Movement has a Local Government Network which seeks to recruit ambassadors in every Labour Group across the country to be a point of contact, educate local members and work with JLM nationally. [69] Its Jewish Councillors Network provides a space for and support to Jewish Labour councillors nationally as representatives and campaigners for the Party and political leaders and role models within the Jewish community. [69] The Youth and Students section provides 14–26 year old members a network and opportunities to engage with the JLM and the Labour Party. [70]

Relationship with the party

At the September 2017 Labour Party Conference, new rules proposed by the Jewish Labour Movement were adopted making hate speech a disciplinary offence. [71]

In March 2018, the JLM supported a demonstration by Jewish groups against the Labour Party leadership's handling of antisemitism. [72] [73]

In April 2018, the Jewish Labour Movement asked for and received a guarantee that JLM would remain Labour's only Jewish affiliate, after suggestions that Jewish Voice for Labour might be allowed to affiliate. [74] This was one of 19 requests made by JLM to the Labour Party, alongside six set by Jewish community organisations. [75]

In September 2018, as the JLM asked, Labour added all 11 IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism examples, unamended, to the Party's code of conduct. [76]

In October 2018, the JLM appealed to Labour Party members to send it examples of antisemitism within Labour. [77]

In November 2018, the JLM submitted a dossier of examples to the Equality and Human Rights Commission and asked it to investigate the Labour Party which, it said, was "institutionally anti-Semitic". [78]

In March 2019, Jeremy Corbyn wrote to the JLM conveying his and the shadow cabinet's "very strong desire for you to remain a part of our movement" following reports that it was considering disaffiliating. [79] In April 2019, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced that they had joined the JLM. Brown said that he joined to support Jews in light of antisemitism in the Labour Party. [80] Khan said he had joined "to demonstrate 'support and appreciation'" for British Jews. [81] In April 2019, JLM decided to remain affiliated to the Labour Party but passed a motion of no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn over his alleged mishandling of anti-Semitism within the party. [82]

In July 2019, JLM described Labour's appointment of a liaison officer to improve the party's relationships with the Jewish community as a "pointless, ineffective gesture". [83]

In September 2019, the JLM held a rally at the Middle Street Synagogue in Brighton during the Labour Party Conference. Speakers included MPs, Ruth Smeeth, Margaret Hodge, Alex Sobel, Louise Ellman, Stella Creasy and Rosie Duffield, Seb Dance MEP, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, Luke Akehurst, director of We Believe in Israel and secretary of Labour First, Nathan Yeowell, director of Progress, Miriam Mirwitch, chair of Young Labour and Rania Ramli, chairperson of the recently disbanded Labour Students. Smeeth said that "This isn't a fight for Jews (or) equality in the party – this is a fight for the Labour Party." Hodge drew loud cheers when she promised that "I'm not going to give up until Jeremy Corbyn ceases to be leader of the Labour Party." [84]

In December 2019, the JLM made a submission to the Equality and Human Rights Commission as part of the EHRC's investigation into anti-Semitism in the Labour Party. [85] It offered alleged incidents of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, including the description of Jewish Labour MP Margaret Hodge as a 'Zionist remedial cancer' and a 'Zionist bitch,' as well as the discriminatory practices of the South Tottenham CLP towards prospective Haredi Jewish members. [86] [87] [85] It also alleged the labelling of Jews as 'child killers,' 'subhuman' and 'Zio scum,' and told of how Jews were told that 'Hitler was right.' [88] [89] [90]

In 2020, the JLM nominated Lisa Nandy in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election and Ian Murray in the 2020 Labour Party deputy leadership election, in both cases by a small margin. [91]

Training

Following its 2016 restructuring, JLM offered training on antisemitism awareness to Constituency Labour Parties.

In 2018, the JLM refused to provide antisemitism awareness training to those subject to disciplinary proceedings as they did not believe training was an appropriate sanction. [92]

In August 2018, the JLM refused to offer training at the Party's annual conference, after disagreeing with the Party leadership over its content. [93]

In March 2019, the JLM suspended their training programme. JLM said that their role had been undermined after the Labour Party announced it planned to enrol staff and members of the National Executive Committee and National Constitutional Committee on a short course on antisemitism being developed by the Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism, despite Labour's stated intention of consulting Jewish communal organisations prior to its implementation. [94] In July 2019, JLM suspended a member who had continued to provide training on antisemitism. [95]

In July 2019, the JLM refused to collaborate with the Labour Party in developing educational materials on antisemitism. [96]

In June 2020, the JLM said they would not undertake antisemitism training for all Labour staff, as Keir Starmer had requested, while "staff who were central to the failure to deal with antisemitism under Mr Corbyn remained in their jobs". [97]

In mid–July 2021, Labour's National Executive Committee announced that all prospective Labour candidates would be trained by the Jewish Labour Movement to deal with anti-Semitism. [98] [99] The Jewish Labour Movement also welcomed the NEC's decision to ban four alleged far left factions, namely Resist, Labour Against the Witchhunt, the Labour in Exile Network and Socialist Appeal, during that same meeting. [100]

Campaigning

In April 2019, Katz said that JLM would be selective in campaigning for Labour candidates in future elections, saying "If you're backing the leadership and the way they have handled antisemitism – then you are absolutely not going to get our support" and "If you clearly and consistently support us...then we will have your back". [101] [102]

JLM said their members would not campaign for Lisa Forbes in the June 2019 Peterborough by-election after it was revealed she had liked a social media post of a video of children praying in solidarity with the victims of the Christchurch mosque shootings with accompanying text which commented that Theresa May had a "Zionist slave masters agenda", and had expressed her "enjoyment" in reading a thread which included a comment that Islamic State had been founded and funded by the CIA and Mossad. [103] [104] Forbes said that she had liked the video and the content of a long thread of posts and had not noticed the specific comments. [105]

In October 2019, The Jewish Chronicle reported that the JLM's members would not campaign in support of Labour candidate Ross Houston in Finchley and Golders Green in the December 2019 general election as a show of solidarity with its previous Parliamentary Chair, Luciana Berger, who was standing for the Liberal Democrats in the seat. [106] It was later reported that day that the JLM had announced that "We will not be campaigning unless in exceptional circumstances and for exceptional candidates, like our parliamentary chair Ruth Smeeth, and members of the parliamentary Labour party who've been unwavering in their support of us. We will not be giving endorsements to candidates in non-Labour-held seats". [107] [108] [109] According to The Independent, JLM "is expected to draw attention (during the campaign) to Labour MPs who it believes have a poor record of tackling antisemitism". [110]

Responses

The JLM has attracted some criticism from within the Labour Party. Critics contended that the JLM had become largely dormant by the early 21st century and was only revived following the election of Jeremy Corbyn. [57] In September 2017, Michael Kalmanovitz, of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, at a fringe meeting hosted by the "Free Speech on Israel" group alongside the Labour Party conference, asked "What are JLM and LFI doing in our Party? It's time we campaigned to kick them out". [111] At the same conference, a number of Jewish members of the Labour Party launched Jewish Voice for Labour as "an alternative voice for Jewish members of Labour" who do not support the Jewish Labour Movement's "profoundly Zionist orientation", [112] contending that "the JLM cannot represent all Jewish members of the Labour Party when it is committed 'to promote the centrality of Israel in Jewish life' as well as the wider Jerusalem Programme of the World Zionist Organization." [113]

In March 2018, the Morning Star criticised the JLM for its "unquestioning zionism" and for being "unscrupulous enough to call fellow Jews anti-semites when the real fallout is between zionists and anti-zionists." [114] In April 2018, after the JLM voted that it had no confidence in Corbyn, the political secretary of the Labour Representation Committee commented "[JLM] is campaigning to make a Labour government impossible! They are stabbing us in the back. That is insupportable. The JLM must be disaffiliated from Labour as soon as possible." [115]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Ellman</span> British Labour politician

Dame Louise Joyce Ellman is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Liverpool Riverside from 1997 to 2019. She is a member of the Labour Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Ryan (politician)</span> British Independent politician

Joan Marie Ryan is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Enfield North from 1997 to 2010 and from 2015 to 2019. She was first elected as a Labour Party MP but later defected to join Change UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yachad (NGO)</span> Jewish NGO in the United Kingdom (est. 2011)

Yachad is a non-governmental organization based in the United Kingdom. It describes itself as "pro-Israel, pro-peace".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewdas</span> Anti-Zionist Jewish organisation

Jewdas is a Jewish diaspora group based in London. It describes itself as a "radical Jewish diaspora group" and is described by The Jewish Chronicle as "known for its far-left anti-Zionism". It has a satirical-communal website and stages events in London and elsewhere.

The Israel lobby in the United Kingdom are individuals and groups seeking to influence the foreign policy of the United Kingdom in favour of bilateral ties with Israel, Zionism, Israel, or the policies of the Israeli government. As any lobby, such individuals and groups may seek to influence politicians and political parties, the media, the general public or specific groups or sectors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish Leadership Council</span>

The Jewish Leadership Council is an organisation in the United Kingdom, founded in 2003, whose declared aim is to forward the interests of the organised Jewish community in Britain. The council was founded by its first chairman, then president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Henry Grunwald, and a number of other senior UK Jewish leaders. The council acts as an umbrella group for various Jewish community organizations, charities, Zionist and pro-Israel advocacy groups.

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

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.

Antisemitism in the United Kingdom signifies hatred of and discrimination against Jews in the United Kingdom. Discrimination and hostility against the community since its establishment in 1070 resulted in a series of massacres on several occasions and their expulsion from the country in 1290. They were readmitted by Oliver Cromwell in 1655.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish left</span> Movement of activists whose Judaism informs their support left-wing or liberal causes

The Jewish left consists of Jews who identify with, or support, left-wing or left-liberal causes, consciously as Jews, either as individuals or through organizations. There is no one organization or movement which constitutes the Jewish left, however. Jews have been major forces in the history of the labor movement, the settlement house movement, the women's rights movement, anti-racist and anti-colonialist work, and anti-fascist and anti-capitalist organizations of many forms in Europe, the United States, Australia, Algeria, Iraq, Ethiopia, South Africa, and modern-day Israel. Jews have a history of involvement in anarchism, socialism, Marxism, and Western liberalism. Although the expression "on the left" covers a range of politics, many well-known figures "on the left" have been of Jews who were born into Jewish families and have various degrees of connection to Jewish communities, Jewish culture, Jewish tradition, or the Jewish religion in its many variants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poale Zion</span> 20th-century Jewish political party and organisation

Poale Zion was a movement of Marxist–Zionist Jewish workers founded in various cities of Poland, Europe and the Russian Empire at about the turn of the 20th century after the Bund rejected Zionism in 1901.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Lansman</span> British political activist (born 1957)

Jonathan Lansman is a British political activist. He is best known for having worked on Jeremy Corbyn's successful 2015 campaign for the leadership of the Labour Party and subsequently founded the pro-Corbyn organisation Momentum. He is a member of the Labour Party's National Executive Committee. Lansman has worked for both Tony Benn and Michael Meacher, and was a prominent supporter of Benn in the early 1980s.

<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 publishes research, organises rallies and petitions, and conducts litigation.

There have been instances of antisemitism within the Labour Party of the United Kingdom (UK) since its establishment. Notable occurrences include canards about "Jewish finance" during the Boer War and antisemitic remarks from leading Labour politician Ernest Bevin. 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.

Dave Rich is Head of Policy at the Community Security Trust and is a leading expert on left-wing antisemitism, according to The Jewish Chronicle. He is an associate research fellow at the Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism, where he completed his PhD.

<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".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackie Walker (activist)</span> 20th and 21st-century British socialist and writer (born 1954)

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 regards as politically motivated allegations of antisemitism in the UK Labour Party, which it calls a “witchhunt”. It also campaigns against what it regards as unfair disciplinary action taken by the Labour Party against its members, particularly in relation to such allegations of antisemitism. The group supports individual members facing disciplinary action and has called for changes to the party's disciplinary procedures and code of conduct.

Jonathan Harry Samuel Arkush is a British barrister and Jewish community leader. Arkush served as the 47th President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews from 17 May 2015 to 13 May 2018.

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "JLM". Twitter. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  2. ↑ "tweet". Twitter.
  3. 1 2 "New Jewish Labour Movement Chair Mike Katz 'honoured and humbled'". The Jewish Chronicle . 7 April 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  4. 1 2 "Jewish Labour Movement elects Dame Margaret Hodge as Parliamentary chair". Jewish Chronicle. 26 January 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  5. ↑ "National Executive Committee". www.jewishlabour.uk. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  6. ↑ Rodgers, Sienna (8 April 2019). "Jewish Labour Movement opts to "stay and fight" with new leaders". LabourList. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "What is the Jewish Labour Movement?". Jewish labour Movement. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  8. ↑ Jeremy Corbyn "Foreword" in Labour's Socialist Societies 2017, Unison. "The Jewish Labour Movement – one of our oldest socialist societies – represent the deep and historical ties between the labour movement and the Jewish community" (p.5)
  9. ↑ "Footer". Jewish Labour Movement. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  10. 1 2 "Jewish Labour Movement Rules" (PDF). Jewish Labour Movement. January 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  11. ↑ "Jewish Labour Movement constitution" (PDF). January 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  12. ↑ "What is the Jewish Labour Movement?". The Jewish Labour Movement. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  13. 1 2 Alderman, Geoffrey Modern British Jewry, Clarendon Press, 1998, p. 175.
  14. ↑ Cohen, Stuart A. English Zionists and British Jews: The Communal Politics of Anglo-Jewry, 1895–1920 Princeton University Press, p. 59-60.
  15. ↑ Fishman, William. East End Jewish Radicals London: Duckworth 1975 p. 306.
  16. 1 2 3 Alderman, p. 76.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Mendes, p. 217.
  18. ↑ Alderman, p. 74.
  19. ↑ Gorny, chapter 1.
  20. ↑ The pogroms in Poland and Lithuania: Special number of the Jewish Labour Correspondence. London: Jewish Socialist Labour Confederation Poale-Zion. 1919. OCLC   36475651.
  21. 1 2 Gorny, p. 27.
  22. ↑ Teveth, Shabtai (1987) Ben-Gurion. The Burning Ground. 1886–1948. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN   0-395-35409-9. pp. 169, 172, 174–5, 177.
  23. ↑ Gorny, p. 25.
  24. ↑ Nelson� Ian Martin (2008) "The British New Labour Party and Political Zionism: Continuity of an essential dilemma", thesis, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1940/ p/73
  25. ↑ Rose, Ella (21 November 2018). "Actually dealing with Labour antisemitism would endanger Jeremy Corbyn's lifelong dream". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  26. ↑ Labour and Socialist International. Kongress-Protokolle der Sozialistischen Arbeiter-Internationale – B. 3.1 Brüssel 1928 . Glashütten im Taunus: D. Auvermann, 1974. p. IV. 100.
  27. ↑ Gorny, p. 54.
  28. ↑ Rubinstein and Jolles, p. 228.
  29. ↑ Gorny, chapter 4.
  30. 1 2 Edmunds
  31. ↑ Edmunds, p. 136.
  32. ↑ Silver, Robert. "Labour loses the Jews", The Spectator 15 December 1984, p. 13. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  33. 1 2 Oryszczuk, Stephen (25 May 2016). "Corbyn backed motion to sever ties with Jewish Labour group". Jewish News . Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  34. ↑ Jeffers, Sydney. "Black Sections in the Labour Party" in Werbner, Pnina and Anwar, Muhammed (eds), Black and Ethnic Leaderships, Routledge, 2009
  35. ↑ Georg Lentze Racial Thinking in the British Labour Party, University of Southampton PhD, p.222
  36. ↑ Mendes
  37. ↑ Alderman, p. 101.
  38. ↑ "Lord-fisher of Camden Dead at 74". jta.org. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 15 October 1979. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  39. ↑ Rubinstein and Jolles, p. 13.
  40. 1 2 Edmunds, p. 137.
  41. ↑ Dalyell, Tam, "The Old Left", in Beech, Matt; Hickson, Kevin; Plant, Raymond (eds), The Struggle for Labour's Soul: Understanding Labour's Political Thought Since 1945, Routledge, 2 August 2004, pp. 248–9.
  42. ↑ Rubinstein and Jolles, p. 756.
  43. ↑ Rubinstein and Jolles, p. 298.
  44. 1 2 Rubinstein and Jolles, p. 364.
  45. ↑ "Obituary: Percy Gourgey". The Jewish Chronicle . 17 October 2008. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  46. ↑ "News Brief". jta.org. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 8 November 1977. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  47. 1 2 Sugarman, Daniel (15 August 2016). "92 per cent of Jewish Labour Movement back Owen Smith for party leadership". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  48. ↑ "The Jewish Labour Movement Manifesto – Spring 2005" (PDF). Jewish Vanguard. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 July 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  49. 1 2 Ellman, Louise (1 September 2006). "Welcome to the Jewish Labour Movement". Jewish Labour Movement. Archived from the original on 10 February 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  50. ↑ Elgot, Jessica. "Cable Street march remembered 75 years on" The Jewish Chronicle . 4 October 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  51. ↑ "Corbyn speaks of mother’s role in Battle of Cable Street" Jewish News , 9 October 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  52. ↑ Which CLPs nominated who in the 2015 Labour leadership contest?, New Statesman . 1 August 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  53. 1 2 3 4 5 Dysch, Marcus (7 April 2016). "The loyalists standing their ground against Labour's tide of hate". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  54. 1 2 "Ex-JLC chief elected Jewish Labour Movement chair". Jewish News . 10 February 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  55. ↑ Oryszczuk, Stephen (27 July 2016). "Jewish Labour chief elected to party's constitutional committee". Jewish News . Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  56. ↑ Hirsh, David (17 March 2016). "Jew hate and today's Left". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  57. 1 2 Cook, Jonathan (29 April 2019). "Jewish Labour Movement was revived to deal with Corbyn". Monthly Review. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  58. ↑ Jackman, Josh. "Jewish Labour Movement appoints first director". The Jewish Chronicle . 20 July 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  59. ↑ Winstanley, Asa (12 April 2018). "Jewish Labour Movement worked with Israeli embassy spy". The Electronic Intifada. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  60. ↑ "Ella Rose". UK Jewish Film . Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  61. ↑ "JLM One-Day Conference 2017". Jewish Labour Movement. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  62. ↑ Harpin, Lee (8 February 2018). "Revealed: JLC audit reports Jeremy Newmark deceived it out of thousands of pounds". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  63. ↑ Harpin, Lee (8 February 2018). "Revealed: JLC audit reports Jeremy Newmark deceived it out of thousands of pounds". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  64. ↑ Brown, David (10 February 2018). "Labour activist Jeremy Newmark resigns in row over charity expenses". The Times . London. Retrieved 12 February 2018.(subscription required)
  65. ↑ Rocker, Simon (21 February 2018). "Jewish Labour Movement refers 'certain internal financial matters' to the police". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  66. ↑ "National Executive Committee". Jewish Labour Movement. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  67. ↑ "Director of Jewish Labour Movement to leave post and join HET". Jewish News. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  68. ↑ "Jewish Labour Movement elects Dame Margaret Hodge as Parliamentary chair". The Jewish Chronicle . 26 January 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  69. 1 2 "Local Government". JLM. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  70. ↑ "Youth & Students". JLM. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  71. ↑ Elgot, Jessica (26 September 2017). "Labour to adopt new antisemitism rules after conference row". The Guardian . Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  72. ↑ Rose, Ella (26 March 2018). "JLM letter to the PLP". Jewish Labour Movement. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  73. ↑ Dell, Josh (28 March 2018). "UK Jews slam antisemitism in Labour: words no longer enough, action needed". Jerusalem Post . Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  74. ↑ "Jewish Labour Movement told they'll remain only affiliate for community in party". Jewish News . 11 May 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  75. ↑ Sugarman, Daniel (26 February 2019). "Jewish Labour Movement condemns Jeremy Corbyn's 'deeply troubling' bid to 'mislead' MPs". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  76. ↑ Sabbagh, Dan (4 September 2018). "Labour adopts IHRA antisemitism definition in full". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  77. ↑ Harpin, Lee (17 October 2018). "New Antisemitism Monitoring Centre inundated with complaints about Jeremy Corbyn's Labour". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  78. ↑ "Anti-Semitism: Labour faces possible human rights probe". BBC News. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  79. ↑ Elgot, Jessica; Stewart, Heather (5 March 2019). "More than 100 Labour MPs urge Jewish group not to split from party". The Guardian . Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  80. ↑ Oster, Marcy (2 April 2019). "Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown says Labour Party has 'let down' British Jews". Jewish Telegraphic Agency . Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  81. ↑ Oster, Marcy (22 April 2019). "London Mayor Sadiq Khan joins Jewish Labour movement". Jewish Telegraphic Agency . 70 Faces Media. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  82. ↑ "Vote of No Confidence in Corbyn Passed by Jewish Labour Movement". The Jerusalem Post . Reuters. 7 April 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  83. ↑ Mendel, Jack (17 July 2019). "Labour activist who defended Williamson appointed liaison to Jewish community". Jewish News. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  84. ↑ Harpin, Lee (23 September 2019). "Mayor of London Sadiq Khan voices concern about antisemitism at packed Jewish Labour Movement rally". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  85. 1 2 Mason, Rowena; Weaver, Matthew; Perraudin, Frances (6 December 2019). "Seventy Labour staffers give statements to antisemitism inquiry". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  86. ↑ "Jewish Labour Movement considers suing Labour Party over antisemitism definition". TheJC. 22 July 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  87. ↑ Tominey, Camilla; Rayner, Gordon (5 December 2019). "The dossier that shamed Labour: how Jeremy Corbyn was complicit in growing 'tide' of anti-Semitism – and how the party covered it up". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  88. ↑ "12 shocking claims of abuse in leaked Labour antisemitism dossier". Sky News. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  89. ↑ Rayner, Gordon; Yorke, Harry (5 December 2019). "Jeremy Corbyn running 'institutionally anti-Semitic' Labour Party says damning dossier". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  90. ↑ Mason, Rowena; Weaver, Matthew; Perraudin, Frances (6 December 2019). "Seventy Labour staffers give statements to antisemitism inquiry". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  91. ↑ Rodgers, Sienna (14 February 2020). "Jewish Labour Movement nominates Lisa Nandy and Ian Murray". Labour List. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  92. ↑ Harpin, Lee (11 March 2019). "Labour ditches Jewish Labour Movement for antisemitism training, backs new university course instead". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  93. ↑ Sugarman, Daniel (19 August 2019). "JLM withdraws from Labour conference antisemitism sessions after attempts to "censor" course". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  94. ↑ Schofield, Kevin (12 March 2019). "Row as Jewish Labour Movement is replaced as party's anti-semitism training provider". Politico. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  95. ↑ Cohen, Justin (19 July 2019). "JLM suspends member who flouted decision to halt antisemitism training". Jewish News. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  96. ↑ Rodgers, Sienna (21 July 2019). "Labour launches new antisemitism education material". Labour List. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  97. ↑ Harpin, Lee (18 June 2020). "Revealed: Starmer's blueprint to reform Labour following EHRC antisemitism report". Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  98. ↑ Mason, Rowena (20 July 2021). "Labour votes to ban four far-left factions that supported Corbyn's leadership". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  99. ↑ Shalev, Asaf (22 July 2021). "UK Labour bans far-left factions in effort to change reputation on antisemitism". Times of Israel . Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  100. ↑ "Left-wing anger over expulsions from Labour Party". BBC News . 22 July 2021. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  101. ↑ Elgot, Jessica (9 April 2019). "Jewish Labour affiliate threatens campaigning 'work to rule'". The Guardian . Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  102. ↑ Harpin, Lee (11 April 2019). "Mike Katz: Jewish Labour Movement will not campaign for Labour candidates who back Corbyn over antisemitism". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  103. ↑ Harpin, Lee (3 June 2019). "Labour's Peterborough candidate signed letter opposing IHRA antisemitism definition". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  104. ↑ Elgot, Jessica (2 June 2019). "Jewish groups say Labour should disown Peterborough byelection candidate". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  105. ↑ Lamy, Joel (3 June 2019). "Peterborough Labour by-election candidate 'active in Israel hate group'". Peterborough Telegraph . Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  106. ↑ Harpin, Lee (30 October 2019). "A December election is on – but will it be the end of Jeremy Corbyn?". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  107. ↑ Proctor, Kate (31 October 2019). "Jewish group removes campaigning support for Labour in election". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  108. ↑ Rodgers, Sienna (31 October 2019). "Jewish Labour Movement refuses to campaign for most Labour candidates". Labour List. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  109. ↑ Schofield, Kevin (30 October 2019). "Jewish Labour Movement says it will not campaign to make Jeremy Corbyn Prime Minister". Politics Home. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  110. ↑ Kentish, Benjamin (31 October 2019). "Labour's official Jewish affiliate to boycott party's general election campaign because of Corbyn's 'failure of leadership'" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  111. ↑ Frazer, Jenni (25 September 2017). "Calls to expel Jewish members from Labour cheered at conference".
  112. ↑ Sugarman, Daniel (25 August 2017). "New Jewish group launched in Labour". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  113. ↑ Manson, Jenny; Levane, Leah (26 October 2018). "Jewish Voice for Labour: We weren't founded to "tackle antisemitism allegations in Labour"". Labour List . Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  114. ↑ "Anti-semitism must not be conflated with criticism of Israel". Morning Star. 9 March 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  115. ↑ Frot, Mathilde (9 April 2018). "McDonnell-backed group claims JLM 'stabbed Labour in the back'". Jewish News. Retrieved 14 October 2014.

Bibliography

Further reading

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.