Tag: expulsion

Reinstate Jackie Walker! Sign the letter the Guardian refused to print

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Sign the letter online here.

The Guardian has refused to print this letter signed by almost 400 people within 48 hours of Jackie’s expulsion (including Noam Chomsky, Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell, Alexei Sayle and Ken Livingstone). It deems the issue “sensitive” and “controversial”. We believe the real controversy is that hundreds of good socialists and anti-Zionists like Jackie Walker have been investigated, suspended and expelled. This witch-hunt against Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters must stop!

Dear Sir/Madam,

The decision of the Labour Party to expel Jackie Walker for ‘“prejudicial and grossly detrimental behaviour” is both unfair and dishonest. Jackie was suspended over two years ago because of accusations of anti-Semitism yet her expulsion was for ‘misconduct’. [Labour expels Jackie Walker for leaked antisemitism remarks, March 27th]

Jackie’s original remarks, such as “not having heard a definition of anti-Semitism I can work with”, were obviously not anti-Semitic. Jackie’s real offence was being an anti-Zionist. Because of the difficulty of making a charge of anti-Semitism stick, Jackie’s alleged offence was changed to the subjective catch-all one of ‘misconduct’.

If anyone is guilty of misconduct it is those in Labour Friends of Israel who defended Israel’s murder of over 200 unarmed demonstrators in Gaza over the past year. False accusations of ‘anti-Semitism’ are the Zionists’ only method of defending the Israeli state.

Jackie’s expulsion is an attack on free speech. Rather than defend the world’s only apartheid state Israel’s supporters in the Labour Party cry ‘anti-Semitism’.

Over the past two years Jackie has been the victim of numerous attacks on social media which have questioned her Jewishness and talked about lynching and burning her. Not only has the Labour Party failed to defend her but it included some of this vile material within the dossier used to expel her, such as alleging she is “a white woman in dreadlocks”.

The expulsion of Jackie Walker is a matter of shame and we demand her immediate reinstatement.

Yours faithfully,

1.                       Noam Chomsky
2.                       Ken Livingstone
3.                       Miriam Margolyes
4.                       Alexei Sayle
5.                       Asa Winstanley
6.                       Steve Bell
7.                       Tony Greenstein
8.                       Jonathan Cook
9.                       Prof. Haim Bresheeth
10.                   Professor Dr Marco Chiesa
11.                   Prof. James Dickins
12.                   Prof. Yosefa Loshitzky
13.                   Prof. Wade Mansell
14.                   Prof. Dr. Willie van Peer
15.                   Prof Megan Povey
16.                   Prof. Chris Knight
17.                   Prof. Stephen Wagg
18.                   Kate Adams
19.                   Philip Adams
20.                   Alison Aiken
21.                   Salma Ali
22.                   Zulfqar Ali
23.                   Nadia Amara
24.                   Bonny Ambrose
25.                   Ian Ampleford
26.                   Sonya Andermahr
27.                   Alan Armstrong
28.                   Ben Armstrong
29.                   Zac Arnold
30.                   Shifa Askari
31.                   Susan Atkins
32.                   Cathy Augustine
33.                   David Avery
34.                   Clare Ayton-Edwards
35.                   Greg Axsel
36.                   David Bangs
37.                   Frances Bartram
38.                   Sid Bartram
39.                   Graham Bash
40.                   John Baxter
41.                   Janet Beale
42.                   Kevin Bean
43.                   John Beeching
44.                   Mark Bebbington
45.                   Jonathan Bellos
46.                   Karen Bett
47.                   Sonali Bhattacharyya
48.                   Peter Bloomer
49.                   Nigel Bowden
50.                   Lynda J Bowyer
51.                   Gary Boyle
52.                   Dr David Bramble
53.                   Peter Breingan
54.                   David Brown
55.                   Judith Brown
56.                   Theodore Brown
57.                   Tarin Brokenshire
58.                   Pam Bromley
59.                   John Burgess
60.                   Raymond Bush
61.                   Cllr Steve Bush
62.                   Robert Bunday
63.                   Neil Cameron
64.                   Sophie Cannivady
65.                   Andrew Carter
66.                   Avis Carter
67.                   Jonathan Chadwick
68.                   Phil Chetwynd
69.                   Cyril Chilson
70.                   Dr Tali Chilson
71.                   Dominic Chiverton
72.                   Rob Clarke
73.                   Ted Clement-Evans
74.                   Mike Clayton
75.                   Roger Coates
76.                   Matthew Collings
77.                   Christine Connolly
78.                   Marian Connollu
79.                   Steve Connor
80.                   Mariatu Conteh
81.                   Ruth Cooke
82.                   Andy Coombes
83.                   Jonathan Coulter
84.                   Maximilian Cowell
85.                   Fiona Crawford
86.                   Richard Crawford
87.                   Sandra Crawford
88.                   Lesley Crompton
89.                   Phil Crowe
90.                   Matthew Dale
91.                   Gerald Daly
92.                   Deborah Darnes
93.                   Deborah Darnes
94.                   Adrienne Davis
95.                   John Davies
96.                   Martyn Dawson
97.                   Ian Day
98.                   Richard Dixon-Payne
99.                   Tony Dodds
100.               Catherine Doris
101.               Cameron Dougherty
102.               Clare Dove
103.               Ian Dudley
104.               Ty Ebright
105.               Nancy Elan
106.               Cathy Farnworth
107.               Kamilia El-Farra
108.               Jackie Fearnley
109.               Jacqueline Finch
110.               Deborah Fink
111.               Dianne Fitzgibbons
112.               Jeanette Fletcher
113.               James Ian Fletcher
114.               Flick Foreman
115.               Nick Foster
116.               Philip Foxe
117.               Tom Foxe
118.               Tommy Fowler
119.               Ed Fredenburgh
120.               Glynis Freeman
121.               Helen Froggatt
122.               Suzanne Gannon
123.               Donna Gardner
124.               Suzanne Gannon
125.               Dr John Garrett
126.               Dr Peter Gates
127.               Chris Gaynor
128.               Gloria George
129.               John Gibson
130.               Daphne Gilbert
131.               John Gillespie
132.               Helen Glazier
133.               Deborah Good
134.               Angie Graham
135.               David Graham
136.               Elleanne Green
137.               Frankie Green
138.               Pete Green
139.               Sadie Green
140.               Sharen Green
141.               Peter Gregson
142.               Roger Grenville
143.               Helen Griffiths
144.               Nell Griffiths
145.               David Groom
146.               John McGrory
147.               Allan Grote
148.               Andrew Gunton
149.               Alex Gutteridge
150.               Natalie Guy
151.               Steve Hadden
152.               Barbara Hainsworth
153.               Paul Halas
154.               Grace Halfpenny
155.               Charlie Hall
156.               Dr James Hall
157.               Brigid Harbour
158.               Jenny Hardacre
159.               Emmet Haverty-Stacke
160.               David Hawkes
161.               David Hawkins
162.               Trefor Harris
163.               Alan Harrison
164.               Maggie Hartley
165.               Mervyn Hartwig
166.               Joseph Held
167.               Dorothy Hewitt Rimmer
168.               Greg Hewitt
169.               Ian Hickinbottom
170.               Debbie Hicks
171.               Mike Higgins
172.               David Hillman
173.               Simon Hindmarsh
174.               Simon Hinds
175.               Rebekah Hirsch
176.               Dr. Abby Hoffmann
177.               Diane Holland
178.               Rachael Holliday
179.               Doug Holton
180.               Dee Howard
181.               Mike Howard
182.               Anna Hubbard
183.               Alan Hubbard
184.               Richard Hughes
185.               David Humphrey
186.               Neil Hunt
187.               Jocelyn Hurndall
188.               Linda Irvine
189.               Diana Isserlis
190.               Lisa Jacks
191.               Andrew Jackson
192.               Glyn Jackson
193.               Maxine Jackson
194.               Rob Jefferson
195.               Glenn Jenkins
196.               Alexander Jones
197.               Barry Jones
198.               Cath Jones
199.               Cliff Jones
200.               Carolyn Jordin
201.               George Kambouroglou
202.               Stan Keable
203.               Afryl Kelly
204.               Helen Kemp
205.               Thea Khamis
206.               Faraz Khan
207.               Luqman Khan
208.               Shaista Khan
209.               Davy King
210.               Jennifer King
211.               Peter Kirker
212.               Ruth Knight
213.               Beverley Krell
214.               Janet Lambrou
215.               David Lancaster
216.               Erica Lang
217.               Diane Langford
218.               Bernice Laschinger
219.               Michelle Laufer
220.               Paul Lawlor
221.               Kay Lawrence
222.               Helen Lee
223.               Anna Lekay
224.               David Letwin
225.               Michael Letwin
226.               Les Levidow
227.               Bruce Levy
228.               Mark Lewis
229.               Nicholas Long
230.               Jake Love Soper
231.               Ian MacDonald
232.               Duncan MacPherson
233.               Dr Alan Maddisson
234.               Neil Man
235.               Sophia Mangera
236.               Hal Mansfield
237.               Helen Marks
238.               Zoe Mars
239.               Becky Matthews-Massey
240.               Bruce Mattock
241.               David Mattocks
242.               Darren Maurice
243.               Sandy McBurney
244.               Terry McCarthy
245.               Kathy McCubbing
246.               Terence McGinity
247.               Mike McGrath
248.               Steve McKenzie
249.               Fred McLean-Brown
250.               Isobel McMillan
251.               Ros Meadow
252.               Laurraine de Melchor
253.               Stephe Meloy
254.               Paul Meaney
255.               Michael Merritt
256.               Steve Merriman
257.               John Metson
258.               Jay Millington
259.               Simon Milner-Edwards
260.               Angie Mindel
261.               Anne Mitchell
262.               Matthew Montagu-Pollock
263.               Brendan Morgan
264.               Dittany Morgan
265.               Pauline Moriarty
266.               Shosh Morris
267.               Patricia Morrison
268.               Elizabeth Morley
269.               Sabah Al-Mukthar
270.               Catherine Muller
271.               Gareth Murphy
272.               David Myles
273.               Catherine Newall
274.               Katie Nikiforou
275.               Graham Noble
276.               Dr Stephen Norrie
277.               Eric Norris
278.               Caroline Nunn
279.               Steve Nunn
280.               Sean O’Donoghue
281.               Chris O’Donovan
282.               Dennis O’Malley
283.               Caroline O’Reilly
284.               Edmond O’Reilly
285.               Sheryl Odlum
286.               Jackie Oversby
287.               Tim Oxton
288.               Gill Page
289.               Pam Page
290.               Jeremy Parker
291.               Mieczysława Pascoe
292.               Frances Patterson
293.               Wendy Patterson
294.               Robert Payn
295.               Allan Pearson
296.               Richard Peirce
297.               Sarah Perrigo
298.               Susan Phasey
299.               Sasha Phillips
300.               Andy Phipps
301.               Lesley Phipps
302.               Miranda Pinch
303.               David Pinto
304.               Brian Precious
305.               David Prichard-Jones
306.               Bern Price
307.               Dipak Rajgor
308.               Dr Anandi Ramamurthy
309.               Scott Ramone
310.               Roland Rance
311.               Anthony Rawlinson
312.               Gwynne Reddick
313.               Nicola Redwood
314.               Nigel Reigate
315.               Peter Reilly
316.               Iain Rendell
317.               Dave Rendle
318.               Jon de Rennes
319.               Andy Richards
320.               Steve Richards
321.               Dorothy Rimmer
322.               Geoff Roberts
323.               Maria Roberts
324.               Bryan Roe
325.               Elke Rohn
326.               Lee Rock
327.               Ian Roddinson
328.               David Roger
329.               Vicky Russell
330.               Michael Sackin
331.               Kevin Safford
332.               John Sanderson
333.               Rob Sanderson
334.               Pauline Sault
335.               Nikki Scambler
336.               Sarah Scott
337.               Paul Scott
338.               Reg Scott
339.               David Selzer
340.               Paul Simm
341.               Andy Simons
342.               Wendy Sindall
343.               Mike Sivier
344.               Michael Skiggs
345.               Jane Smith
346.               Peter Smith
347.               John Smith
348.               Tracey Smith
349.               Wendy Smith
350.               Darbiana Souza
351.               Julie Speed
352.               Linda Speight
353.               David St Marthe
354.               Dave Statham
355.               Jan Steele
356.               Mark Strawbridge
357.               Paul Stygal
358.               Tom Suárez
359.               Sue Shaw
360.               Catherine Tanner
361.               Debbie Thompson
362.               Steve Tiller
363.               Paul Timperley
364.               Cathy Toulet
365.               Christine Tongue
366.               Julian Townsend
367.               David Travis
368.               John Tymon
369.               Mark Unsworth
370.               Paula Varley
371.               Barrie Vince
372.               Terence Viney
373.               Lorna Walker
374.               Robert Walker
375.               Adam Waterhouse
376.               Daniel Waterman
377.               David Watson
378.               Martin Watson
379.               Ian Wellens
380.               Tina Werkman
381.               Lee Whittaker
382.               Bruce Whitehead
383.               Stewart Whitehead
384.               Michael Wilde
385.               Stella Wilkinson-Maynard
386.               Clare Louise Wilmott
387.               Rita Williams
388.               Stephen Williams
389.               Norman Wood
390.               Avril Wooster
391.               Leonard Wright
392.               Zoe Zero
393.               Maciej Zurowski

By Uncategorized ,

LAW Statement: Lift suspension of Peter Gregson from GMB, stop investigation

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Labour Against the Witchhunt calls on Labour’s NEC to reject the allegations of anti-Semitism against Peter Gregson, condemns his suspension by the GMB trade union and calls for the immediate restoration of his full membership rights.

The principle ‘guilty until proved innocent’ threatens the rights of all members, chills discussion, damages democracy and invites malicious complaints against political opponents. We prefer the principle of working class solidarity: ‘An injury to one is an injury to all.’

Except in the most extreme circumstances, disciplinary sanctions should not be applied until due process has been concluded. Where low level sectionalist, nationalistic, xenophobic or racist ideas, including anti-Semitic ideas, are found in the workers’ movement, they are best countered by open discussion, patient education, inculcation of elementary class consciousness and by encouraging participation in joint struggles. The slogan ‘zero tolerance’ is ill-conceived and counterproductive.

We reject the International Holocaust Memorial Alliance’s unnecessarily complex, imprecise and self-contradictory definition of anti-Semitism, which conflates it with anti-Zionism.

The IHRA definition, which has been adopted by both the Labour Party and the GMB, will no doubt be the basis of investigations into the allegations made against Peter. We prefer the Oxford English dictionary definition, that anti-Semitism is ‘hostility to or prejudice against Jews.’

Peter is clearly not anti-Semitic: he does not harbour hostility, prejudice, hatred or ill-intent towards Jewish people as Jews. He is a campaigner for Palestinian rights, against the racist ideology of Zionism and the apartheid system and practices of Israel.

The investigation into Peter arose because he organised a petition, with now over 700 signatories, declaring – using the clumsy and obscure IHRA wording – that “the existence of Israel is a racist endeavour”. But even Jon Lansman, the Zionist self-appointed chair of Momentum, conceded, in an October 14 email to Peter, that “declaring Israel to be a racist endeavour and challenging the NEC to expel him alongside others who signed a petition he launched may not be anti-Semitic …” But Lansman continued: “… it is a deliberately provocative act which is most certainly prejudicial to the interests of the party and I therefore urge the General Secretary to take the appropriate action against you.”

These are weasel words. “Provocative” acts are the stuff of political debate. Lansman is effectively calling for the silencing of support for the Palestinian struggle against Zionism and Israel’s apartheid.

We understand from Peter’s November 8 statement that his suspension by the GMB is motivated by former Labour NEC member and GMB official Rhea Wolfson – an open Zionist, a member of the Jewish Labour Movement and a supporter of Israel as a Jewish state.

The Israeli state is inherently racist. Under its July 2018 Nation-State Law, Israel is defined as “the nation-state of the Jewish people” and Palestinian citizens are explicitly declared not to have any national rights. In the West Bank and Gaza – territories occupied since 1967 – while Jewish settlers enjoy full democratic rights as Israeli citizens, Palestinians live under military rule with no democratic rights, because they are not Jewish.

Although Peter’s petition is a good idea, challenging Labour’s NEC to revoke its adoption of the IHRA definition, we cannot support it. Firstly, we disagree with some of its wording – eg, before it adopted the full IHRA definition on September 4, Labour did not allow “full freedom of speech on Israel”. On the contrary, the witch-hunt was in full flow long before that. Secondly, some of the formulations in Peter’s supporting documents internalise the racism of Zionist ideology, failing to distinguish clearly between the Zionist movement and the Jewish population, and attributing a non-existent collective political identity to “the Jews”, eg, “the Jews have so much leverage here [in the UK]”.

The witch-hunt against Corbyn and the Labour left is part of the huge, unprecedented campaign over recent years to equate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism – hatched, crafted and skilfully promoted by the US right, the Israeli government and the UK establishment, designed to delegitimise criticism of Israel and to prepare public opinion for another imperialist war in the Middle East, after the disastrous 2003 invasion of Iraq.

By suspensions and expulsions , ,

Tonbridge and Malling CLP: motion passed on Marc Wadsworth, June 2 2018

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This CLP notes that:  

  • Marc Wadsworth, a leading Black antiracist activist, was expelled from the Labour Party – with no right of appeal – on April 27, 2018, charged with bringing the Party into disrepute;
  • his expulsion followed 22 months of suspension from membership;
  • his expulsion was not for antisemitism, despite continuous prejudicial media coverage falsely accusing him of antisemitic abuse at the media launch of the Chakrabarti Report on June 30, 2016.

This CLP believes:

  • that the party has indeed been brought into disrepute, not by Marc Wadsworth’s non-abusive remark at the Report launch, but by the actions of PLP members publicly denouncing him as an antisemite; by the adherence of the entrenched party bureaucracy to a unaccountable and unelected disciplinary system which was not fit for purpose; and by its failure to put in place a system conforming with principles of natural justice, which should be automatic in any labour movement organisation.

This CLP therefore:  

  • supports Marc Wadsworth’s campaign to clear his name of the antisemitism slur and for reinstatement as a member of the Labour Party;
  • calls on the General Secretary to speedily implement Chakrabarti’s recommendations designed to reform flawed party rules and structures to ensure prompt, fair and transparent handling of disciplinary complaints against members, with right of appeal and including presumption of innocence and fact-based judgements that do not rely on guilt by association

 

By model motions , ,

#Justice4Marc launch in London: Spotted hyenas and Labour right

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The chair of the meeting, Deborah Hobson, began by calling for a minute’s silence in honour of the 58 Palestinians killed and thousands injured in the latest Israeli atrocity. An atrocity defended and excused by Donald Trump, Binyamin Netanyahu … and Labour Friends of Israel.

Mike Cushman (Jewish Voice for Labour) was not alone in pointing out that there can be fewer more eloquent testimonies to the nature of the Israeli state than the harrowing events in Gaza. Certainly, it exposes the foul apologetics of the Labour right and their Zionist allies, and destroys the notion that Israel attracts the huge amount of condemnation that is does because the left – its most trenchant critics – is ‘anti-Semitic’. Far from being a source of strength, the Labour right’s support for the Zionist state – and the United States’ reactionary strategic goals in the region – can be turned into a huge weakness for this scab faction in our ranks.

While the top table was perhaps a little heavy with speakers (of varying degrees of quality and political acumen, it should be noted) – there was a real energy and combative confidence. This was perhaps displayed best in Jackie Walker’s defiant anecdote about her rejoinder to a characteristically stupid tweet from the wretched Wes Streeting MP. Apparently, he challenged her to meet him in debate in any synagogue in north London. OK, she told him – where and where then, Wes? Predictably, however, the man has gone very quiet …

Moshé Machover reminded us of the almost comically irrational nature of the provocations coming from the Labour right, their allies in the mainstream media and various apparatchiks in the Israeli state. He posed a “trick question”: “Are there anti-Semites in the Labour Party?”

Well, yes, given the current numbers in our organisation (570,000-plus) from all sorts of backgrounds, there must be. The comrade (a renowned mathematician, let us not forget), stated that it would be statistically “astounding” if there were not. The party will also have its statistically ‘fair’ share of paedophiles. The point being that if the Labour right and its venal allies thought it could gain political traction by smearing the left as a herd of paedophiles, they would. The right gives “fuck all” for truth, principle or any other such annoying impediment, comrade Machover stated.

Moshé illustrated this same observation via a sideways detour. There is – apparently – a tiny number of spotted hyenas in Norway (in zoos). However, if you hear of a spotted hyena trackers’ expedition – organised with an extravagant disregard for the huge amount of time, energy and money expended – a rational conclusion to draw might be that these people have a thing about Norway, rather than the spotted hyenas.

It was a fun way to set the tone for the meeting. And the atmosphere of aggressive levity was added to by comedian Alexi Sayle’s amusing introductory spiel for Marc – he does seem to be getting some of his political mojo back via this battle; the unhinged accusations against the left must be providing the bloke with material for years to come. Many speakers also ridiculed the laughably flimsy charges against Marc Wadsworth and other comrades, such as Ken Livingstone, Jackie Walker and Tony Greenstein.

A recurrent theme during the regrettably short space allocated for questions and contributions from the floor was the need for Labour Against the Witchhunt to become a mass campaign that can rally not dozens, but thousands, outside Labour’s Victoria Street HQ. That means building local organisations.

There were some gently regretful criticisms of Corbyn’s and the core LP left leadership’s passivity to – even accommodation with – this witch-hunt. This generosity was not all-encompassing – on the strength of this meeting and others I have attended over the last year or more, there are now very few on the left with any compunction about laying into Momentum nationally. The local groups can be good, even very good, but the national organisation and its ‘CEO’, Jon Lansman are deeply discredited.

By campaigning, suspensions and expulsions , ,

Queen’s Park branch

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On 10 May 2018  the Queen’s Park branch of the Labour Party (in Hampstead & Kilburn CLP) adopted the motion below nem con and with one abstention:
________________________

This branch notes that:

·         Marc Wadsworth, a leading Black antiracist activist, was expelled from the Labour Party – with no right of appeal – on April 27, 2018, charged with bringing the Party into disrepute;
·         his expulsion followed 22 months of suspension from membership;

·         his expulsion was not for antisemitism, despite continuous prejudicial media coverage falsely accusing him of antisemitic abuse at the media launch of the Chakrabarti Report on June 30, 2016.

This branch believes:

·         that the party has indeed been brought into disrepute, not by Marc Wadsworth’s non-abusive remark at the Report launch, but by the actions of PLP members publicly denouncing him as an antisemite; by the adherence of the entrenched party bureaucracy to a disciplinary system which was not fit for purpose; and by its failure to put in place a system conforming with principles of natural justice, which should be automatic in any labour movement organisation.

This branch therefore:

·         supports Marc Wadsworth’s campaign to clear his name of the antisemitism slur and for reinstatement as a member of the Labour Party;
·         calls on the new General Secretary to:
o   speedily implement Chakrabarti’s recommendations designed to reform flawed party rules and structures to ensure prompt, fair and transparent handling of disciplinary complaints against members, with right of appeal and including presumption of innocence and fact-based judgements that do not rely on guilt by association
By model motions, suspensions and expulsions ,

Marc Wadsworth’s expulsion – what you can do about it

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The expulsion of Marc Wadsworth from the Labour Party was a politically motivated outrage – read our statement. Here’s what you can do about it:

  1. Support the national speaking tour #Justice4Marc, which is co-sponsored by LAW, Jewish Voice for Labour, the Labour Representation Committee and Grassroots Black Left. We are raising funds to help cover the transport costs involved – please chip in if you can. 
  2. Read up on the case: Jewish Voice for Labour had a good background article; Grassroots Black Left had their statement published in The Voice.
  3. Write to newspapers who publish false and misleading articles about the case. For example, Marc did not “heckle” Ruth Smeeth MP, he did not launch “a verbal attack” on her, berate or abuse her or use, as she later claimed, a “traditional trope” of Jews owning the media.
  4. Use our model motion (online here) in your branch and CLP asap.The quicker you can get it through, the more pressure it will bring on Labour’s NEC to act. Once it has passed, send it to us so we can publish it online.
  5. Contribute to Marc’s crowdfunding campaign to help pay for his lawyers (please note that these funds are for his legal team only and cannot be used for any campaigning work)
  6. Join Labour Against the Witchhunt online here and get your branch/CLP to affiliate.
  7. Sign our Open Letter to Jeremy Corbyn and the left of the Labour leadership (online here) they need to take action now to bring the witch-hunt to an end. More than 5,700 have already signed it.
  8. Attend our conference that we are planning to hold in June – details to follow soon.
By campaigning, suspensions and expulsions , ,

LAW model motion on the expulsion of Marc Wadsworth

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Feel free to change and amend. Please send us successfully passed motions to info@labouragainstthewitchhunt.org and we will publish them.

You can download the motion in Word format here. 

1. This branch/CLPs notes that:

1.1 Ruth Smeeth MP claimed that at the launch of the Charkrabarti report in June 2016, veteran anti-racist campaigner Marc Wadsworth was being “anti-Semitic” for criticising her as “working hand in hand” with a reporter of the Daily Telegraph – a fallacious claim that was repeated in almost every newspaper.

1.2 An all-white, three person panel of the National Constitutional Committee of the Labour Party, however, did not uphold this charge. They expelled Marc Wadsworth on April 27 2018 under the catch-all phrase of “bringing the party into disrepute” (point 2.1.8 in Labour’s 2016 rulebook). Continue Reading “LAW model motion on the expulsion of Marc Wadsworth” →

By model motions , , , , , , ,

GBL on Marc Wadsworth’s expulsion

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NEWS RELEASE

April 27 2018

Today’s expulsion by Labour of veteran black anti-racist activist

There will be a press conference today at 1.15pm at Abbey Green, outside Parliament.

 Present will be Marc Wadsworth, Deborah Hobson and Noami Wimborne-Idrissi of Jewish Voice For Labour

Grassroots Black Left (GBL) is appalled by the expulsion of its member Marc Wadsworth, a life-long anti-racist. This decision brings the party into disrepute and we will fight besides Wadsworth to help him clear his name and get reinstated.

The National Constitutional Committee hearing was based on a disciplinary process that newly appointed general secretary Jennie Formby has declares “is not fit for purpose”. Continue Reading “GBL on Marc Wadsworth’s expulsion” →

By suspensions and expulsions ,

This Wednesday, April 25: We need your help!

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According to a report in the Skwawkbox, Wes Streeting MP, who recently verbally attacked Diane Abbott, is organising anti-Corbyn MPs, peers and others people to protest outside the Labour Party disciplinary hearing against veteran black anti-racism campaigner Marc Wadsworth this Wednesday, April 25.

Streeting claims that his “march” from Westminster Hall to Church House (which will also be attended by Labour First’s Luke Akehurst) is in “support of Ruth Smeeth MP”, who will give evidence against Marc, as “there will be a protest against her”.

Campaigners, including, Labour Against the Witchhunt, Grassroots Black Left, Jewish Voice for Labour and members of the Windrush generation, are not organising a protest against Smeeth but a lobby in support of Marc.  We demand that the false charges against him are dropped and that he is fully reinstated to Labour Party membership. What we are protesting about is the attempted frame-up of Marc. Labour bosses are demanding his expulsion from the party.

Streeting calls Marc “the guy who abused her [Ruth Smeeth] at the [Shami Chakrabarti] antisemitism inquiry launch”.

In fact the Chakrabarti report was about anti-semitism and all forms of racism, including the anti-black racism and Islamophobia, which have been ignored. What abuse is Wes Streeting talking about? Marc Wadsworth actually said at the report launch, after being goaded by Daily Telegraph political report Kate McCann:

“I saw that the Telegraph handed a copy of a press release to Ruth Smeeth MP so you can see who is working hand in hand. If you look around this room, how many African, Caribbean and Asian people are there? We need to get our house in order, don’t we?”

Of course, anti-semitism exists in society, just like other forms of racism and prejudice and this is reflected in the Labour Party. But, just like Jackie Walker, Ken Livingstone, Tony Greenstein and many other Labour members suspended and expelled by the party in the last two years, Marc is no anti-semite and nothing he did or said was even vaguely anti-semitic.

In truth, the right-wing in the Labour Party want to claim another scalp in their campaign to smear Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters.

LAW will be showing their support to Marc and all those people unjustly suspended and expelled without due process. We demand the yet to be implemented Chakrabarti rules be applied to all cases, that have been referred to Labour’s draconian National Constitution Committee, including Marc’s.

Please come along to show your support!
Wednesday April 25, 9.30am
Church House, Great Smith St, Westminster
London SW1P 3NZ

Please bring witches costumes and placards (though we are also having some printed). Please also note that we are asking all protesters to wear a ‘gag’ – a sticky tape or similar over their mouths – and keep a silent protest. No doubt the right-wingers present will try and provoke us.Marc also needs help covering his legal costs – please contribute to his crowdfunding campaign.
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On the case of David Watson: Open letter to the NEC, Compliance Unit and Constitutional Committee

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To the NEC, Compliance Unit and Constitutional Committee

Sisters and Brothers

23 January 2018

We have waited for 19 months for the Chakrabarti Enquiry’s recommendations to be put into practice, and give our party the fair disciplinary procedures it needs and deserves. We hope that the NEC will make a start today by clearing David Watson of unfounded charges and letting him return to Walthamstow where he was a valued officer.

We have seen so many good comrades across the Labour Party suspended on the basis of anonymous accusations, and still waiting to be reinstated. There have been waves of factional purges which are shameful in a democratic party. First members were accused of being Green, then trade union militants, then antisemites and then transphobic. Accusations seem to have come down most heavily on people of colour, thus further excluding them from our party which we say that we want to reflect the society we live in. Continue Reading “On the case of David Watson: Open letter to the NEC, Compliance Unit and Constitutional Committee” →

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Solidarity with Moshé Machover – the labour movement speaks out!

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(please not that this article first appeared on the website of Labour Party Marxists – all links refer to that site)

The expulsion of long-standing Israeli socialist Moshé Machover from the Labour Party (expulsion letter here) caused shockwaves throughout the labour movement. We feature the motions and statements in support of Moshé and against the ongoing witch hunt by the right in the party. 

On October 5, Moshe received a second explusion letter, which states that “These allegations [of anti-Semitism] are not subject to an investigation as you are not currently a member of the Labour Party.” They will probably be kept on file, should his expulsion based on his “clear support” for LPM be overturned. This is arbitrary, to say the least.

Clearly, the mass protests against the outrageous decision worked: On October 30, they were forced to – very reluctantly – reverse their own decision and Moshé has now been reinstated to full membership.

Click here to read the correspondence between comrade Machover and Sam Matthews, “head of disputes”.

Labour Party branches and CLPs

Other organisations and individuals

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Moshe Machover gains international support over his expulsion

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Celebrity international backing for academic expelled, then readmitted to Labour Party
Demand for full apology and inquiry
Statement delivered to Corbyn and Party Secretary McNicol
 
In an extraordinary development, an international array of talent has rallied to the support of a retired professor expelled from the British Labour Party. They join the growing ranks of Party members and trade unionists demanding an apology to Professor Moshé Machover for alleging that an article of his was antisemitic; and for an inquiry into the processes that resulted in his expulsion. As a result of UK protests Professor Machover’s expulsion has already been rescinded.
 
Professor Machover is an eminent mathematical logician, a noted Israeli dissident and advocate for the rights of Palestinians, based in London since 1968.
 

LEAD SIGNATORIES INCLUDE 3 FIELDS MEDALISTS . . .

(AKA “THE NOBEL FOR MATHS”)
 
Sir Michael Atiyah OM FRS (1966)  Former President, Royal Society & Master of Trinity College, Cambridge
David Mumford (1974)  Professor Emeritus, Mathematics, Brown University
Stephen Smale (Fields Medallist, 1966)  Professor Emeritus (Retired), Mathematics, Univ. of California
 
Other notable mathematicians, philosophers and scientists include Ahmed Abbes, Noam Chomsky, Chandler Davis, Freeman Dyson, Ivar Ekeland, David Epstein FRS, Emmanuel Farjoun, Catherine Goldstein, Mary Gray, Michael Harris, David Klein, Neal Koblitz, Malcolm Levitt FRS, Colette Moeglin, Richard Miller, Joseph Oesterlé, Hilary Rose, Steven Rose, Tim Shallice FRS and more!
 
. . . AMONG DOZENS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LEADERS, LABOUR PARTY ACTIVISTS & ISRAELI ACADEMICS SUCH AS:
 
Tariq Ali (writer), Sir Geoffrey Bindman QC (University College London), Stephen Cragg QC (Barrister, London), John Dugard (former U.N. Special Rapporteur), Brian Eno (musician), Richard Falk (Professor Emeritus, International Law, Princeton), Ronnie Kasrils (ex-Minister, South Africa), Ken Loach(film-maker), Michael Mansfield QC (President of the Haldane Society), Ilan Pappé (Professor of History, Exeter), Shlomo Sand (Professor Emeritus, History, Tel Aviv University), Raji Sourani (Director, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights) and many more!
 
This unprecedented support and demand for redress indicates serious misjudgement by the Labour Party’s much criticised disciplinary apparatus. On behalf of the petition’s organizers, Professor Jonathan Rosenhead said, “Moshé Machover is a splendid and courageous anti-racist campaigner over decades. The crass attempt to brand him an antisemite, part of an unprincipled campaign to suppress criticism of Israel, has clearly backfired in a big way. The Labour Party needs a root-and-branch reform of how its Disputes Panel and Compliance Unit have been operating.”
 
16 November 2017
https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/MachoverSignatures.pdf
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Launched on October 21 2017, LAW is already celebrating a success

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Launched on October 21 2017, LAW is already celebrating a success – pressure from members, Branches and CLPs CLPs led to the reversal of the expulsion of emeritus professor Moshé Machover, one of a long line of socialists and Corbyn supporters expelled or suspended on bogus charges of anti-Semitism. He is now honorary president of Labour Against the Witchhunt.

The claim that anti-Semitism is rife in the Labour Party is untrue. It is a weapon the Right has consistently used against the Left. The ‘anti-Semitism’ smear campaign and witchhunt is used to block criticism of Israel’s settler-colonialism, its persecution of the Palestinians and its racist, apartheid practices. False anti-Semitism accusations are used to bolster support for Israel’s role in the Middle East. Israel receives more military aid from the USA than all the other countries in the world put together, over $4 billion a year. Continue Reading “Launched on October 21 2017, LAW is already celebrating a success” →

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