Friday, 6 October 2017

Labour Party branches rally to support of expelled local Jewish Israeli activist accused of anti--semitism


Local Labour Party branches in Brent and Camden have rallied to the defence of Moshe Machover who lives in Queens Park, following the expulsion of the 81 year old Israeli Jewish professor with decades of activism as a socialist from the Labour Party over allegations of anti-semitism.

So far, Kilburn (Brent), Queens Park and West Hampstead & Fortune Green braches of Hampstead and Kilburn CLP has passed motions in support of Moshe.

Dudden Hill and Kensal Green branches of Brent Central CLP have also passed resolutions in support of Moshe.
Both CLPs are due to meet on Thursday October 19th. A full account of the expulsion can be read on the Jewish Socialists' Group website HERE

The resolution passed in Kilburn said:

This Branch/CLP is outraged that:

·Professor Emeritus Moshe Machover has been expelled from the Party. Prof Machover is Jewish and Israeli, the distinguished co-founder of Matzpen, the socialist organisation which from the 60s to the 80s brought together Arab and Jewish opposition to the illegal occupation of Palestine; 
· the Head of Disputes has accused Prof Machover of writing an “apparently antisemitic article” according to the new IHRA definition, and further accused him of “membership or support for another political party, or a political organisation with incompatible aims to the Labour Party” on the basis of “participation in CPGB events and regular contributions to the CPGB’s newspaper, the Weekly Worker”.

This Branch/CLP notes that:

·The Chakrabarti Inquiry found that the party’s “. . . complaints and disciplinary procedures . . . lacked sufficient transparency, uniformity and expertise . . .” and called for “the vital legal principles of due process (or natural justice) and proportionality”.
· The IHRA definition is being monitored by Camden Council to ensure that it is not used to stifle free expression and criticism of Israeli policies.
·Prof Machover who denies the accusations, has not been given the opportunity to challenge either the accusation of antisemitism nor his alleged support for another party or organisation with incompatible aims to the Labour Party.
·This expulsion is a frightening precedent in a party which is working to be more democratic and called for, in the words of its leader Jeremy Corbyn, ‘support to end the oppression of the Palestinian people, the 50-year occupation and the illegal settlement expansion’.

This Branch/CLP therefore calls for:

·Prof Machover’s expulsion to be immediately rescinded and for due process to take place so Prof Machover is given the opportunity to challenge the claims of the Head of Disputes.
More resolutions and statements of support can be found on the Jewish Voice for Labour website HERE

Speakers against Brent Council's adoption of the IHRA definition and examples of anti-semitism warned against its potential misuse to accuse pro-Palestinan activists of anti-semitism. LINK

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Labour is cannibalising themselves.

Anonymous said...

I assume I'll get attacked for this but Labour is allowing the Tories and the rags which support them to plug away at this 'Labour is anti-semitic' bollocks because they won't confront the fact that a significant minority among some ethnic groups whose urban votes Labour depends on, can be, for religious and historical reasons, casually anti-Semitic. The result of Labour's failure of nerve is absurdities like this case.

Do I have figures? No. But I do have experience and life is, by its nature, anecdotal.

Trevor said...

I am addressing this from a humanistic perspective.
Whether individuals chose to believe or not believe in a purposeful creator
the fact is earth is just right for human habitation
but the problem is people tend to be selfish and stubborn.
When you strip away the politics and all the rest
all that is left are human traits such as selfishness, undue pride, and a inherent refusal to accept some facts set in concrete.
1.We have one life.
2.Whatever we own in life can't be taken when we die.
3.It's about time that people learn to be less selfish and stop wasting precious time fighting over land that they live on but don't own.
4.racism is vanity and a waste of time and widens the gap between human beings.
5.We can't tell people what to think and if a man thinks that one group of people are being unfair
that is his opinion and we shouldn't react like a pack of wolves and tear the man to pieces or force him out into the wilderness.
6.A point of view is just that and we shouldn't be over righteous
and behave as if we expect to only hear what is pleasing to our ears.
7.what is said,life goes on...the sun still shines,seeds still grow and it is another opportunity for us to learn to live together in relative peace.
8.I know that is easier said than done but I really think that it is time for people to stop fighting over things that really aren't worth fighting for.
9.We come from one place and we are all heading to another and no matter how much we fuss and fight and bury our heads in the figurative sand its gonna happen and there is nothing we can do to stop it.
10.Do we want to spend our lives in war with each other or do we want to fight for peace?