The JLM passed resolutions that said:

the Labour Party is institutionally antisemitic;
the leadership of the Labour Party have demonstrated that they are antisemitic; and Jeremy Corbyn is therefore unfit to be prime minister and a Labour government led by him would not be in the interest of British Jews.
…[we] withhold endorsement, support or campaign time from any candidate who is not an ally in the fight against antisemitism in the Labour Party…

Q

In the Peterborough by-election in May, the JLM decided not to campaign for Labour parliamentary candidate Lisa Forbes, and after she won you called for her to have the whip suspended immediately. Does that mean that you were so opposed to her election that you did not care who was elected instead? Undermining the Labour candidate enhanced the chances of the Brexit party, led by an extreme right-winger who has connections with the antisemitic racist right in Europe.  Would you have preferred the Brexit candidate to be elected?

Q

Is the JLM in favour of the Labour Party manifesto which Corbyn’s leadership has produced, against austerity, for re-nationalisation and an ethical foreign policy?

Q

When there is a general election, what other party would the JLM encourage Jewish people to vote for, or would you propose that Jewish people abstain from voting? Would the JLM tell people not to vote Labour, allowing the possibility of a racist, anti-immigrant, homophobic, pro-austerity, extremist right wing Tory prime minister?

There is an increasing threat of war against Iran by the US, backed by Israel and Saudi Arabia. A Corbyn government would ensure that Britain uses its power to deflate such a horrendous possibility and would not back such a war.

Q

Would the JLM support the Corbyn-led anti-war Party or support this highly dangerous promotion of war?

The Al Jazeera documentary, The Lobby, revealed that leading members of the JLM were working with Israeli agent Shai Masot based at the Israeli embassy, who was plotting to “take down” Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan and discredit the then chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee Crispin Blunt for disagreeing with Israel’s policies towards Palestinians.

The then chair of the JLM, Jeremy Newmark, was filmed at the 2016 Labour Party conference in a meeting with Masot and Israel’s ambassador to the UK Mark Regev discussing how to undermine Party members’ support for Palestine.

In undercover footage, Ella Rose, then director of JLM, now Equalities Officer, defended the JLM’s relationship with Masot saying she knew him “very well” and that she had worked with him when she was a public affairs officer at the Israeli embassy.  She admitted that the JLM brought an Israeli delegation to the conference on behalf of the embassy.

Q

In the light of this we have to ask what is the relationship between the JLM and the Israeli embassy in London?

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry called for an investigation into the apparent Israeli interference exposed by Al Jazeera.

Q

Does the JLM support such an investigation?

The JLM website states:

In addition to the UK Labour Party, the Jewish Labour Movement is also affiliated to the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Zionist Federation of the UK, and organise within the World Zionist Organisation alongside our sister party in Israel, Havodah - the Israeli Labor Party . . .

According to the UN, the World Zionist Organisation was allocated $35 million by Israel to fund and organise Israeli settlements on Occupied Palestinian land in violation of international law. The Zionist Federation of the UK demonstrated in support of the 2014 bombing of Gaza where over 2,000 Palestinian civilians were killed, including 500 children. The Board of Deputies of British Jews attempted to justify the widely condemned intentional killing of unarmed Palestinians by the Israeli military during the Great March of Return.  So far this has resulted in 277 killed, including 52 children, media, medical personnel and disabled people, and 28,000 wounded and deliberately disabled.

Q

We see no references to these tragedies on the JLM website: how do you explain being affiliated to these organisations which defend illegal incursions into Palestinian land and life, and the organised murder and maiming of unarmed civilians?

Isaac Herzog, while leader of the JLM’s ‘sister party’ the Israeli Labor Party (ILP) stated his apartheid view to: “separate from as many Palestinians as possible, as quickly as possible . . . We want to . . . complete the barrier that separates us.” Last year he stated that intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews is a “plague”. ILP leader Gabbay has said: “the Arabs have to be afraid of us” and “We will not share a government with the [Arab majority party] Joint List, period.”, and joined the racists in trying to legislate for 35,000 African asylum seekers to be either deported or indefinitely incarcerated.

Q

Has the JLM challenged these views?

The JLM’s no-confidence resolution in Jeremy Corbyn also says:

Solidarity for those less fortunate than us or who suffered discrimination or injustice are both Jewish and Labour values.

Q

Yet the JLM seems to focus only on antisemitism in the Labour Party and has little to say about antisemitism by other political parties, even by the far right.  Other forms of racism, including Islamophobia, and discrimination and injustice, such as the hostile immigration environment are rarely mentioned. Can you say why this is so?

The JLM AGM also attacked other Labour organisations, including a Jewish organisation:

CLPD [Campaign for Labour Party Democracy], LRC [Labour Representation Committee] and JVL [Jewish Voice for Labour] are a malign influence in the Labour Party.

One of the JLM’s ‘values’ is: To promote the centrality of Israel in Jewish life . . .

Q

The JLM often refer to ‘the Jewish community’ as if Jewish people are of one mind and whose political views you represent; at the same time you attack a Jewish organisation.  How can you justify this?

Since you consider the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn institutionally antisemitic and therefore claim he is ‘unfit’ to govern, are we right to assume that you stay in the Labour Party to prevent it becoming the government?

Organisations (16 August 2019):

Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Coventry Friends of Palestine, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network UK, Independent Jewish Voices, Jewish Network for Palestine, Jewish Voice for Labour, Labour Against the Witchhunt, Labour Representation Committee, Liverpool Friends of Palestine, Scottish Jews Against Zionism, Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, The Big Ride for Palestine.

Also endorsed by (16 August 2019):

Abdirazak Abdi

Zulfqar Ali

Ben Alofs

Nadia Amara

Carol Archer

Steve Atherton

Caroline Barker

Ray Barkley

Mike Barson

Labina Basit

Turan Basri

Prof. Catherine Belsey

Deane Bevan

Joseph Black

Dr. Susan Blackwell

Ali Brownlie Bojang

Prof. Hagit Borer, FBA

Gary Boyle

Malcolm Bradstock

Diana Brighouse‎

Tarin Brokenshire

Beverley Bura

Paul Burton

Christine Campbell

David Cannon

Cornelius Carroll

Shelagh Carter

Chrissie Charvill

Ciara Clearn

Sylvia Cohen

Peter Collins

Owen Cooper

Helen Corkin

Alistair Cunningham

Deborah Darnes

Diane Datson

Mary Davies

Sonya Delancey

Gaie Delap

Colm Doherty

Peter Downey

Greg Dropkin

Bridget Dunne

Nicky Drury

Thomas Eisner

Liz Elkind

Michael Ellman

Michele Emerson

Prof. David Epstein, FRS

Harriet Evans

Mike Evans

Martin Fahey

Tony Fehler

Preston Ferguson

Andrew Finebaum

Sylvia Finzi

Frank Fisher

Jonathan Flint

Jenifer Flintoft

Debbie Friedman

Alan Frost

Tessa van Gelderen

Carolyn Gelenter

Abdul Ghumra

Bob Giles

Martin Golding

Tony Greenstein

Dorothea Hackman

Shaun A Hague

Noel Hamel

Abe Hayeem

Rosamine Hayeem

Jenny Hardacre

Nicola Hall

Linda Heap

John Henry

Fran Heron

Maureen Hindle

Marian Hoffman

Tim Horgan

Nina Houghton

Anna Hubbard

Victoria Hueber

Barry Hulyer

John Ingamells

Steve Jansky

Julia Parry-Jones

Naomi Junnor

Yael Kahn

Ronald Kercher

Faraz Khan

Stephen Kapos

Kyrena Karmiloff

Stephen Kelly

Martin Kemp

Steve King

Professor Chris Knight

Marc Lavelle

Les Levidow

Dr. Agnes Kory

Richard Kuper

Christopher Lamb

Rob Langlands

Bernice Laschinger

Dave Lawrence

Lorry Leader

Nic Lee

Richard Lightbown

Elizabeth Lindsay

Tom Loeffler

Marie Lyman

John Lynes

Dorothy Macedo

Ilana Machover

Kate Macintosh

Bill MacKeith

Dr M D Magee

Jim Malone

Saleh Mamon

Nathan Mann

Nicola Mann

Sandra Mann

Piroska Markus

Helen Marks

Valerie Marriott

Janet McCarron

Kevin McCarron

Ian Mcdonald

Colin McKean

Alasdair MacVarish

Rowena A Melville

Angie Mindel

Andy Moir

David  Mond

Igi Moon

Elizabeth Morley

Roy Mowatt

David Murray

Dr Dylan Murphy

Maurice Naftalin

Shabi Naqvi

Diana Neslen

Neil Niblock

Joanna Nowicki

Lee R Nixon

Safiya O'Donnell

Laura Patton

Allan Pearson

Helen Pearson

Simon Pearson

Mike Pedler

Tomasz Pierscionek

Miranda Pinch

Frances Patterson

Mike Pedler

Jose Ponte, PhD, FRCA

Tim Porter

Jean Pownceby

John Purcell

Maureen Purcell

Yousef Qandeel

Mizanur Rahman

Bob Reeves

Jon de Rennes

Paul Renny

Shezan Renny

Crissie Richter

Allan Robinson

Dr. Brian Robinson

Charlotte Peters Rock

Lee Rock

John Rogers

Gareth Samuel-Trower

Carlos Soto

Linda Sayle

Jenny Secretan

Gerald George Shaw

Peter Sheridan <

Sarah Sheriff

Kumiko Shimizu

Andy Simons

Isabel Simons

Ian J Sinkovits

Ray Sirotkin

Alan Smith

Prof. Peter Smith

Jamie Stanley

Kim Sparrow

Tom Suarez

Jenny Stanton

Heather Stroud

Cathy Sutcliffe

Ruth Tenne

Genevieve Tester

Margery Thorogood

Dean Thomas

Rita Thompson

Julian Townsend

Linda Townshend

Josephine Tyrconnell-Fay

Linda D Vaux

Phil Vasili

Jeremy Walden

Bob Walker

Hugh Wallis

Anne Watson

Richard Watson

Peter Wickenden

Carol Wilcox

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