Wimborne-Idrissi speaks out on Labour’s frightening efforts to destroy the party’s left
JVL organised a press conference at the Labour Party conference yesterday, 27th September, at which John McDonnell, Andrew Feinstein and Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi spoke.
Here is the Morning Star report on it.
RECENTLY suspended member of Labour’s national executive committee (NEC) has spoken out against “frightening” efforts to “destroy” the Labour left.
Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi was notified that her membership had been suspended just weeks after she was voted onto the NEC, meaning she was prevented from attending committee meetings held at the Labour party conference in Liverpool this week.
Speaking to the Morning Star outside Labour conference, Ms Wimborne-Idrissi, who is a prominent member of the left-wing Jewish Voice for Labour group, said she was angered by the suspension.
“We speculated for weeks on how the leadership would react and what they would do to prevent me taking my seat because … we know the leadership is desperate not to have the views of Jewish Voice for Labour expressed on the NEC.
“But to have it happen almost instantly and just a few days before conference … just seemed quite extraordinary.”
The reason given for her suspension was speaking at an event hosted by a proscribed group. However she has questioned why the decision to suspend her was made at this time, given the event took place one year ago.
She accused the party leadership of undermining the identity of left-wing Jewish members of the party who are critical of Israel.
“This is not just one incident referring to one person, it’s a campaign since JVL was created,” she continued. “They call us anti-semitism deniers, they say we consort with holocaust deniers and these are total fabrications.”
Ms Wimborne-Idrissi is among almost 60 Jewish Labour party members who have been investigated over allegations of anti-semitism.
JVL claims that the party’s disciplinary procedures have been deliberately misused to “purge” left-wing members, as supported by evidence in the recently published Forde report
“It’s actually frightening because the main party of opposition in this country is one which is prioritising destroying people on the left who fight for workers rights, human rights, internationalism, solidarity with the oppressed,” she added.
“If that is their priority, how on earth can we expect them to act if they were in government?”
At a press briefing on Tuesday, Ms Wimborne-Idrissi said her suspension from the party was “an example of the factional abuse of the disciplinary system” exposed in recently aired Al Jazeera programmes on the issue.
The programmes look at leaked files suggesting senior members of the party abused the disciplinary system to remove supporters of former leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Ms Wimborne-Idrissi has received support from former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who previously wrote to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer with concerns about the “brutal” treatment of left-wing Jewish Labour members.
Mr McDonnell called on Tuesday for the Labour leader to launch an inquiry into findings of the Al Jazeera documentaries, which included cases of false allegations of racism against supporters of Mr Corbyn with the intended aim to suspend or expel them from the party.
“What has been coming forward, if true, is really shocking, and the party needs to consider those programmes,” he said. “We can’t move on until we can be transparent about what really went on.”
Also present at the briefing was Andrew Feinstein, a Jewish Labour member who served as an MP under Nelson Mandela in South Africa, and was among those interviewed by Al Jazeera.
Mr Feinstein, who also has worked in genocide prevention, including lecturing at Auschwitz, said he too was under investigation by the party.
“My response to my notice of investigation is … is the party asking me to choose anti-racism as defined by my constituency MP Keir Starmer or should I continue to live my principles and values as taught to me by Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu,” he said.
Mr Feinstein said it was “frankly repulsive” that life-long anti-racist Jewish members of the party has been accused of anti-semitism as a means to attack the left.
He added: “Now Keir Starmer has a choice; he can continue to target anti-racists who are critical of Israel or he can actually deal with the problem of racism in the Labour Party.”
Other members of JVL include the group’s co-chair Jenny Manson who told the Star: “I get really angry – how dare they call us anti-Semitic? And also, how dare they suggest that we don’t understand anti-Semitism? It’s a misrepresentation of what anti-Semitism is.”
She accused Labour and the mainstream media of “destroying and ruining lives and silencing Palestinian voices.
“Palestinians can’t talk about the suffering they received or the fact that their families were chucked out [of Palestine].”
The Labour Party was approached for comment.
With reference back to Daniel Finn’s article, does anyone know what McDonnell’s real position is?
How long will we have to wait before the few decent MPs there are in Labour realise we need a new left-wing party? Labour could well win the next general election but all time people vote for the party that might not screw up the country quite as bad as those in power now we’ll never have good government.
Starmer is despicable disgrace to his profession supporting illegal occupation, attrocites to Palestinians further illegal annexations for apartheid Israeli lebensraum.He achieved election to leader position by outright lying in his election campaign ; and has confirmed his lack of principles in all his actions since then including, unbelievably, support for legalising torture by British armed forces and crimes committed by undercover police officers
While Sir Useless is leader of the party we will always be overlooked The way JVL members have been treated by the leadership is an utter disgrace Just like the way other left wing members have also been treated treated by the leadership
I just wish we could start another party and be ready for the next general election in 2 years time If we could persuade those Mps on the left to join it would give a new party the experiance of sitting MPs in parliament who could embaress the leader Sir Useless by all getting up and join Jeremy as independants Im sure JVL have many experienced people with legal experiance and others who could give advice We could even come up with ideas and names for a new party by asking people to suggest ine
We would also have our own media pàper The morning star who are looking to get financial support in order to keep going and w3 could do this by signing up as shareholders
We need to do somethink fast and get our voice heard
Evil people just lurve being evil and doing things to amuse themselves and their buddies and others of their ilk/nature – ie playing games and messing with people of the opposite nature to them. One name for them – and there’s a few to choose from – is mind-fxxkers.
Mr Colin C Glazebrook “How long will we have to wait before the few decent MPs there are in Labour realise we need a new left-wing party?”
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A much more serious alternative would be for left-wing Labour MPs to join the Green Party, where they would stand some chance of holding their seat at the nexts general election.
The Greens are consistently to the left of Labour on public ownership (full nationalisation of rail, electricity, gas and water), income redistribution, and green issues – not to mention Israel/Palestine, where the Greens support BDS.
I have the greatest respect for Naomi, Jenny & Mr.Feinstein plus so many others who have been berated by a very nasty force of Israeli Zionists whose sense of humanity has disappeared & Judaism confused with Zionism.
Since the start of a Corbyn adventure the word HOPE was on the horizon a new beginning & justice for all.
Then a dark cloud descended & has become darker & thick with corruption & hatred!
I smelt toxic fumes when McNicoll, Ackhurst, Austin , & others began the increase in membership fees it was the start to stop Mr.Corbyn accumulating all the members especially the young ones.
I cannot & will not vote for Starmer he does not represent the Labour Party. People say, but we must get the Tories out I say voting for another flag waving Tory with a hatred of people who don’t believe in oppressive regimes is like voting for a fascism…..
When Al Jazeera’s first investigation was shown few years back it laid bare the criminality then & named the culprits.
Shameful all round. In fact it is they & now Starmer who have increased antisemitism themselves by associations with thugs and racists. Labour has been turned into an abomination & it has to stop infecting their false promises & flag waving. We need Naomi, Jenny & others whose compassion, humanity & strength of character openly shows their integrity.
We do not want hatred, violence & criminals who abuse others for pure gain & power. Bring back hope.
I have developed a new game, I find it quite useful, and sometimes its quite thought provoking to play it.
Basically, you start with any statement you see in the news or reportedly spoken by someone your know to be ‘on the wrong side’, then you assume that the statement is the opposite of the truth.
Now, the opposite of front is back, and the opposite of up is down, simple. But when it comes to statements its sometimes difficult to think of an opposite.
An easy example is the statement ‘Jeremy Corbyn is an anti-semite’. An obvious opposite could be, ‘Jeremy Corbyn is not an anti-semite’.
But let’s not rest there, because to be truely opposite you would need to change the statement to something like ‘Jeremy Corbyn is a committed opponent of anti-semitism’, or ‘Jeremy Corbyn would put his safety at risk to defend Jewish people ‘.
But let’s think about this even further. Because the person who said the false statement implied even more than just something about Jeremy Corbyn, they were implying that they themselves (and their audience) are not antisemitic and are morally superior to Jeremy Corbyn.
So a complete opposite could be that, ‘Jeremy Corbyn would put his own safety at risk in order to defend Jewish people from antisemitism and he is morally superior to us’.
Now does that or does that not sound like truth ? 🙂
This game works all the time with the BBC news or dangerous demagogues like Starmer, Johnson, Biden, Truss.
You learn a lot more from the news when you ask yourself… ‘Could the opposite be true ?’
And that is not a joke, it can be frighteningly enlightening.
James makes a good point, and for a number of reasons. I don’t think most people calling for left-wing MPs to form a new party have stopped to consider what that involves. It would be a MASSIVE undertaking to set it all up in the first place, and the MSM would no doubt completely blank them out, and if Jeremy was involved, then they would quite likely – in any coverage they DID receive – be labeled and tagged as The Anti-Semite Party, or Jew-Hating Party, or something to that effect.
The point is that The Green Party is already established and everything is already in place, and as the effects of Global Warming get worse and worse, and more and more people realise that the PTB are just continuing with Business As Usual, they will be drawn to the GP. I was a member myself for many years up until Jeremy was elected leader of the LP, as no doubt more than a few on the left were too. The point is that tens of thousands of us are now politically homeless, and WE – if we joined and many of us became activists again – the GP could be a force to be reckoned with.
And *I* for one would most certainly join Jewish Voice for the Green Party!
Or Jayveegeepee!!
Talking of the BBC, as Les did, it’s not ALL bad news:
BBC local radio presenters massacre Liz Truss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q0rlT-5oxE
This is interesting – ie a thinly disguised Sun hit-piece on Keir Starmer in the wake of the Tories catastrophic mini-budget and the LP now being more than twenty points ahead (33 points ahead in ONE poll) – with a Big lie for a headline for starters! Here are a few clips from it:
“‘Labour seem to believe simply not being Tories will hand them power’
“Labour’s conference has shown just how far Starmer has dragged his party back towards sanity after the Corbyn nightmare — even if he did enthusiastically support that to the bitter end.
“And even if he did have to suspend one abusive backbench crank only yesterday.
“At least the nutters waving Palestine flags are out. Now the comrades sing the national anthem before the Union Jack. The front bench looks more credible.
“When he says he will make Britain better, fairer, cleaner and more dynamic, how? His green revolution is a fantasy. When he vows to axe business rates and recruit a new army of NHS staff, where’s the cash? These are vast commitments.
“Other pledges were equally vague, with no clue how to achieve them.
We heard nothing tangible to benefit Sun readers, or fix problems they care about. ”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/19939135/labour-keir-starmer-power/?rec_article=true
Solidarity with all those most honourable people, like Naomi and Daniel, who bravely continue to stand up inside the Party for what they know to be true and fair. Thank you also to Les Hartop for some very thoughtful insight.
I watched the Al Jazeera documentary “The crisis” last night and began to understand my own experience of being suspended better. It had seemed incomprehensible at the time (2016) that my remarks about anti semitism accusations had caused another member to stand up, accuse me of anti semitic rubbish and rush out of our branch meeting here in Nottingham. I spent months racking my brains to understand. The programme has helped me to see that my silly little case (I was in the end suspended) was a minor detail in the overall plan. By the way, the person concerned , a Mr Steve Lapsley, has moved from one branch to the next in the Derby/Nottingham area, getting member after member suspended. I am openly stating his name because I do nor think he should have the protection of anonymity, but I leave the moderator to decide on that. What I am trying to say is that being accused of anti semitism is like being accused of being a pedophile. The smear never quite goes away (particularly if you are not Jewish) and it had a profoundly destabilising effect on me, forcing me to consider the possibility that despite a lifetime of family and friends who are Jewish, I was unaccountably a hateful person. Thank goodness there were wonderful members of JVL here who contacted me straightaway to support me. My hatred of Starmer is deep but he is not the only one. A dishonesty and crookedness and cowardice and sheer stupidity…I still reel at how it could possibly have ever happened in the LP. But then I watched “The purge” and saw what happened in Wallasey where accusations of homophobia were used to purge left wingers. I really do not know what we can do. I don’t think forming a new party ever works.
The struggle to get pro-Palestinian views into the public arena is taking place all over the world, and in most western countries those views are suppressed and sidelined by a compliant media, aided even by political parties like Labour that bill themselves as progressive. The deafening silence with which Al Jazeera’s shocking Labour Files has been met shows how complete an omerta is practiced by traditional media when it comes to Israel and the left.
Jeremy Corbyn’s politics epitomized two of the cardinal sins of our age: a radically socialist programme to create a fairer society, and support for Palestinian rights. Neither could be tolerated by the establishment, and the forces opposed to both combined to destroy him and his project, falsely smearing him both as a communist spy and a rabid antisemite. This campaign of assault continues, as witness Naomi’s banishment. Elsewhere in the world journalists who dare to expose not just the plight of the Palestinians but also, and more tellingly, Israel’s culpability for that plight, are also sidelined and in many cases fired from traditional media platforms. In the USA The Hill, which claims to offer a space to progressive opinions, has just fired journalist Katie Halper for daring to contribute an (unaired) segment on apartheid Israel. Her story and censored opinion piece can be found here:
https://youtu.be/3a7d4Qa8M6I
The struggle continues and the forces arrayed against the Palestinian cause seem even more powerful now than ever. But at least we have the internet and independent media to cover a truly progressive world view. For now, at least, but its survival in the future is not something that can be taken for granted. The freedom to voice progressive values, however unpopular, is invaluable and we must fight to preserve it,
Susan Greaves
‘I really do not know what we can do. I don’t think forming a new party ever works.’
We continue the struggle. We seek out the news that the establishment doesn’t want us to see.. We offer solidarity with those who share our goals. We donate what we can afford. We bear witness. And if a new party is formed that we feel reflects our values, we support it.
If Sir Keith wins the next General Election will he ease off of the Left and anti_Zionists just asking?
The only ‘game’ in town is what you call them, the difference being no matter how low you go, it will be true
The other truism is we dont do the dirty work necessary to defeat our enemies and ultimately destroy them as an electoral force
Democracy is the least worst system and in this country it only works when those elected govern for the whole country and not their own self interest
When our democracy is abused their needs to be gaol time and unlimited fines, starting at the top
What we call them should instantly put them on the back foot and contribute to their ultimate downfall
This situation will not improve until it has been won in the courts
Vexatious claims of anti semitism are hate crimes and you cannot be a Jewish person and author of such offensive behaviour
Doug : I’m not sure what you mean. If there is any logic in what you wrote about naming , it is the sort of logic that led to the assassination of an Israeli Prime Minister.
” Vexatious claims of antisemitism are hate crimes….” Is it the vexation that makes the claim hateful , or are all claims of antisemitism hateful ? …”.you cannot be a Jewish person and author of such. …” Why not ? Are you claiming all Jewish people are incapable of hatred, or only all truly Jewish people ?
As I say , I’m not sure what you mean , and I’m only commenting on what appears to me the logic of your last paragraph