Ilford MP backers at centre of hate row
TWO OFFICIALS from the Jewish Voice For Labour group are at the centre of an ugly antisemitism row within Ilford South Labour Party, the JC can reveal.
Diana Neslen and Murray Glickman, who are leading figures in the proJeremy Corbyn group, were behind a motion passed at a local branch meeting last Monday that sought to downplay antisemitism and labelled the Board of Deputies Conservative supporters.
The newly elected local Labour MP Sam Tarry was urged to condemn the motion, which sparked allegations that a Jewish party member and a colleague named Alex Holmes were accused of being “agents of a foreign power” during the debate over the motion at a meeting of Ilford South’s Cranbrook and Valentines local branch.
Mr Holmes, who has now submitted a formal complaint to Labour, said it was the “worst meeting I had ever attended”.
It is understood that Mr Holmes, who is not Jewish himself, spoke up in support of colleagues at Monday’s meeting after they were allegedly subjected to “antisemitic tropes”.
Mr Tarry, a staunch supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, did not condemn the motion. He initially said there were “conflicting accounts” of what happened at the meeting where the motion was debated and passed.
But he later asked for complaints to go through “formal channels” so they could be investigated “impartially”.
The JC has learned that Ms Neslen has a history of controversial statements on antisemitism and Israel.
She once defended the use of the word “Zio” to attack pro-Israeli Jews, claiming there were “connections between Zionists and antisemites throughout history”.
In another social media message, Ms
Neslen wrote that “the lessons of the Holocaust is that all lives are worthy and since the Israelis learnt the wrong lesson their baubles no longer have any currency.”
She has worked as a vice-chair with the Redbridge Equalities Community Council whose stated mission is to “build and strengthen community cohesion, participation, engagement and civic pride and promote inclusion of marginalised groups.”
Mr Glickman has been involved with anti-Zionist groups such as Jews For Justice For Palestinians and Free Speech on Israel.
Ilford South Labour member Mr Holmes said on Wednesday: “I am currently writing my official complaint to the party as they launch an investigation.
“As this issue will now be dealt with internally by the party, I will not be making any additional comments on the matter at this time.”
It also emerged that both Ms Neslen and Mr Glickman were among the 30 individuals to nominate Mr Tarry to become Labour’s Ilford South candidate.
“Unfortunately Sam Tarry is indebted to the support of a group that has consistently caused trouble locally, and has consistently sought to downplay or deny antisemitism in Labour,” a source said.
“When the list of Sam’s backers came in — there were three lists with 10 names on each — it was clear he was being backed by five known members of JVL.”
Mr Tarry won the Labour nomination after his chief rival, Jas Athwal, the leader of Redbridge Council, was suspended by the party the night before voting was scheduled to take place last October.
Supporters of Mr Athwal alleged the suspension — following a complaint about his conduct from another Labour member — was a stitch-up orchestrated by the pro-Corbyn leadership, who have denied this.
Mr Athwal is now taking legal action against Labour.
Mr Tarry, a former transport union official, once worked as an organiser for anti-racism charity Hope not Hate.
JVL duo Ms Neslen and Mr Glickman were joined by other figures inside the Momentum organisation, the Unite and CWU trade unions, as nominators of Mr Tarry, a former councillor in Barking and Dagenham.
The JC approached Ms Neslen and Mr Glickman for comment.