Jackie Walker sacked as Momentum vice-chair
JACKIEWALKERhasbeenremovedas vice-chair of the hard-left Momentum campaign group following comments she made about Holocaust Memorial Day.
But the controversial activist, who has also been suspended by the Labour Party, will remain on Momentum’s steering group after officials deemed her remarks as not antisemitic.
Ms Walker’s questioning of the purpose of the annual memorial day was “ill-informed, ill-judged and offensive”, the group concluded, but it decided that she should not be expelled from Labour.
She was suspended by the party — for the second time this year — last Friday, five days after speaking out at a Jewish Labour Movement training session on tackling antisemitism.
The session, at the party’s conference in Liverpool last week, was hijacked by Ms Walker who took the microphone and criticised Holocaust Memorial Day, claiming it should Jackie Walker remember genocides other than the crime against humanity — despicable Shoah. When she was told that the and awful as were holocausts in Africa annual memorial did in fact recognise and against all peoples. All holocaust other episodes of mass murder, she denial is unacceptable racism.” went on to claim that she had not seen Momentum’s steering group voted a definition of antisemitism which she seven to three to remove her from the could “work with”. vice-chair role at a meeting on Monday Whenfootageof thesessionwaspubafter she explained herself to senior lished online, she claimed it had been members. leaked “with malicious intent” and In a statement, the group said her repeatedly denied she was antisemitic, behaviour was “irresponsible” and had including in a Channel 4 interview. caused the steering committee “to lose In an online post, the Kent-based confidence in her as vice-chair”. activist, who says she is Jewish, also The group believed she had failed to wrote: “Apparently questioning whethunderstand the concern caused by her er holocaust memostatements,adding:“Thecommitteefeels rial commemoraJackie should have done more to explain tions of all types herself to mitigate the upset caused and are open to all, should have been careful about stateincluding those ments on this and related subjects.” who have expeA JLM spokesman said Momentum’s rienced genodecision was “a small step in the right cide before the direction”. Nazis, is racist. Marie van der Zyl, Board of Depu“Yes, the Jewties vice-president, called on Labour to ish holocaust expel Ms Walker “once and for all”. was a great A Labour Friends of Israel spokesperson said it was disappointed that MomentumhadretainedMsWalkeron its steering committee. Ms Walker was originally suspended earlier this year after comments she made regarding Jews and the slave trade, and an “African holocaust”.