McDonnell group in smear claim
Labour group headed by Shadow Chancellor suggests antisemitism allegations about party members are ‘propaganda’
A LABOUR campaign group of which shadow chancellor John McDonnell is president has suggested allegations of Jew-hate against members of the party are “propaganda” created by the “ruling class” designed to stop Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister.
A 39-point statement, published by the Labour Representation Committee (LRC) ahead of its 2019 conference, also says “anti-Zionists” are being expelled from Labour while “more and more councils are adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition and examples of antisemitism and using it to discipline workers”.
The report also insists it is “crucial” to have had Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) member Stephen Marks nominated and elected to the Labour’s top disciplinary body the NCC as a means of “replacing witch-hunters in the party”.
The publication of the LRC conference manifesto, titled ‘Preparing our Movement for the Struggles Ahead’, leaves Mr McDonnell facing charges of hypocrisy after he pledged to “call-out” websites stoking the flames of Labour’s antisemitism row.
In the past, the LRC has defended Ken Livingstone against allegations of antisemitism over his comments on Hitler and Zionism — but the new manifesto shows the group have lost none of their passion for attacking mainstream Jewish opinion.
It says: “Clearly, the preferred option of the ruling class is to prevent Corbyn ever becoming Prime Minister.
“At root, their concern is his stand against austerity and imperialist war. They are prepared to throw anything at him, firstly to prevent him retaining the Labour leadership, if that fails to prevent him winning a general election, and as a last resort to tame him into watering down his policies so he offers no threat to their interests.
“Hence the onslaught of propaganda
President of the LRC: McDonnell from their mouthpieces and supporters, whether Tories, business, the media or the right of the PLP.
“While some of this is laughingly trivial (the wrong sort of coat at the Cenotaph), and easily brushed off (Czech spy), they have found mileage with the accusation that the party harbours large numbers of antisemites, and even that Corbyn himself is antisemitic.” Accepting that “antisemitism exists in the party, though much more marginally than suggested”, the LRC manifesto then backs “criticism of Israel, up to and including the argument by many that, as a colonial settler state, it is an intrinsically racist endeavour.”
Regretting that the “storm against Labour antisemitism” has not gone away, the manifesto adds: “We can expect an upsurge in allegations, new or old, whenever an election looms.”
Claiming it is possible to separate “anti-Zionism from actual antisemitism” the LRC calls for “an understanding of the nature of Israel, its laws, practices and its treatment of the Palestinians”.
It then states: “Moreover, these false allegations are intended to weaponise the accusations of antisemitism against Labour.
Such allegations must be challenged politically, and it is why the passing of the resolution by 2018 Labour Conference and the accompanying waving of Palestinian flags was so important.”
Returning to the IHRA definition of antisemitism, the LRC says: “The drive to get the IHRA definition and examples of antisemitism adopted by the NEC, the attempt to block a JVL member standing for the NCC and the attempt to block Pete Willsman winning a place on the NEC exposed these shortcomings to a wider audience.”
Euan Philipps, from the Labour Against Antisemitism group, told the JC the LRC’s comments were “outrageous. John McDonnell should resign as the organisation’s president immediately, as should any other senior Labour members (including those on the party’s National Executive Committee) who were involved in the production of this statement.
“Mr McDonnell spoke during the summer of how Labour’s antisemitism scandal had shaken him ‘to the core’.
“If he is genuine … then he will act incisively and remove himself from this poisonous fringe.”
When asked if Mr McDonnell supported the LRC manifesto, a Labour spokesperson said: “John has no dayto-day involvement in the operation of the LRC and is not responsible for its website or for posts on social media by its supporters.”
Other members of the LRC include Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack, while Gordon Nardell QC, Labour’s in-house counsel on disciplinary issues, Momentum founder Jon Lansman and commentator Owen Jones have also belonged to the organisation in the past.
It has long been seen as a pressure group for the most left-wing members of the Labour Party.
They have found mileage in accusations of Jew-hate