by
Friends of Israel: The Backlash against Palestine Solidarity by Hil Aked
Weaponising Anti-Semitism: How the Israel Lobby Brought Down Jeremy Corbyn by Asa Winstanley
If Rosie Duffield were to become properly accountable to her constituents, or to attempt to understand why many of them won’t be lending her their votes in any forthcoming elections, educational information such as is found in these recently-published books would play a major role. It’s hard to make sense of the manufactured furore of the Labour Party’s ‘antisemitism crisis’ without understanding the pro-Israel lobby’s role in the undermining of Jeremy Corbyn, a nefarious campaign in which the MP for Canterbury and Whitstable played an active part. Here, in forensic detail, readers are presented with the facts behind the witch hunt so many members are familiar with. Local constituency party Starmer supporters are apparently incapable of imagining a victory based on socialist principles, or even the humanitarian ones suggested by Hil Aked, who says ‘It is precisely because of my commitment to anti-racism that I oppose both Israeli apartheid and anti-Semitism.’
As Hil wryly notes at the back of their book, ‘It’s not often that a trans person has a public platform, let alone one to speak about something other than being trans. Naturally, I chose to spend years researching and writing about the only subject equally, or perhaps even more prone to polarisation and toxicity. And writing this book, especially as a trans non-binary person of colour, has sometimes felt like asking for trouble … the movements opposing trans liberation and Palestinian liberation appear to me to have quite a lot in common. Both use repressive legal tactics and misrepresent the truth.’
We may think we know it already, but here it is, arguably for the first time, laid out in accessible, precise detail, the history and methodology behind the support of Britain, the USA and their client states, without which Israel could not sustain its brutal regime. The author poses three ‘basic but critical’ questions: who are the key actors defending Israeli apartheid in Britain? What are their strategies and tactics in different arenas of society? How powerful are they really?
The role of Israel supporters such as Duffield and the influential Luke Akehurst, e.g., in upholding the deadly ‘racialised violence’ practiced by the settler-colonial state, is made explicit. A supposed feminist, Duffield has set up a cross-party alliance with fanatical ‘family values’ evangelical Tory MP, Miriam Cates, she of the infamous warning against ‘cultural Marxism’ given at the recent National Conservative conference. ‘That a Labour MP would align herself with such an individual is deeply concerning, and highlights how thin the veneer of ‘women’s rights’ is within the ‘gender-critical’ movement primarily concerned with the demonisation of trans people.’
Rosie Duffield counts numerous anti-trans luminaries among her friends. Her closeness to former Israeli Embassy employee, Ella Rose, was previously reported in Whitstable Views. You will see a typically irresponsible message from Duffield, falsely accusing local Labour Party members of antisemitism, stating, ‘…I trust JLM, friends like Luciana, Ella Rose, Alex Sobel and others who are reliable guides.’ Rose, former director of the ‘Jewish Labour Movement’ – an organisation deployed specifically to oppose Corbyn – threatened to ‘take down’ anti-racist activist and writer, Jackie Walker, using a martial arts technique developed by the Israeli army that ‘leaves no bruises’.
‘I do not attempt to construct a fallacious argument that absent the influence of the Zionist movement, the British government would somehow be supportive of Palestinian rights,’ explains Aked. ‘Instead, I focus on the way the Zionist movement has been forced to mobilise in response to a resurgent Palestine solidarity movement.’ They cite the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign initiated by Palestinian civil society, as the source of serious pressure on Israel to comply with international law.
‘With each fresh act of racialised state violence, Israel’s legitimacy fades further,’ they observe, citing Akehurst’s admission of failure to revive ‘a campaigning culture [on behalf of Israel] that previously existed in the UK Jewish community.’
They argue that the ‘Israel Lobby’ is better described as the ‘Zionist movement: a transnational and far from exclusively Jewish ‘movement’ of multiple state-private networks.’ This is born out by Duffield, Akehurst, Joan Ryan and ex-Labour, Tory-appointed ‘Anti-Semitism Tsar,’ John Mann, who hounded Ken Livingstone relentlessly. ‘Christian Zionism deserves special mention in this regard,’ comments Aked, going on to list Arthur Balfour, Orde Wingate, Terence Prittie, Nigel Goodrich, Sajid Javid, Michael Gove, Priti Patel and Joan Ryan as non-Jewish Zionists.
‘I wrote this book because I believe that all actors – civil society organisations as well as governments – working to shore up support for Israeli apartheid, or to marginalise and repress solidarity with Palestinians, ought be held publicly accountable and should not be immune to criticism. Their actions cause harm, albeit indirectly.’
Like Hil Aked, Asa Winstanley draws on personal experience as an activist, from living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank. Alexei Sayle describes Weaponising Anti-Semitism as ‘vital reading’ and the thousands who’ve been kicked out of the Labour Party for ‘liking’ a harmless tweet will recognise the machinations described. Canterbury and Whitstable is likely among the first of the parliamentary constituencies to have been stitched up by the Zionist movement, ‘weaponised’ to purge the party of socialists supporting Jeremy Corbyn. Winstanley points out that ‘Zionists on the left were far more useful, as they could undermine the party from within.’
Nowadays, even the Financial Times is writing about Keir Starmer’s ruthless remaking of the Labour Party (Jim Pickard and George Parker, 07/06/2023) and Michael Crick has penned an article on the right wing platform, unherd opining that Starmer will regret his purge.
According to the FT, one former party aide quoted Starmer as ‘basically saying he would be Jeremy Corbyn in a suit without the IRA stuff or the Palestine obsession.’ As if. Winstanley dissects the witch hunt against Jeremy Corbyn, Ken Livingstone, Jackie Walker, Ken Loach and the many others fallen victim to Labour’s racist, authoritarian tendency based on its colonial mindset. Even now, party members fear speaking out in support of the ultimate victims, the Palestinian people. Those who apologise for ‘liking’ the wrong tweet, face a North Korean style re-education session conducted by Jack Lubner of the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM).
We owe Asa Winstanley for the exemplary truth-telling journalism and meticulous research that has gone into his book. And it doesn’t end there. His regular substack articles and contributions to Electronic Intifada continue the narrative. Here’s a sample of his reportage on Keir Starmer’s mega-donor, South African apartheid-profiteer, Gary Lubner and his son Jack.
“The UK Labour Party’s latest corporate mega-donor is a pro-Israel businessperson whose firm profiteered from South African apartheid.
“Gary Lubner’s company played an important role busting international sanctions against the South African apartheid regime in the 1980s.
“Lubner even joined the police force responsible for South Africa’s brutal white supremacist regime in 1977.” https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/labours-new-bankroller-israel-lobbyist-south-african-apartheid-profiteer
“Gary Lubner’s son Jack Lubner is a leading member of several Israel lobby groups in Britain, including the Jewish Labour Movement, Yachad and the Israeli-embassy-funded Union of Jewish Students.
“Jack Lubner is a campaigner against the Palestinian led boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, and was an intern for the pro-Israel lobbyist Ruth Smeeth, when she sat in the UK’s House of Commons. He has also played a leading role in the Israel lobby’s recent smear campaign against the British Iraqi rapper and campaigner Lowkey.”
Winstanley and Aked both celebrate irrefutable evidence that grassroots activism cannot be suppressed by violence, lawfare, megabucks, censorship or smears. Resistance based on a new generation of global, decolonising, intersectional solidarity with the Palestinian people is becoming an irresistible force.
If you liked this you may also enjoy:
Greater Than the Sum of Our Parts: Feminism, Inter/Nationalism and Palestine, Nadia Elia, Pluto Press
Transitional, Munroe Bergdorf, Bloomsbury
The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice, Shon Faye, Allen Lane
Diane Langford
Diane Langford is a Palestine Solidarity Campaign activist, novelist, trade unionist, women’s liberation movement activist , LGBTQ and NHS campaigner.
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