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Another Jew here (hi!). On Labour antisemitism, I'm closer to @Sara_Rose_G than @MerylORourke (to name two other Jews whom I admire). I think Labour has a significant problem, & Corbynites who claim it's all a "smear" are a blight upon Twitter. But… https://twitter.com/MerylORourke/status/1276164156878708738
I certainly agree with O'Rourke that stating facts about Israel isn't antisemitic. In fact…
I think *misstating* "facts" about Israel isn't necessarily antisemitic. @AdamWagner1 suggests the "fact" asserted in the article @RLong_Bailey retweeted—that US police learned from Israeli police the technique that killed George Floyd—isn't supported by any evidence. But…
Even if it's not true, not every falsehood about Israel is antisemitic. One can oppose Israeli policy without being antisemitic (obvs). In opposing, one may get something wrong. That happens. Now…
If what you get wrong is based on antisemitic tropes, it may be antisemitic. To take an extreme example, if you claimed Israeli troops kill Christian Palestinian children to harvest their blood for Passover, that would be antisemitic. So…
What about this instance (assuming this "fact" isn't a fact)? Others will disagree with me ( @AkivaMCohen?), but I'd say not this time—but it's not great in the US context. A desire to drag Israel into the US policing debate shows strong commitment to anti-Israel politics. But…
That's not necessarily anti-Semitic. @MPeakeOfficial & Long-Bailey are Brits, but in the US context, accusing Jews of being especially responsible, more than other whites, for victimizing African-Americans has a bad & definitely antisemitic history (& present). So…
Trying to harness BLM for anti-Israel purposes is dangerous & something that anyone who's against antisemitism should avoid. But it is a fact that US & Israeli police train together, & stating that fact is clearly not in itself antisemitic. Now…
Peake & Long-Bailey should take more care to double-check the claim that the technique that MPD used to kill Floyd was learned from Israeli police. If they repeated that claim *knowing* it to be false, however, I'd still say that's dishonest politics—not anti-semitism. And…
I very much doubt they *knew* it to be false. Indeed, I don't know it to be false. All I know is I've seen it said that there's no evidence for it. So, in conclusion…
RLB shouldn't be on the front bench because she's been an enabler of Labour's denial of its antisemitism problem. But RTing this article? I don't see it.
Here, the excellent Sara Gibbs makes her argument for why RLB had to go. I don't know if I'm persuaded to accept her conclusion, let alone all of her reasoning, but it's worth thinking through at the very least. https://twitter.com/Sara_Rose_G/status/1276171378044125189?s=20
