Labour conference fringe events 'will display blatant antisemitism', MP fears

“That is why is it is vital that all those fighting antisemitism in the party attend the JLM event on Sunday, and the LFI event on Tuesday.”

With a General Election possibly only weeks away – and an investigation by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) into claims Labour is institutionally antisemitic - the party was widely expected to have tried to avoid allowing the type of events that have pushed anti-Jewish racism into the spotlight at previous party conferences.

But on Wednesday, LFI which Dame Louise chairs, announced they had pulled their planned promotional staff from this year’s conference, over concerns about the safety of their staff.

The  organisation decided to abandon having a stall at the Brighton Hilton venue on Tuesday after concern grew about the increasingly toxic comments directed towards them on social media and political forums.

LFI will still host the annual evening reception at Conference next Tuesday evening – with Labour deputy leader Tom Watson, Dame Louise and Israeli ambassador to the UK Mark Regev set to speak.

An LFI spokesperson said: ”The ongoing abuse of Jewish party members – highlighted by July’s Panorama programme – and the failure of Jeremy Corbyn to do anything to deter his supporters from engaging in it, means that we have decided it would not be appropriate for us to have a stand at Labour party conference this year.

“Our staff have faced incidents of antisemitism in previous years and, given that the situation appears to have further deteriorated, we do not feel it is responsible as an employer to put them in this environment.”   

On Sunday, Ruth Smeeth MP, the JLM Parliamentary Chair, Dame Louise, and MPs Dame Margaret Hodge and Alex Sobel, will speak at a rally at Brighton’s Middle Street Synagogue stressing their intention to carry on the fight against antisemitism in Labour and motivate Jewish activists and supporters.

But a scan both through the official programme for Brighton 2019 and of events, not in the official fringe, planned by organisations such as Labour Against The Witch-Hunt (LATW) and the Labour Representation Committee (LRC) - both of which have said claims that antisemitism is a "smear" – reveals a worrying picture.

On Sunday, the pro-Corbyn fringe group Jewish Voice For Labour, which was set up in 2017 to defend the Labour leader against allegations of antisemitism, has an official listing in the fringe events section for its event titled Let’s Talk About Palestine featuring anti-Zionist historian Ilan Pappe.

The controversial historian has previously blamed the creation of Israel for the lack of peace in the Middle East, arguing that Zionism is more dangerous than Islamic militancy, and has called for an international boycott of Israeli academics.

Some within Labour, it is understood, claim that the JVL event was not organised by the party and that it also featured a former member of the Knesset.

On the same evening, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon, shares a platform with lawyer Salma Karmi-Ayyoub who has branded the debate over the internationally recognised IHRA antisemitism state “toxic” and who branded Israel a “racist regime.”

The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers event, again advertised in Labour’s official guide, states in will discuss "Israel/Palestine: Occupation Law, Human Rights and the Rights of Law".

A Labour spokesperson told the JC: "Anyone can organise an event in Brighton at the same time as our Conference. This does not mean they are part of it.

“No event has been approved for the fringe which includes speakers who are suspended or expelled from the party.”

On Monday evening, the LRC is to host a meeting titled ‘What kind of Labour Left Do we Need?’ where Jackie Walker, who was expelled for “prejudicial and grossly detrimental behaviour against the party” having been suspended for remarks about Holocaust Memorial Day and Jewish involvement in slavery.

Suspended MP Chris Williamson, who faces expulsion over his repeated interventions in the debate around antisemitism, is also due to speak.

Labour’s Shadow Chancellor Mr McDonnell is honorary president of the LRC and has repeatedly refused to condemn the group for downplaying the scale of Jew-hate in the party.

On Tuesday, the hugely controversial LATW host their own event where former London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who resigned from Labour over an investigation over his repeated comments relating to Hitler and Zionism and Asa Winstanley, an anti-Israel blogger currently suspended, both speak.

LATW have defended activists already expelled by Labour including Tony Greenstein and those currently under investigation including Pete Willsman, the Labour NEC member who caused outrage with his rant about Jews being "Trump fanatics".

The pro-Corbyn Momentum group host their own separate The World Transformed (TWT) events at its now annual fringe programme at Labour conference.

Palestinian activist Omar Barghouti, the co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, is to speak on a panel discussing the suppression of “the democratic mobilising of those working for progressive causes”.

In an essay written in 2012, Mr Barghouti rejected not only a Jewish state but also a bi-national state, saying that such an entity would mean recognising national Jewish rights and therefore “imply accepting their right to self-determination”.

Members of the shadow cabinet, including the Labour leader,  have made appearances at TWT in recent years even though Labour is not associated with the festival in an official capacity.