The sole Jewish member of the Labour Group in Newham, East London, was left with “medical symptoms of stress, anxiety, panic attacks and depression” due to a “culture of political and institutional antisemitism”, a leaked report on his treatment has revealed.
An investigation into the circumstances behind councillor Joshua Garfield’s exclusion from the Newham Labour Facebook Group after he complained about examples of “antisemitic discourse” posted by members concluded that the 24-year-old had been “punished” for raising the issue.
Damningly, the report said Mr Garfield - who “held values, practices and politics consistent with the democratic socialist and anti-racist traditions of Labour” - was left “damaged by the antisemitism he experienced” which left him “isolated politically and socially.”
The internal investigation, which was commissioned by Mayor of Newham Rokhsana Fiaz, also confirmed that formal complaints were even made against Mr Garfield by other Labour members “relating to his opposition to antisemitism”.
It said these complaints were themselves “elements of the antisemitic culture of the Labour Party” and that they had “no merits.”
Amongst the reports key findings was that “according to the Macpherson principle, Joshua Garfield’s complaints about antisemitism in the Facebook Group should have been taken seriously.
“It should never have been left to the Jewish member to fight antisemitism.”
It added that Mr Garfield, who stood as a Labour parliamentary candidate in December in Braintree, Essex, had “suffered from a culture of political and institutional antisemitism in the party as a whole.”
And concluded: “The national leadership of the party at that time bears by far the greatest responsibility for this.”
A Jewish Labour Movement member, Mr Garfield had a long-highlighted problem with antisemitism within Labour – and had been one of those airing their concern in the July 2019 BBC Panorama documentary on the issue.
In January this year he complained directly to Newham Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz after his exclusion from the Newham Labour Facebook Group after he highlighted what the report said were “four examples of antisemitic discourse.”
Mayor Fiaz had taken up the post in 2018 following a huge victory for Labour, which took all 60 council seats, and has also used the Newham Labour Facebook Group.
In an attempt to respond properly to Mr Garfield’s complaint, she commissioned the Goldsmiths academic David Hirsh to conduct an investigation into his claims.
His report, released on September 23, concluded that the Mayor herself, the former Deputy Mayor, and the whips’ office were guilty of adopting positions of neutrality regarding the people responsible for the culture of antisemitism in the borough and those who opposed it.
But Mayor Fiaz is also praised by Mr Hirsh has having “a sophisticated understanding of the threat of antisemitism in the party and she did act, in a leadership capacity, to oppose the culture of antisemitism in Newham”.
She was also said to have exemplified “good practice” by instructing senior colleagues to alert the then general secretary of the Labour Party to Mr Garfield’s earlier concerns about WhatsApp comments made by members of Newham’s Momentum group.
The report describes how Mr Garfield, a member a West Ham constituency Labour Party, had raised four examples of “antisemitic discourse” that had appeared on the Newham Labour Facebook Group.
On one occasion, after he protested about the extent of local support for Chris Williamson - the former Derby North MP who was banned from standing for Labour at the last election - Mr Garfield was accused of being a “protagonist in the witch-hunt”.
In a second example, Mr Garfield complained that a suspended party member, Gavin Sealey, who was eventually expelled for antisemitism in February, had been alllowed to publish and defend an article from a website called Exposing Zionism UK which labelled Labour’s now shadow foreign secretary a “Zionist stooge”.
In the third case, Asa Winstanley, who resigned from Labour ahead of a disciplinary hearing, had a letter published on the Newham Facebook site in which he repeatedly made inflammatory claims about “dark money” and “the Israel lobby”.
Finally, a letter from Wirral councillor Jo Bird - now investigated by Labour for a third time - was also published, which expressed solidarity with Jackie Walker, herself expelled over antisemitism claims.
Mr Hirsh concluded all four examples “were indeed antisemitic”.
He said: “They violated the democratic politics and values of the Labour Party in a serious way.”
The report’s author also said the examples were representative of material published on the site since 2018.
It was also revealed how October 2019 Mr Garfield had urged local Newham Labour members to support him in his fight against antisemitism. But he received none.
Instead, as the complaint to the mayor detailed, Mr Garfield had been excluded from the Newham Facebook Group by its administrator, Newham Deputy Mayor John Gray who had received complaints from local members who objected to the Jewish member raising allegations of antisemitism.
In his report, Mr Hirsh confirmed that Mr Gray “does not espouse antisemitic stereotypes or politics and he has expressed no negative opinion towards Jews”.
But Mr Hirsh does say that he “failed to oppose antisemitism even when it was his role to do so” in his capacity as administrator, by positioning himself as “a neutral mediator between those who opposed antisemitism and those who were most responsible for the toxic atmosphere of antisemitism” in discussions on the site.
Mr Hirsh also criticises Mr Gray for banning Mr Garfield from the group following a strongly contested claim that Mr Garfield accused him of being an antisemite.
Mr Hirsh concludes that, in any event, Mr Garfield should not have been excluded from the Facebook group.
Mr Gray announced on November 1 that he was standing down as a Cabinet member, but continuing to serve as a as councillor in the West Ham ward.
The Newham Recorder noted he had stood down “at a time when the councillor was mentioned in a report into antisemitism in the Newham branch of the Labour Party.”
Addressing complaints made about Mr Garfield by other Labour councillors, Mr Hirsh writes: “Those who are directly responsible for political and institutional antisemitism in the Labour Party are generally the first to accuse their victims of aggression and disloyalty.
“They tend to treat antisemitism as though it is invented by Jews and they treat opposition to antisemitism as though it is dishonest, uncomradely and disloyal.”
He finds that the complaints against Mr Garfield “themselves constitute elements of the antisemitic culture in the party”.
The report also details how Mr Garfield had been offered a deputy cabinet position in Newham Council – but the appointment was delayed due to complaints about him.
In an email sent to all Newham Labour members after Mr Hirsh’s report was published, Mayor Fiaz said the hurt experienced by Mr Garfield “over the past two years” was “shameful” and urged members to learn from him and what he needs from them.
She added: “There are others from other religious traditions who represent a minority and they have suffered too. We need to stand by them too.
“To that end, I will be commencing a series of closed discussions with him [Garfield] and others to start the process of learning and an action plan to tackle antisemitism and other forms of racism locally here in Newham.”
Both Mr Hirsh and Mr Garfield declined to comment when approached by the JC about the contents of the report.
Mayor Fiaz told the JC:"“As Mayor of Newham I take all complaints of antisemitism extremely seriously. The Newham Labour Group Executive commissioned an independent report to investigate a complaint involving one of our councillors.
"The report has been submitted to the Labour Party’s Legal and Governance Unit as part of this formal process. For accuracy, Cllr Gray’s position as the statutory Deputy Mayor and cabinet member was revoked on the 30th of October 2020.”
An earlier version of this story wrongly stated that Wirral councillor Jo Bird had been suspended for a third time, rather than investigated.
