www.antisemitism.uk

Alison Chabloz #racist antisemitism.uk

Last year at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, District Judge John Zani found Ms Chabloz guilty and sentenced her to a 20-week prison sentence suspended for two years, 180 hours of unpaid community service, an indefinite order against contacting two leaders of Campaign Against Antisemitism, as well an an order banning her from social media for 12 months. She was also ordered to pay a £115 victim surcharge, and costs of £600. The suspension of her sentence was on the basis that District Judge Zani said that he did not wish to satisfy her desire to become a “martyr”.

Ms Chabloz had published on YouTube a series of songs mocking Holocaust survivors and inciting hatred against Jews, including:

“Did the Holocaust ever happen? Was it just a bunch of lies? Seems that some intend to pull the wool over our eyes. Eternal wandering liars haven’t got a clue, and when it comes to usury, victim’s always me and you.”
“Now Auschwitz, holy temple, is a theme park just for fools, the gassing zone a proven hoax, indoctrination rules.”
“Tell us another, come on, my brother, reap it, the cover, for tribal gain. Safe in our tower, now is the hour, money and power, we have no shame.”
“History repeats itself, no limit to our wealth, thanks to your debts we’re bleeding you dry. We control your media, control all your books and TV, with the daily lies we’re feeding, suffering victimisation. Sheeple have no realisation, you shall pay, all the way, until the break of day.”
The songs were partly set to traditional Jewish folk music such as Hevenu Shalom Aleichem and Hava Nagila. She mocked prominent Jewish figures persecuted by the Nazis, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel and Anne and Otto Frank.

Appealing her conviction, Ms Chabloz showed no contrition. Under cross-examination, she said that there are liars in all ethnicities but: “Jews are more likely to tell lies. In the Talmud, it’s even encouraged. In the verses. Lying is following religious duty.”

When asked if she thinks Jews are responsible for their own persecution, she explained that a “certain amount of evidence occurred throughout history” to support that view. Judge Hehir noted that her claim was identical to that of notorious antisemite Gilad Atzmon, who caved in after just two hours in court in a defamation case brought over his claims that Campaign Against Antisemitism fabricates cases of antisemitism.

She also claimed that Jews have disproportionate power and influence, saying that “Jews are over-represented in banking, finance, the media. There’s information that’s out there. 8% in the Houses of Parliament.” She added that: “They control Twitter” too.

Asked about her views on the Holocaust, Ms Chabloz described herself as a “revisionist”, stating that the number of Jews murdered in the Holocaust was 600,000: “Revisionists think 10% of those [Jews] reported in the mainstream media” were murdered by the Nazis.

She disputed that there were death camps, saying that “Jews were deported, sent to camps but they were prisoner camps.” On the subject of gas chambers, she said that: “There’s no evidence of gas chambers. Gas chambers were used for disinfection purposes, as life-saving devices.” She also claimed that Holocaust survivors lie, telling the court: “There’s great incentive for survivors to elaborate their story.”

In a comment that drew gasps in court, Ms Chabloz said that Jewish concentration camp inmates forced to play in an orchestra at Auschwitz were luckier than her. She said: “Musicians in the orchestra were luckier than me” because she said it was “heartbreaking” that venues no longer booked her to perform on account of her views and songs. When challenged by Judge Hehir, she said that she might not have chosen her words as well as she could have.

She claimed that her songs were an act of love towards Jews, saying: “My songs are a product of love. To free Jews from the shackles of atrocity propaganda.” She added that: “I wish they will liberate us from this false narrative.”

At one point she even claimed that she had invented the melody of Hava Nagila on her own and had no idea that it was also a piece of Jewish folk music. Asked how she came up with the tune all on her own, she claimed: “The tune was a gift from G-d.”

Ken Livingstone, Roshan Muhammed Salih, Maisoon #conspiracy antisemitism.uk

Ken Livingstone, who was investigated but only lightly punished by the Labour yrty for his repeated claims that Hitler “was supporting Zionism”, has participated in a special programme on Iranian propaganda station Press TV. Press TV was stripped of its broadcasting licence by Ofcom but Mr Livingstone was invited onto a show disseminated via social media, apparently to coincide with Holocaust commemoration ceremonies.

The programme began with a sickening propaganda introduction by presenter Roshan Muhammed Salih, who asked callers to call in and debate whether the Holocaust has become a weapon used by Israel, “with the accusation of antisemitism regularly thrown at its enemies”, or whether “the memory of the Holocaust has been exploited for political or financial gain” and “corrupted Jewish culture”.

Callers claimed that Holocaust commemoration is used as a clever political device to support the supposed oppression of the Palestinians and to benefit “Zionists” without being challenged.

One caller from the UK, Maisoon, said that the word “Holocaust” had been “manipulated by the Jews”. She berated Mr Livingstone for talking about antisemitism because she accused him of failing to “mention the fact that Palestinians and Arabs are Semites”. Mr Livingstone only challenged her when she said that she did not distinguish between Jews and Zionists, at which point Mr Livingstone told her about the large number of anti-Zionist Jews that he said he knows.

Asked by Mr Salih why there are so many films about the Holocaust and not about the Palestinians, Mr Livingstone claimed that “anyone doing a film about that is going to be announced [sic] antisemitic”.

In a repetition of his previous claims, Mr Livingstone also said that when he was suspended by the Labour Party for claiming that Hitler “was supporting Zionism”, he “couldn’t walk down the street without Jewish people coming up to [him] and saying ‘We know all this is true, what is all this about? Don’t these MPs read their history?’ It’s not about antisemitism, it’s about political struggle inside the Labour Party.”

The presenter, Mr Salih, continually repeated the message that the Palestinians are being made to pay for the Holocaust and that modern “Zionists” are benefitting from the fact that the Holocaust happened. He also attempted to compare the Vietnam War with the Holocaust but Mr Livingstone took issue with that on the basis that the Vietnam War “was not a genocide”. Mr Livingstone also felt the need to contest Mr Salih’s wondering aloud whether two million, four million or six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, stating that the only “credible” number he had heard was six million.

Mr Salih also appeared to take up a position as an apologist for Hamas when blogger Richard Millett called the show to point out that the Hamas Charter proclaims that “The hour of judgement shall not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them”. Mr Salih cut Mr Millett off, chuckling incredulously: “Hamas do not call for the death of every single Jew in their charter, that is complete nonsense. They have a problem with Israel and the Jews who have come to that part of the world to take their land.” Mr Livingstone did not interject.

Billy Wells #racist antisemitism.uk

Billy J Wells is an ex-Army musician from Swaffham, in Norfolk. On his Twitter profile he describes himself as a “Wedding and event clarinetist Democratic Socialist and writer Head of PR [at] Prolestar”. He has now expanded his repertoire further to add the role of Labour politician, having proudly announced on 2nd October that he had been selected to represent Bradwell South and Hopton in forthcoming borough elections. His Facebook profile announces that “Jeremy Corbyn got my vote”.

Mr Wells is convinced that there is no evidence for antisemitism in the Labour Party. He says: “This whole saga [antisemitism] has been staged in a bid to put people off voting labour” as well as telling the actress Frances Barber: “You are a bellend—there is no antisemitism it’s just right wing propaganda”. He even thinks that Labour MP John Mann should have been suspended from the Labour Party for remonstrating with Ken Livingstone, after he claimed that Hitler supported Zionism. To Mr Wells, the Labour Party is a pure and virtuous community, being attacked on all sides by enemies who disguise their true motives by accusing people of antisemitism.

Then, with no self-consciousness, he has claimed: “—it’s the super rich families of the Zionist lobby that control the world. Our world leaders sell their souls for greed and do the bidding of Israel. They see the evil but their love for wealth makes them turn a blind eye.” He also asked on Twitter: “How much money and how much power is too much? The greed of the Rothschild family knows no bounds”. He makes several claims that the media is controlled by the “Israeli lobby”, in one instance claiming: “The Zionist Lobby would not allow our puppet government and its media lapdogs to show the truth.”

He has, in addition, shared a post that said: “Don’t give your soul energy to the parasitical Rothschild-Zion-Jesuit-Vati-lunatic nonce controllers. If they want to invade, bomb, kill & Slaughter innocent men, women and children in far away lands for an insane maniacal agenda then let them and their puppet politicians do it, not you”. He believes, despite the disgust of the wider world and of 107 of his own party’s MPs that called out Ken Livingstone’s “insidious racism”, that Ken Livingstone was right to say that Hitler supported Zionism. He also believes that the social media posts that saw Labour MP Naz Shah suspended, and which she later admitted were indeed antisemitic, were not antisemitic; in doing so he quotes the blog of Labour Council Candidate Mike Sivier, who has been suspended for his antisemitic blog posts.

Mr Wells’ posts clearly qualify as antisemitic discourse under the terms of the International Definition of Antisemitism, which has been accepted by the Labour Party, on multiple counts. As in the case of Nasreen Khan, exposed only a few days ago, it beggars belief that an individual so obvious and extreme in their use of antisemitic discourse should have been put forward by the Labour Party as a candidate for office, when his statements were broadcast for all to see. Further, as in the case of Moshe Machover, it is clear that the Labour Party itself is not only uninterested in suppressing antisemitism in its ranks, but openly welcomes those who indulge in antisemitic discourse as elected representatives.

What Mr Wells’ case also illustrates so well, however, is the sheer scale of denial that exists within the Labour Party: That an individual so clearly antisemitic under the terms laid down by that party is so passionate in the cause of claiming that there is – simultaneously – no antisemitism in his party, is an exercise of denial and doublespeak that takes the breath away. Mr Wells’ profile underlines the dramatic way antisemitism has managed to reinvent itself, by posing in the minds of its own proponents, and in the wider community of the Left, as an expression of virtue in itself.

Miko Peled #racist antisemitism.uk

American-Israeli activist, Miko Peled, is scheduled to speak on Friday 10th November at University College London (UCL) at an event organised by the UCL Friends of Palestine Society. Mr Peled’s views have, in the past, engaged the International Definition of Antisemitism adopted by the British Government and also engage the Prevent counter-extremism strategy. Campaign Against Antisemitism is writing to UCL to raise our concerns about Mr Peled and to call for the event to be cancelled.

In September, Mr Peled made national headlines by demanding at the Labour Party Conference that delegates should have the freedom to engage in debate as to whether the Holocaust actually happened at all. He said that people should be free to ask “Holocaust, yes or no” because “there should be no limits on the discussion.” He additionally reportedly proposed that Israelis should be treated like Nazis. He was widely condemned.

Mr Peled has form. For example, on 23rd May 2016, speaking at an art gallery in Euston, London, Mr Peled alleged that the Labour Party’s antisemitism furore is being fabricated by “Zionists”. He said: “Everyone knows this entire antisemitism thing is nonsense”. At the same event, Mr Peled also alleged that Islamophobia is a strategic invention of “Zionists”. He said: “If anyone has any doubt, that this entire Islamophobia thing isn’t coming directly from pro-Israeli groups, then excuse me you are out of your mind. Absolutely. And when you look at each case, individually you will see, the hand, the fingerprints of some Israeli lobby, some pro-Zionist groups.”

On 14th September 2016, Mr Peled tweeted about a new aid package granted to Israel by the United States: “Then theyr surprised Jews have reputation 4being sleazy thieves. #apartheidisrael doesn’t need or deserve these $$.” In response, his forthcoming event hosted by the Princeton Committee on Palestine was cancelled on the basis that: “The last string of tweets are antisemitic and hateful, which are counterproductive to an educational event on the conflict.”

Nigel Farage #racist antisemitism.uk

Nigel Farage has told LBC listeners that he believes that American Jews exert disproportionate political power and even appeared to agree with a claim that they have financial control over American politics.

During his regular primetime slot on popular talk radio station LBC, Mr Farage, who is the former leader of the UK Independence Party, discussed with callers whether Russian influence had really aided the election of President Donald Trump.

When a caller named only as Ahmed told Mr Farage that he thought that the pro-Israeli lobby in the United States was no less dangerous than alleged Russian hacking, Mr Farage appeared to agree, and started talking about Jews: “Well the Israeli lobby, you know, that’s a reasonable point Ahmed, because there are about six million Jewish people living in America, so as a percentage it’s quite small, but in terms of influence it’s quite big.”

When Ahmed said that Israel has both the Republicans and Democrats “in their pockets”, Mr Farage responded: “Well in terms of money and influence, yep, they are a very powerful lobby”.

Summarising the call, Mr Farage once again made clear that he believes that a “Jewish lobby” is at work on behalf of a foreign Government, repeating Ahmed’s claim: “Ahmed, new caller from Leyton, I thank you. He makes the point that there are other very powerful foreign lobbies in the United States of America, and the Jewish lobby, with its links with the Israeli Government is one of those strong voices.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism was immediately contacted by listeners, one of whom said that they had contacted an LBC producer after Mr Farage first made the comments about a “Jewish lobby”, only for him to then repeat them again.

It is common for countries to lobby their allies, and Israel is no different, but in Mr Farage’s call with Ahmed, it was not merely alleged that Israel conducts lobbying, but that it is carried out by the entire Jewish population of the United States and that in doing so American politics are subverted. Counting all American Jews as lobbyists with disproportionate, subversive power and both major political parties in their financial grips is the stuff of antisemitic conspiracy theories.

Mr Farage should immediately withdraw his deplorable comments and apologise for them, or LBC should relieve him of his duties. We await Mr Farage’s urgent apology and in the meantime we will be asking Ofcom to open an investigation.

Unknown vandal #racist antisemitism.uk

The exterior of the Etz Chaim Synagogue in Leeds has been defaced with threatening graffiti overnight. A sign for the synagogue’s hall was defaced with a swastika and the word “K***s” and the driveway of the synagogue was daubed with an apparent threat to congregants: “K***s get out”.

Police are investigating. We are following the case with interest.

Scott Nelson #racist antisemitism.uk

Scott Nelson, a Labour Party activist with almost 50,000 followers on Twitter, was reportedly “removed” from the Labour Party over a series of about “Jewish companies” tweets in 2015, but he has now told Campaign Against Antisemitism that he can apply to rejoin the Party “whether you like it or not”.

In a conversation on Twitter on 8th October, he was asked by another Twitter user: “Still expelled from the party, Scott?”. Mr Nelson responded “Nope”, prompting Campaign Against Antisemitism to approach him for clarification.

Now, Mr Nelson has claimed that he was not expelled over antisemitism at all, despite indications to the contrary. He told us that his membership was terminated because of his opposition to the selection of a Council candidate which he considered to be motivated by nepotism.

Yet Mr Nelson, who is also known as “Socialist Voice” and describes himself on his Twitter profile as a “Jeremy Corbyn supporter”, was “removed” from the Party after he tweeted about the “Jewish blood” of companies including Marks and Spencer and Tesco in 2015. On 17th December 2015, he tweeted: “Deaths of workers abroad caused by appalling conditions working for Jewish companies”.

On 18th December 2015, he tweeted: “Jewish ancestors created those companies. These companies have Jewish blood. My ancestors were Irish, so I have Irish blood”. He added that: “Pointing out the Jewish ancestors of Tesco and M&S and the human rights abuses of workers abroad doesn’t make me an antisemite.”

On the same day, the Labour Party Press Team tweeted in response to a complaint about Mr Nelson’s tweets: “The tweets are unacceptable and he has already been removed from the Party”. A letter of the same date from the Labour Party, shown to us by Mr Nelson, informed him that “Comments posted to social media by you have given us grounds to believe that you do not share Labour’s aims and values.”

Mr Nelson’s claims that he was not removed from the Party due to antisemitism are further cast into doubt due to the statement that he himself issued on 19th December 2015, in which he wrote: “Today I received written confirmation from the Labour Party informing me that my membership has been terminated. I will be lodging an appeal on Monday. Having thought about this matter, I accept that I used clumsy and inappropriate wording concerning the Jewish heritage of Tesco and M&S by mentioning Jewish blood and my comments about Blairites being purged for disloyalty to Jeremy Corbyn.”

In response to our enquiries, Mr Nelson told us: “My tweets about Jewish blood were badly worded and were taken out of context, I did not intend to cause offence to the Jewish community. However, my tweet depicting the star of David with a swastika was not only stupid, it was disrespectful and I accept that it did cause offence—My other tweets likening Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to the actions of Nazis were in response to horrific reports that Palestinian children had been burned alive, women had been raped and tortured and innocent men, women and children had been shot dead by IDF soldiers.

Most of these reports were by Middle Eastern news sources; they were not being widely reported by Western media sources. Similar barbaric actions were committed by the Nazis; however, I am not suggesting that IDF soldiers are Nazis and nor am I comparing Israel to Nazis. I have Jewish friends and I know many Jewish people and they are horrified at the atrocities being committed by both Israel and Palestine.”

Notwithstanding his attempts to apologise, Mr Nelson has continued to cause offence. For example, he has accused what he calls “Israel supporters” or “the Israel Lobby” of concocting allegations of antisemitism, and he has used Nazi-era antisemitic metaphors such as “vermin” and “parasites” to refer to those who complain about antisemitism.

For example, on 3rd October 2016, he published a blog post accusing Israel of actions “similar to the crimes committed by the Nazis during the Second World War” and arguing that antisemitism in Britain is “partly caused by people who are falsely accusing others of antisemitism.” On 9th January 2017, he published a blog post alleging that “the Israel Lobby were [sic] behind the witch hunts against Jeremy Corbyn, his supporters and people like me”, describing “pro-Israel supporters” as “scum – and lower than vermin” and stating that “the Israel Lobby— have [sic] one objective and that is to take down Jeremy Corbyn.” Three days later, he republished an anonymous defence of the Holocaust denier Alison Chabloz and — instead of condemning it — approvingly stated that it “sums up the Israel Lobby and the influence and control it has over Britain’s press.”

On 4th April 2017, Mr Nelson responded to statements by the leader of Labour’s Jewish grouping with the words: “I’d sooner have Ken Livingstone in the Labour Party than these [sic] bunch of toxic parasites who think they can control people’s lives.” Two days afterwards, he published a blog post in support of Mr Livingstone, alleging that “The Israel Lobby uses antisemitism to destroy people’s lives” and “will stoop to any level to vilify and falsely accuse a person of antisemitism.”

In that same post, he also insisted that “Ken should not have to apologise for quoting a historical fact and nor should he be silenced by the Israel Lobby, Blairites and by people who found his comments to be offensive” and declared: “I stand in solidarity with Ken Livingstone and I will continue to defend him because he has done absolutely nothing wrong, but the people who are vilifying and attacking him for quoting a historical fact are lower than vermin.”

Tapash Abu Shaim #racist antisemitism.uk

The leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, reportedly gave a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament to Labour Party member Tapash Abu Shaim, who has a history of allegedly promoting antisemitic conspiracies. Representatives from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) were also reportedly on the tour, which took place on 17th May 2012.

In a tweet of thanks, Mr Abu Shaim wrote: “You are best tourist guide Mr @JeremyCorbyn . Your knowledge about your history so deep and clear.” Mr Corbyn responded in a tweet the next day, writing: “@TapashAbuShaim @PSCupdates It was a pleasure showing PSC supporters round the vagaries of Parliament & British history last night; thanks!” Both tweets are still on Twitter.

In February, we released a report which exposed antisemitism inside the PSC.

The Labour Party was apparently informed about Mr Abu Shaim’s social media activity in August but it appears that no action was taken. Concerns were reportedly raised last year over his attendance at the Labour Conference in 2016. Guido Fawkes also revealed that Mr Abu Shaim manned a Palestine Solidarity Campaign stall at the recent Labour Party conference. The exhibition stall and desk was apparently inside the conference centre secure zone. According to Guido Fawkes, Labour has now launched an investigation into Mr Abu Shaim’s behaviour.

Mr Abu Shaim’s promotion of antisemitic conspiracies on social media has been well documented. According to political website, Guido Fawkes, just four months before Mr Corbyn gave Mr Abu Shaim the guided tour of Parliament, Mr Abu Shaim reportedly posted on Facebook: “9/11 Truth could be the answer to the Israel/Palestine conflict”, along with a link to an article by Veterans Today, a far-right US website which publishes antisemitic conspiracy myths.

In the wake of the January 2015 Paris terror attack, in which people were murdered at the office of Charlie Hebdo and at a kosher supermarket, Mr Abu Shaim reportedly posted: “US politician Jack Lindblad claims Charlie Hebdo killings were ‘by US and Mossad’ to keep Israel’s Netanyahu in power.” In another post, he reportedly claimed that ISIS really stands for “International Solidarity for Israeli Sentiment”. He shared yet another which read: “confirmed ISIS is a Mossad united state of IsraHELL creation.”

The Labour Party introduced new rules at its conference making it easier to expel antisemites from the Party, however the Conference saw ugly scenes including a room applauding a call to be allowed to deny that the Holocaust happened, and shouting “Throw them out” in response to a speaker urging the expulsion of the Party’s Jewish grouping. Despite this, Jeremy Corbyn failed to mention antisemitism at all in his Conference speech.

A Labour Party spokesperson is quoted by Guido Fawkes as saying: “We are an anti-racist party and condemn in the strongest possible terms antisemitism and all forms of discrimination – they have no place in our Party. Our recent rule change at [our] Annual Conference shows the Party is taking a proactive approach to tackling antisemitism. This rule change will strengthen our disciplinary proceedings and help the Party uphold its core values of equality, solidarity and inclusion.”

Glenn Okafor #racist antisemitism.uk

Glenn Okafor, aged 32, has been convicted of shouting “we will wipe you out” and other antisemitic abuse, including death threats, at Jewish people in Stamford Hill in London on 4th March this year. The incident occurred at 9:00 on a Saturday morning as Jewish families made their way to synagogue, at one point even entering the front garden of a synagogue. Mr Okafor exclaimed at Jewish passersby: “F*** you Jewish people—you lot should go back to your own country”.

He also added: “We will sort you out. I have friends. I’ll be back tomorrow. We will wipe you out.” In an apparent reference to a conspiracy theory that white Jews are in fact imposters and that the supposed real Jews are black, Mr Okafor shouted: “We are the real Jews”. Stamford Hill Shomrim, a Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol, assisted officers from the Metropolitan Police Service in arresting Mr Okafor and a man who was walking with him.

Mr Okafor, of West Norwood, was found guilty at Stratford Magistrates’ Court of two counts of religiously-aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress contrary to section 4A of the Public Order Act 1986, as amended. He was sentenced at Thames Magistrates’ Court to a 12-month community order with 200 unpaid hours of work. His sentence would have been 150 hours of unpaid work, but 50 hours were added following an application by the Crown Prosecution Service. He was also ordered to pay £150 to his victims and costs of £620.00 to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Chair of the bench, Danni Tate, was not persuaded by Mr Okafor’s claims that he was merely seeking to engage in “theological debate” and wanted to ask his victims “a few questions about the origin of Judaism”.

The victims had to attend court four times during the trial, and each time they were accompanied and supported by volunteers from Stamford Hill Shomrim.

Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for North London, Jan Lamping, said: “Stiffer sentences are a powerful way of sending the message that hate crime is viewed very seriously in the eyes of the law. These were unacceptable, hostile words and threats directed at worshippers intended to make them fearful of their safety. I would encourage all victims to report hate crimes so that others do not become the target of hateful abuse.”

We commend Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Metropolitan Police Service and the Crown Prosecution Service for ensuring that Mr Okafor was brought to justice, however we regret that this sentence is merely the latest in a chain of lenient punishments that will not deter antisemites.

Unknown West Ham fans #racist antisemitism.uk

A Jewish man and his non-Jewish female companion were subjected to horrific antisemitic abuse by fans of West Ham United Football Club on the London Underground, as other passengers watched inertly or sniggered.

Jonathan Adelman wrote a blog about his experience, which on Friday evening on a full Jubilee Line train between Stratford and West Ham. West Ham had just beaten rival team Tottenham Hotspur, but instead of singing celebratory songs, the West Ham fans singled out Adelman and his companion for abuse, allegedly shouting “F*** off Jew boy” and making hissing noises to mimic the sound of escaping gas, in a reference to the gas chambers used by the Nazis to slaughter millions of Jews.

As the two men, described as being in their early twenties, continued their abuse for the two-minute journey, Adelman wrote: “the remainder of the carriage remained silent, save for a number of cowards who sniggered and chuckled.”

Referring to the tendency of some to dismiss such abuse as ‘football banter’, including amongst Jews, Adelman wrote: “Until all in the community are prepared to stand up to antisemitism what hope do we have of getting the football and police authorities to take the issue seriously?”

British Transport Police is investigating. A spokeswoman told Campaign Against Antisemitism: “A man aged in his forties was travelling from Stratford to London Bridge when two football fans in the carriage started chanting antisemitic songs and verbally abusing him. They then left the train at West Ham. We are investigating and officers are making enquiries. We take any form of hate crime extremely seriously and we always encourage victims or witnesses to this type of crime to report it to us so that we can investigate. Hate crime has a significant impact on victims and causes damage to communities. We are committed to preventing hate crime where possible, encouraging victims to report it when it does happen and bringing offenders to justice.”

Unknown vandal #racist antisemitism.uk

A star of David with the word “die” underneath it and a swastika were reportedly painted on a derelict building on Park Road near a primary school in the coastal town of Aldeburgh in Suffolk.

Local resident, Annie Pilkington-Bernier, who saw the antisemitic graffiti, has reported it as a hate crime to Suffolk Constabulary, which is investigating. She told the East Anglian Daily Times: “As I was walking down the path I could see something and thought to myself, I’m sure that says ‘die’. As I got nearer, to my horror, I saw the whole thing.” Her neighbour, John Lucas, added: “What’s so very shocking about this, apart from the fact that it’s an awful piece of graffiti to have in our town, is that children from the primary school have to walk past it.”

Suffolk Coastal District Council has also been contacted to remove the graffiti. A council spokesman said that “Our initial enquiries indicate this has occurred on private property, so we are currently trying to establish who is the owner of the derelict building to arrange for it to be removed as quickly as possible.”

Paddy Singh #racist antisemitism.uk

Captain Paddy Singh, UKIP’s candidate for the Wiltshire North constituency in the upcoming General Election, has tweeted a series of shocking antisemitic comments with repeated references to “Nazi Jews” and comparing Israeli policy to the Nazis. Captain Singh also stood for UKIP in the recent Wiltshire Council Election. In one, he mused: “At times I ask myself were the Nazis right in herding the Jews into concentration camps.”

The appalling antisemitic tweets were discovered on the Twitter account he operates for his travel agency, Hindoostan Tours, between 2014 and 2015. The tweets include:

On 20th July 2014: “The Israelis are basically Nazis in mentality. The survivors of the tragic Holacast [sic] learnt from their captors.”

On 30th July 2014: “No hope of a ceasefire with the Nazi Jews like wild dogs on the rampage.”

On 1st August 2014: “Israel pulled out in 2005 but the Gaza still in a vicelike grip. but Nazi Jews provoke Hamas to violence so as to ethnically cleanse them.”

On 2nd August 2014: “At times I ask myself were the Nazis right in herding the Jews into concentration camps.”

On 5th August 2014: “Sinister similarities to what Nazis did when they lost soldiers in occupied territory. Lessons learnt by Jews.”

On 2nd September 2014: “Rogue Nethanyu [sic] and Jews will never allow Palestine to exist. Their goal? Ethnic cleansing. aided by US.”

On 30th July 2015: “The Jews well learnt well from Nazis hence the easy ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. UN impotent as always.”

On 2nd September 2015: “Nazi Jews hammering the last nail in the coffin spelling Palestinian cleansing.”

On 24th December 2015: “Nazi Jews learnt their lessons well.”

Under the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” and “Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel” is antisemitic.

When Campaign Against Antisemitism called Captain Singh, he admitted that he had sent the tweets and offered “total apologies” and said that he should not have commented “spontaneously” after reading articles, but had no explanation for why he had made the comments repeatedly over the years. When asked whether he supported the International Definition of Antisemitism, he said that he did but then seemed surprised that he had breached it.

Captain Singh has now been suspended by UKIP over the allegations. Campaign Against Antisemitism calls on UKIP to expel Captain Singh from the Party immediately.

Jennifer Louise Tonge #racist antisemitism.uk

Disgraced Baroness Tonge, who was twice suspended from the Liberal Democrats over allegations of antisemitism and eventually resigned as pressure mounted, has shared an antisemitic caricature on Facebook.

The caricature was part of an image which claimed to expose the “AIPAC Jewish lobby” through a quote supposedly from Pink Floyd singer Roger Waters. In the bottom-right corner of the image, an antisemitic caricature of a big-nosed Jew clasping his hands together can be seen. The caricature is commonly used by neo-Nazis and far-left extremists in antisemitic social media memes.

The original post, which Baroness Tonge shared, was posted by Saeed Sarwar, who commented on the image: “I’ve checked with 4 specialist friends in case anyone tries to suggest this is antisemitism. It’s actually bang on.”

Baroness Tonge has a long history of using inflammatory, and sometimes antisemitic, language. In 2003 she compared conditions in Gaza to those in the Warsaw Ghetto, for which she was criticised by the chairman of the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum. The following year, during a spate of suicide bombings targeting Jews in Israel, she said that she “might just consider becoming [a suicide bomber] myself” if she was a Palestinian.

After her comments were condemned as “completely unacceptable” by her own Party leader, Charles Kennedy, she told the BBC that suicide bombers’ actions are “appalling and loathsome”. Two years later in 2006, she told a fringe meeting at her Party conference: “The pro-Israeli lobby has got its grips on the western world, its financial grips. I think they’ve probably got a grip on our Party.” Once again, her Party leader, then Sir Menzies Campbell, said that her comments had “clear antisemitic connotations”, but she was unapologetic.

In 2010, in response to an antisemitic blood libel alleging that Israeli soldiers providing aid in Haiti were secretly harvesting victims’ organs, Baroness Tonge suggested that Israel should conduct an inquiry to “clear the names of the team in Haiti”. The Party leader, who by then was Nick Clegg, called the comments “wrong, distasteful and provocative”, and removed her as the Party’s health spokesperson. In 2012, the situation worsened when Baroness Tonge told a group at Middlesex University: “Beware Israel. Israel is not going to be there forever in its present performance.” Party leader Nick Clegg challenged her to apologise or resign for her remarks, following which she resigned the Party whip.

In 2015, Campaign Against Antisemitism condemned Baroness Tonge for asking a written question in the House of Lords which held Jews collectively responsible for perceived wrongdoing by Israel by calling for “Jewish faith leaders in the United Kingdom [to] publicly to condemn settlement building by Israel and to make clear their support for universal human rights.” Last year, she used a speech in the House of Lords to again call on “Jewish faith leaders in the United Kingdom publicly to condemn settlement building by Israel”, for which we condemned her, however her Party refused to act.

When we called on our supporters to complain to the Liberal Democrat Party, the Party bizarrely responded that they would investigate if they received complaints. We then confirmed that our complaint was already a complaint and heard nothing more. Meanwhile Baroness Tonge wrote a misleading letter to The Independent claiming that Campaign Against Antisemitism was in fact an organisation which secretly opposed organ donation.

She then hosted a meeting in the House of Lords at which attendees compared Israel to ISIS and suggested that Holocaust victims provoked their own genocide. She was suspended from the Liberal Democrat party pending investigation, following which she resigned from the Party, but she remains in the House of Lords. Subsequently, the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards, Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, declined to take action against Baroness Tonge.

In October last year, Baroness Tonge responded to a report on rising antisemitism by the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee with a letter in which she wrote: “It is difficult to believe that a 75% increase in antisemitism [the Committee] reports, have been committed by people who simply hate Jewish people for no reason. It is surely the case that these incidents are reflecting the disgust amongst the general public of the way the government of Israel treats Palestinians and manipulates the USA and ourselves to take no action against that country’s blatant disregard of International Law and the Geneva Conventions.” The failure to act led a Liberal Democrat former candidate to quit the Party. One member of the public reported the letter to Sussex Police.

In February, after Baroness Tonge called for Campaign Against Antisemitism to be deregistered as a charity, Parliamentarians rallied to support us in the media.

In May, Baroness Tonge shared and then deleted an image belittling the Holocaust by equating it with the situation in Gaza. The cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, had won second prize in one of Iran’s repulsive Holocaust denial cartoon competitions.

Majid Mahmood #racist antisemitism.uk

Majid Mahmood, a partner at City Law Chambers in Luton and a director at Liberty Law Solicitors, has been fined £25,000 and ordered to pay costs of £9,595 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, in a case instigated by Campaign Against Antisemitism over antisemitic social media posts. Mr Mahmood was also suspended as a solicitor for 12 months but that period of suspension is itself suspended, so he can continue to practice as a solicitor unless he reoffends.

In 2016, a member of the public saw antisemitic Facebook comments posted by Mr Mahmood, which he posted underneath a video about the airlifting of Jewish refugees. Mr Mahmood commented: “The aint gods chosen people they’re Satans love child’s and it’s a shame e the plane carrying them didn’t blow up mid air [all sic].” When another user remonstrated with him, he told them to: “go and f*** yourself.”

The member of the public reported Mr Mahmood to Campaign Against Antisemitism, which submitted a complaint to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The SRA obtained an apology from Mr Mahmood and warned him not to post such comments again, and was minded to leave the matter there. When Campaign Against Antisemitism took the first steps in taking legal action against the SRA, the matter was escalated to the SRA’s senior management, which corrected the decision and instead of closing the matter instead opened a formal regulatory investigation.

Upon reviewing its files, the SRA found that in 2015 Mr Mahmood had posted on Facebook: “Somebody needs to shoot all the Israeli Zionists dead then send their bodies to America as a present for Obama and his Zionist pals.” A member of public had reported the comment to the SRA but it was not reported to Campaign Against Antisemitism at the time, and the SRA took no action on that occasion.

The SRA brought a case against Mr Mahmood at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, alleging that: “On 13 October 2015 and 14 February 2016, he publicly communicated antisemitic and/or offensive and wholly inappropriate posts from his Facebook account contrary to Principles 2/1 and 6/2 of the SRA Principles 2011.”

Mr Mahmood, one of whose firm’s website states that “the principal [sic] of equal opportunity and diversity are fundamental to our continuing success”, denied that he was antisemitic, pointing to the fact that he had some Jewish friends. However, the SRA, expertly represented by David Bennett, successfully argued that “The content of both posts was unambiguously antisemitic” and “indicated a preference for lethal violence”. Ironically, one of Mr Mahmood’s firms, Liberty Law Solicitors had produced a pamphlet warning of the dangers of an “employee’s conduct on social media bringing the business into disrepute”.

The Tribunal ruled that: “The intemperate language used, the hatred manifested, including against anti-Zionists as well as Jewish people, and wishing them dead by graphic means were terrible ideas for a solicitor to be promoting” and ordered that Mr Mahmood must “pay a fine of £25,000, such penalty to be forfeit to Her Majesty the Queen” and that he must also “pay costs of and incidental to this application and enquiry in the sum of £9,595.” The Tribunal also ordered that Mr Mahmood “be suspended from practice as a solicitor for the period of 12 months from 2nd August 2017, that period of suspension to be suspended for 12 months from the same date.”

Kevin Myers #racist antisemitism.uk

The Sunday Times has removed from its online edition a column by Kevin Myers which brazenly deploys an antisemitic trope about Jews and money.

Kevin Myers’ column about the BBC pay row contained the following paragraph: “I note that two of the best-paid women presenters in the BBC — Claudia Winkleman and Vanessa Feltz, with whose, no doubt, sterling work I am tragically unacquainted — are Jewish. Good for them. Jews are not generally noted for their insistence on selling their talent for the lowest possible price, which is the most useful measure there is of inveterate, lost-with-all-hands stupidity. I wonder, who are their agents? If they’re the same ones that negotiated the pay for the women on the lower scales, then maybe the latter have found their true value in the marketplace.”

Myers is already known as a particularly unpleasant journalist who has called the children of single parents “bastards” and claimed that “Africa is giving nothing to anyone — apart from AIDS”. He has also devoted an entire column in the Belfast Telegraph to claiming that there was no Holocaust on the basis that not all of the Jews murdered by the Nazis were cremated, and attempting to nitpick over whether six million Jews really were murdered, claiming that the Holocaust had become a “dogma”. He wrote: “There was no holocaust, (or Holocaust, as my computer software insists) and six million Jews were not murdered by the Third Reich. These two statements of mine are irrefutable truths, yet their utterance could get me thrown in the slammer in half the countries of the EU.”

It is clear that Kevin Myers should not have been invited to write for the Sunday Times, and his editors should never have allowed the column to be published. That they removed the column within hours of publishing it is proof that the decision was irrefutably wrong.

Unknown woman #racist antisemitism.uk

Andrew Percy, the Conservative parliamentary candidate seeking re-election as MP for Brigg and Goole, has said that he was accosted by a woman identifying herself as a “Corbyn supporter” whilst he was out campaigning. The woman allegedly shouted at Mr Percy: “You’re that Israeli scum, you’re Zionist scum, you’re disgusting!” and started jabbing at him. Mr Percy said that he retorted sarcastically that she “probably didn’t want to touch a Jewish person”, to which he says she replied: “Oh, I will need a wash now” and then started chanting “Corbyn, Corbyn, Corbyn!”

Mr Percy wrote a post condemning the incident on his Facebook page. He wrote: “Whether a Labour member or not it does show just what hate has been unleashed by the Corbynista set.” He added that Mr Corbyn had “unleashed something very nasty and sinister”. However he soon deleted the post as he was having to spend too much time deleting comments such as: “F*** Israel, f*** Zionists”. In a new Facebook post he wrote: “I have now reported the incident to the authorities and will leave it for the police to deal with. I had initially thought I’d get it off my chest on here and then move on, but given how some responded, I have decided it is better it is reported.”

Mike Sivier #racist antisemitism.uk

Mike Sivier is a freelance journalist based in Llanindrod Wells, Mid Wales. He writes a blog called Vox Political as well as having a Facebook and Twitter feed. He is standing as a Labour Party candidate for Radnorshire and Builth Wells in the upcoming elections to Powys County Council. He enthusiastically supports the hard ‘Corbynite’ left within Labour, referring to those who formerly led the Party as “neoliberals”.

He writes prolifically on issues relating to Zionism and Jews and is an ardent defender of members of the Labour Party who are suspended or expelled over allegations of antisemitism. He has defended Jackie Walker, particularly for her comments that Jews were the chief financiers of the the slave trade. He endorses the views and cross-posts the writing of Tony Greenstein.

He endorses the late Tam Dalyell’s slander saying: “—concerns that Tony Blair was being ‘unduly influenced’ by ‘a cabal of Jewish advisors’ may have been entirely justified.” He has defended the antisemitic tweets of Naz Shah, despite that MP accepting that what she had said was indeed antisemitic. He has asserted that the SWP’s claim that only thousands — not millions — of Jews died in the Holocaust reflected that party’s need to be “politically correct” and defended NUS President Malia Bouattia’s reference to the “Zionist-led media”. He never misses an opportunity to accuse Jews and others who point to antisemitism in his Party of acting in bad faith.

In fact, it seems there are virtually no allegedly antisemitic incidents or individuals on the Left that Mike Sivier has not either defended or supported.

Mr Sivier explicitly states that he believes that there is a “conspiracy” by Jews: “—it is a conspiracy, have no doubt about that” and those who would defend them in the UK. In the same breath as naming leading Jewish figures, Labour MPs and British journalists he says: “We are being told that agents of a foreign country have infiltrated our institutions”.

This would be enough for Campaign Against Antisemitism to question why the Labour Party are allowing him to remain a member, never mind stand for office in their name. However, Mr Sivier’s taste for antisemitic discourse runs to a deeper shade still: his support and enthusiastic defence of Ken Livingstone, and his assertion that Hitler supported Zionism, runs so deep that he has even written an e-book on the subject. Despite Mr Livingstone being found guilty of bringing the Labour Party into disrepute for making his assertions, and the unanimous determination by the world’s leading Holocaust historians that his interpretation of history is twisted, Mike Sivier is persistent and undaunted. After the verdict, unintimidated by historians of infinitely greater learning than himself, he determined that the Jewish community of this country is incapable of understanding its own history.

Mr Sivier seems determined, however, to ‘complete the set’ of every variety of contemporary antisemitism by linking to the work of Gilad Atzmon, an individual so antisemitic that he has been disowned by those on the left that are no strangers to antisemitism themselves. Gilad Atzmon has taken antisemitism to a new level, asserting that ‘Jewishness’ is toxic. He has written that “With Fagin and Shylock in mind Israeli barbarism and organ trafficking seem to be just other events in an endless hellish continuum” and said at a British University event that “—the burning down of a synagogue—is a rational act”. The post itself featured on the website Redressonline, a website so antisemitic it features Mr Atzmon’s work on a regular basis. Mr Sivier quoted directly in his own piece from the editor’s supplementary comments to Atzmon’s post.