Charity Commission Under Islamaphobe William Shawcross Turn a Blind Eye to the CAA’s Blatant Racism
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| The Campaign against 'Anti-Semitism' do their best to have Europe's largest Palestinian event cancelled |
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| This is why the CAA is allowed to do what it wants - because the Charity Commission is chaired by a racist and Islamaphobe |
I hate to disappoint Javid but if he was seeking refuge then Israel would be the last place that he would be welcomed. Not to put too fine a point on it, not only is he not Jewish but he is Black. He may be one of those disgusting Uncle Toms who think that money will make him an honorary White, and maybe in the British Tory Party these days it will, but in Israel he would be treated like all Black refugees. He would be deported or refused admission or held in a concentration camp in Holot in Israel’s Negev desert. See Israel's unwanted African migrants& Eritrean refugees in Israel sent to Uganda and Rwanda
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| This racist caricature of Muslims was posted on the CAA site and printed in a publication of theirs - this is their contribution to 'community relations' - it's a pity that the CAA weren't around a century ago, they could have produced some remarkable Jewish cartoons |
The forthcoming Palestine Expo 2017 on July 8thand 9th at the South Bank Centre promises to be the biggest social, cultural and entertainment event on Palestine to ever take place in Europe. It will include a session run by Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods and Free Speech on Israel on false allegations of anti-Semitism. It has a number of Israeli and Jewish speakers such as Miko Peled and Prof. Ilan Pappe as well as people like John Pilger.
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| William Shawcross - the Islamaphobe who chairs the Charity Commission |
None of this, of course, stopped the so-called Jewish Human Rights Watch aka far-right solicitor Robert Festenstein claiming it was an ‘anti-Jewish hate fest’. It is not difficult to understand why the racist Campaign Against Anti-Semitism should have leant its voice to trying to stop a Palestinian event taking place.
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| The Charity Commission appear to be wriggling out of their previous commitment at the instigation of their racist Chairman Shawcross |
It is extremely troubling that this event is being held at an iconic, government-sponsored venue, right opposite the seat of British democracy. We are writing to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government expressing our concerns.
This is a classic example of how ‘terrorism’ is used as part of a campaign to limit and restrict freedom of speech. The organisers Al Aqsa and associated individuals have allegedly supported ‘terrorist’ organisations in the past such as Hezbollah and Hamas. There is a very simple answer to this. Neither organisation is a terrorist group. Both have, with varying degrees of success, fought the Israeli government. That doesn’t make one a terrorist whatever Tory ministers and their lackeys say.
What the CAA are saying is that Palestinian=terrorist and therefore, in view of recent terrorist attacks, anything connected with the Palestinians should not be held ‘opposite the seat of British democracy’ i.e. Westminster. It is difficult to think of a more racist statement than this. Just imagine that someone had said that a Jewish event should not be held at Westminster for similar reasons.
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| The CAA's attack on me and Baroness Jenny Tonge |
The real disgrace though is the lack of action of the Charity Commission, under their racist Chairman William Shawcross. As the Huffington Post noted
Muslim charities have been disproportionately affected by investigations from the Commission since the appointment of Shawcross, with 38% of all disclosed investigations initiated between 1st January 2013 and 23rd April 2014 being on Muslim charities.’
Shawcross was a trustee and Director of the cold-war Islamaphobic Henry Jackson Society. In 2012 Shawcross said“Europe and Islam is one of the greatest, most terrifying problems of our future”.
Shawcross is a paid up member of the British establishment. According to his Wikipedia entryFrom St Aubyn’s prep school in Rottingdean Brighton (since closed down) he went to Eton and Oxford before joining the BBC World Service Advisory Council. In 2008 he became a Patron of the Wiener Library and in 2011 he joined the board of the Anglo-Israel Association and was appointed to the board of the Henry Jackson Society.
It is this which would appear to explain the Charity Commission’s reluctance to tackle even the most egregious example of racism by a Zionist group. Of course if the CAA were an Islamic group and singled out Jews for the same attention then they would be deregistered tomorrow.
I have therefore written a further letter to the Charity Commission (see below). It would seem that whatever the CAA does is going to be given the green light by the Charity Commission. I will also be considering what further legal steps can be taken given what appears to be a refusal by the Charity Commission to take any action.
Tony Greenstein
Correspondence with Charity Commission
Charity Commission
Woodfield House,
Tangier,
Taunton TA1 4BL
Dear Ms Grenfell
Subject: Re: 20170322 - To Tony Greenstein – update - CAMPAIGN AGAINST ANTI-SEMITISM 1163790 CRM:0162547
To: PCT - Taunton (Queue) <OperationsTaunton@charitycommission.gsi.gov.uk>
RC Landing & Correspondence (Queue)
On 6th, 20thFebruary 2017, 1st March and subsequently I wrote to the Charity Commission concerning the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism. The CAA was not operating to provide any public benefit but was acting as an overtly political and Zionist organisation whose speciality was the launching of partisan political attacks on those who are critical in any way of the State of Israel and Zionism.
It has, at the time of writing, made some 94 separate attacks on Jeremy Corbyn. For an organisation supposedly devoted to anti-Semitism it displays a strange obsession with attacking and demonising anything to do with the Palestinians. One example of the malevolent nature of its attacks was the article they posted on the death of Gerald Kaufman MP, Sir Gerald Kaufman MP’s words have left a rotting stain on our institutions. That you could allow, without passing comment, a charity to post such a disgusting and foul-mouthed article on the death of the Father of the House of Commons speaks volumes to your own lack of judgement.
No sooner than I had made a complaint against the CAA then on 26th February the CAA devoted one of its posts to making a highly personal and defamatory attack on me, calling me a ‘notorious anti-Semite’ without any evidence whatsoever. Tony Greenstein’s attempt to shut down Campaign Against Antisemitism showcases the similarities between far-left and far-right. As someone who is Jewish this is particular offensive and anti-Semitic.
The CAA has recently taken the lead in attackingPalestine Expo, the biggest social, cultural and entertainment event on Palestine to ever take place in Europe and which is scheduled to take place on July 8th and July 9th at the South Bank Centre. In an articleCAA RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT PALESTINE EXPO HOSTED AT GOVERNMENT-OWNED CONVENTION CENTRE OPPOSITE PARLIAMENT it challenged the very right of Palestinians to organise politically, culturally or socially under the guise of ‘anti-Semitism’. It concludes its article by saying that‘It is extremely troubling that this event is being held at an iconic, government-sponsored venue, right opposite the seat of British democracy. We are writing to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government expressing our concerns.’
This is an outrageously racist statement, even for the CAA. It is suggesting that it is ‘troubling’ to hold a major Palestinian event near the Palace of Westminster, with the obvious implication that anything Palestinian is related to terrorism and that, in the light of recent events, it is poses some form of danger. If such a suggestion were made about a Jewish event there would rightly be an uproar.
Yet the Charity Commission sits twiddling its thumbs, doing nothing, saying nothing and allowing the CAA to continue regardless.
Perhaps I should remind you that on 22nd March, Alex Young from your Liverpool Office wrote to me stating, in respect of both of my complaints, not least that related to the failure to identify its trustees that ‘I am advised there is the prospect of decisions on these matters within a week from today, after which we will communicate to you our view on the issues you have raised.’
On 8th May, some 6 weeks later, I wrote to you asking why I had heard nothing despite your promises. You wrote back the same day to inform me that you had taken over the examination of my complaint but that
‘It is not possible at this stage to give any timeframe for the conduct of this case. However, once I have completed my analysis I will let you know.
I appreciate that this will be frustrating for you, but I can confirm that I am looking in detail at the information you have provided.’
On 8th May I raised further concerns regarding the involvement of the CAA in attacking certain parliamentary candidates in the middle of the General Election. Instead of issuing advice to the CAA or indeed charities as a whole you said that it wasn’t a matter for you, which raises the question of whether or not you are fulfilling your statutory duty to regulate the charity sector.
You also seemed to be rowing back on the previous pledges you made when you stated that:
‘As we have informed you previously, we are considering all of the points you have made. It is not our policy, and we do not have the resources, to keep those who provide information to us, informed of progress on individual cases.’
This is a direct contradiction of your previous pledges, not only to complete the investigation within a week but to keep me informed. I do not believe, for one minute, that you don’t have the resources to inform me as to the progress of my complaint. There is no reason whatsoever for you not having completed your investigation and there is even less reason for you not having informed me of the outcome of any investigation.
The only inference that can be drawn is that you are prepared to turn a blind eye to the activities of the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism despite its clear breaches of charity law. I repeat what I have previously tried to make clear to you. The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism is entitled to act as a political campaigning body it is not entitled to do this with all the financial advantages accruing from being a charity.
The petition we launched calling for the deregistration of the CAA has now reached nearly 3,000 people. I look forward to you breaking your normal custom and practice and providing a full response into the complaints that I and others have made.
I also wish to make it clear that I am submitting a third complaint in respect of the CAA’s racist campaign against Palestine Expo 2017.
Please also advise me of the various avenues of appeal if you continue to refuse to respond to my complaints against the CAA.
Yours sincerely,
Tony Greenstein