Chris Williamson MP and Jackie Walker defy Peter Kyle and the Zionists to speak to a packed audience at the Rialto
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| From left to right - Anne Mitchell, Greg Hadfield (Chair), Chris Williamson and Tina Werkman |
The day started off with the erection of a ‘Free Speech’ tent in Brighton’s Regency Square. Actually it was a gazebo but it served the same purpose. We erected our banners and gave out hundreds of leaflets and met with an overwhelmingly warm reception from local residents.
However we did spot Luciana Berger the ex-Labour Zionist now Liberal MP with a bunch of suits and Jewish Labour Movement delegate and thuglet, Ella Rose.
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| Chris Williamson speaking |
The Zionists, who despite most of them being born here, fail to understand the meaning of free speech, were once again outmanoeuvred. They had promised to stop us organising a meeting with Chris Williamson and Jackie Walker and they failed miserably.
According to the Zionists free speech in Brighton is a dire threat to Brighton’s Jewish community, who are ‘baited’ by having anti-Zionist opinions being aired in public. Clearly they prefer the near unanimity of public opinion in Israel to Britain.
At 1.00 we packed away the gazebo and retired for drinks on the seafront before making our way over to the Free Speech Centre at the Rialto.
Despite hundreds of abusive tweets from the Zionists aimed at the Rialto along the lines of ‘how can you remain neutral between racism and anti-racism, Zionism and anti-Zionism’, the Rialto held firm. Unlike the Brighthelm and other venues they refused to allow abusive phone calls and tweets to deter them.
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| The Free Speech Gazebo |
All of the tweets, without exception, accepted and assumed that those of us meeting at the Rialto and organising a series of events around socialism, Palestine and free speech, were somehow racist. The irony is that it is the defenders of Israeli Apartheid who are accusing others of ‘racism’.
In the 1970’s when active in anti-fascist work, we were regularly accused of being ‘anti-White’ racists by the National Front. There is no difference to being accused of ‘anti-Semitism’ by the Zionists. Israel is a ‘Jewish’ State which openly says it is a state of its Jewish not its non-Jewish citizens yet it is us who are accused of ‘anti-Semitism’.
It is a world turned upside down when racists accused their opponents of racism! Israel is a state that forbids its 20% Arab population having access to 93% of the land, whose Rabbis openly call Palestinians animals and where there is a constant air of incitement led by the Prime Minister himself. Israel is a state where rabbis even say that Hitler was right even if he got the wrong victims.
We were fortunate in finding owners of a venue with more backbone that the Brighthelm Centre in Brighton which cancelled the initial Chris Williamson meeting, the Methodist Centre which insists on equality between the occupier and the occupied and even the Friends Meeting House which has buckled under the pressure.
Events which we organised today included a showing of Jackie Walker’s film, The Witchhunt. This film was supposed to be premiered at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool last year but it was disrupted by a bomb scare. It has already been shown in Brighton earlier this year but to an audience at a secret location.
Today was the first open showing of the film and we are repeating the showing on Monday at the Rialto for those who missed the meeting.
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| A member of the audience speaking during the extensive question time |
The next big event was the Chris Williamson meeting at 7 pm which was livestreamed. Anne Mitchell of Hove CLP spoke. Anne has been suspended by the Labour Party and she is being recommended for expulsion without a hearing because she tweeted a few comments in opposition to Israel’s crimes. Greg Hadfield chaired the meeting and made a number of points about the attack on free speech. Jackie Walker spoke at length about her own experiences and Tina Werkmann spoke for Labour Left Alliance and Labour Against the Witchhunt. Greg Hadfield also auctioned 2 original prints of a Steve Bell cartoon which the Guardian banned.
The meeting was packed to the rafters with people. A number of people, including myself spoke from the floor. I emphasised that we face an unprecedented situation of a direct attack on freedom of speech and we have to react accordingly. We cannot allow the supporters of a racist apartheid state to close down free speech.
After the meeting we all retired downstairs in the Rialto for drinks. The venue is really an excellent one, hitherto unknown and we are thinking of setting up a socialism film club here.
This week has not been cheap as the expenditure included hiring the Rialto and other expenses such as paying for an Events License for the use of Regency Square. This was made possible through a grant from a sympathetic charity which believes in free speech.
Tony Greenstein
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| It's difficult to know where to start with these tweets - they assume that the users, including Jews, are racists and antisemites - never does it enter their tiny minds that supporters of Israel's naked apartheid are the racists |
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| Sebag Montefiore leads the way with stupid comment 'do you really think that antisemits have decent moral views'what the hell does this mean, leaving aside that it was the Zionists who have most in common with antisemites |
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| 'If you are neutral in situations of injustice' waxes idiot Mark Lewis - where is the injustice in having to listen to anti-racist opinions - this moron quotes Archbishop Tutu about neutrality in situations of oppression forgetting that the Archbishop condemns Israeli Apartheid as worse than that in South Africa |
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| It's a tribute to the power of brainwashing that these idiots all assume that we were antisemitic or racist - Steven Gray quotes Pastor Niemoller without ever one understanding what was said |
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| More idiocy from SFI - there is no such thing as 'left wing antisemitism' |
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| This is the same Zionist Board who justified the murder by Israeli snipers of unarmed demonstrators |
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| More hysteria from Fiona Sharpe, a bigot and an Islamaphobe and also a perjurer who racially abused a Palestinian on film |