Why have your officials lied and lied about the banning of ‘Jeremy Corbyn – The Big Lie’?
Who has given you the right to decide what Unite members can or cannot see?
Dear Sharon Graham,
Correspondence with
Unite officials reminds me of David Low’s cartoons which depicted the TUC
as a carthorse. Slow-witted, disingenuous, impervious to reason and incapable
of rational thought. As Low noted, ‘STUPIDITY has no frontiers.’
I
refer to the ban on Jeremy
Corbyn – The Big Lieand Asa Winstanley’s Weaponisation
of Anti-Semitism. On 22 August Gail Cartmail wrote to David Plank of Cambridge
Community Branch:
Unite has not “banned” the film
mentioned nor the book, however we have declined to use our buildings for its showing and
a related book launch.
That sounds like a
ban. The film and talk were due to be held at Tony Benn House, Bristol on 24
July. They were cancelled. Organisers were told
by a union official that the event was cancelled after “discussion with senior colleagues.” Unite’s leadershipdid not want to “be drawn into contentious political debate.”
The Ventriloquist & her Puppet
Skwawkbox editor Steve Walker attributed
the decision to ‘the growing cosiness
between Unite’s management and the current hard-right Labour regime.’
In an
email Gail Cartmail claimed
on your behalf that Winstanley’s book had “caused
deep hurt among Jews in Britain.”. This evidence-free assertion is ironically
an anti-Semitic lie, assuming as it does that British Jews are hurt by
criticism of Zionism and Israel.
Since the buck stops
with you as General Secretary I am replying directly to you rather than the
ventriloquist’s puppet.
Cartmail’s
‘explanation’ came after Sarah Carpenter, Regional Secretary for SE Unite wrote
on 8 June regarding the showing of the film by Portsmouth Community Branch:
I
have asked for the screenings to be cancelled whilst I seek further guidance. I
have not had any instructions to cancel.
Carpenter
refused to clarify why she needed to take ‘further
guidance’ about instructions that she hadn’t received. On 13 June Carpenter
sent another email stating that
‘we will not be showing the film in the Portsmouth office,
and I will alert the relevant branch of this.’
That also sounds like
a ban.
In Carpenter’s email
to me of 5 July Rule 17.3 was invoked to prevent Unite SE 6246 branch from donating
to Platform Films, which
produced the film. Over the years Platform Films has made a host of films for
the trade union movement including Unite and history of the
T&GWU. Given that the overwhelming majority of the media is anti-trade
union what kind of mule headed idiocy is it that possesses a union official to
ban donations to a pro-trade union film company?
As
Tony Benn observed“By making these brilliant films over
the years, Platform has filled a gap that is so obvious in the media.’ Bob
Crow, the legendary RMT leader wrote that:
RMT is
proud to be associated with a film company that unashamedly knows which side it
is on, and is carrying the tradition of gutsy, agitprop, socialist film-making
to a new generation in the 21st century
If
Platform Films knows which side it’s on the same cannot be said for you or your
officials. In an email of 13 June Carpenter gave a variety of excuses for the
ban:
The issues
covered in the film are pertinent to internal Labour Party matters and that is
not the focus of our union… union
resources are prioritised in these areas.
Although
Unite has increased
the amount of money it gives to the Labour Party, despite
your assurances to the contrary, it isn’t able to afford the cost of
security for a union building to show a film. As David Plank wrote
Frankly, this beggars belief. The
unions founded the Labour Party to achieve the political voice that is
essential to the best interests and welfare of our members. It is neither
possible nor desirable to make such a flimsy, artificial distinction.
The
suggestion that privatisation of the NHS and renationalisation of rail and the
utilities are internal Labour Party matters is risible.
The real reason for these bans is
to appease Starmer who has repeatedly refused to support striking workers. No
sooner had he left Unite’s policy conference than he tore up his pledge to
repeal the latest Tory anti-union legislation.
It is shameful that you are
complicit in the efforts of Starmer to silence and expel those who disagree
with his neo-liberal agenda.
In her email
of 5 July Carpenter wrote:
I can be clear
that Unite has not been contacted by any group in regards to the decision made….
the decision taken was grounded in our focus to prioritise resources ….
This was
clearly a lie. On 23 July the far-right Campaign
Against Anti-Semitism, boasted
of its role in the banning of the film:
Following correspondence with CAA, the
Unite union has cancelled the screening of a propaganda film about the antisemitic former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn that was due
to be shown alongside a book signing and talk from Asa Winstanley.
The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism has one
purpose - to smear supporters of the Palestinians and opponents of Zionism as
anti-Semitic. It openly boasted
of its role in removing Jeremy Corbyn.
Lest
you have any doubt that Israel is an apartheid state you should be aware that this
is the unanimous view of human rights groups such as Amnesty
International, Human
Rights Watch and B’Tselem.
Israel is a state
whose official police is one of ‘Judaising’ the Galilee and Negev. The Koenig
Memorandum of April 1976 by Yisrael Koenig, a senior member of the
Israeli Labor Party, proposed
to:
Expand and deepen Jewish settlement in areas where
the contiguity of the Arab population is prominent, and where they number
considerably more than the Jewish population; examine the possibility of
diluting existing Arab population concentrations.
Imagine the outcry if there was a proposal to ‘dilute’ the
Black population of London. Koenig spoke about the duty of ‘those dealing with the Arab sector… to familiarize themselves with the
Arab mentality.’ I suggest you substitute ‘Jewish’ for ‘Arab’.
If
anyone harboured any doubts that Palestinians live under an Apartheid regime
then Israel’s neo-Nazi Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir laid these to rest when
he told an Israeli
Arab journalist:
“My right, the right of my wife, of my children to
move around on the roads in the West Bank is more important than the right to
freedom of movement of the Arabs – sorry, Mohammed, this is the reality, this
is the truth,”
Moshe Yalon, the ex- Likud Defence Minister termed Gvir ‘Mein Kampf in Reverse.’
The CAA has been at the forefront of attacks on pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist academics such as Bristol University’s Rachel Gould and David Miller, Warwick University’s Goldie Osurie, Shahd Abusalama of Sheffield Hallam and Exeter University’s Malaka Shwaik.
The CAA demanded that Gould, a Jewish professor, publicly retract an article Defining Anti-Semitismand if she refused then she should be dismissed “and her dismissal should be made public so as to clearly signal the University of Bristol’s values”.
The CAA has used the IHRA
Definition of Anti-Semitism as a political weapon.
Even American academic Kenneth Stern, who drafted the IHRA, said, in testimony
to the US Congress, that the CAA’s attack on Gould was ‘chilling and
McCarthy-like’.
Gideon
Falter, Chair of the CAA, has also supported Hindu racists in opposing
protection against racial discrimination for Dalits (Untouchables), which is
dressed up as racism against Hindus.
The CAA posted this story before quickly taking it down - Jackie Walker's 'holocaust' story was based on her quoting David Ben Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister
The CAA has deliberately tried to stir up fear of anti-Semitism amongst Jews. Anshel Pfeffer in Ha’aretz, commenting on the CAA’s 2015 Anti-Semitism Barometerwrote of the CAA’s:
eagerness to see
anti-Semitism in Britain… as much more widespread than it really is….
If the majority of British Jews and the authors of the CAA report actually believe that [anti-Semitism in Britain today resembles that in the 30s], then it’s hard to take anything they say about contemporary anti-Semitism seriously…. To compare today’s Britain… with the Jews’ situation in 1930s exhibits a disconnect from reality which borders on hysteria.
This is the organisation that you take your advice from when deciding what Unite members can and cannot see.
The CAA is Islamophobic
and also Anti-Semitic
The CAA
was formed in 2014 during Israel’s Operation
Protective Edge when 2,200 Palestinians, including 551
children, died. Its purpose was to undermine solidarity with the Palestinians.
This is the racist CAA's new definition of anti-Semitism
The CAA is not interested
in genuine anti-Semitism. In 2019 it redefined
anti-Semitism with 6 questions, all about Israel. If you weren’t comfortable spending
time with supporters of Israel that made you an anti-Semite. I was uncomfortable
in the company of supporters of Apartheid in South Africa. Did that make me a
racist? Amongst the other 5 questions was “Israel makes a positive contribution to the world.” If you disagree that makes you an anti-Semite!
Anti-Semitism
as defined in the OED,which most people understand anti-Semitism as ‘hostility to or prejudice against Jews as Jews’. By constructing
these fraudulent questions, the CAA was able to
pretend that anti-Semitism is a problem of the left not the right.
When Jacob Rees-Mogg attacked two fellow Jewish Tories, Oliver Letwin and John Bercow, as “Illuminati who are taking the powers to themselves.” the CAA said nothing. As Michael Berkowitz, Professor of Modern Jewish History at UCL wrote:
‘Rees-Mogg is knowingly trafficking in the portrayal of Jews as underhanded and sinister. … he has exhumed, embellished, and rebroadcast one of the most poisonous antisemitic canards in all of history.
Mogg also retweeted comments by Alice Wiedel, leader of the neo-Nazi AfD
but all you will find is a neutral article Jacob
Rees Mogg defends sharing German far-right leader’s speech on Twitter.
Why is this? Because Mogg is ardently pro-Israel and the AfD is the most
pro-Zionist party in Germany.
All the CAA saidwas
that the ‘AfD has a long history of
problematic language and policies’. The Nazi Party also had a history of 'problematic
language and policies'.
The CAA’s 2016
Report British
Muslims and antiSemitism had a picture of a Muslim man holding a ‘Hitler was right’ poster. The implication
is clear. Muslims are Nazi supporters.
The Report included a full colour drawing of a ‘typical’ Muslim man. If this had been a ‘typical Jew’ the air would have been thick with accusations of ‘anti-Semitism’. The report accused Muslims of being
more likely by far than the general British population to hold deeply antisemitic views…. many British Muslims reserve a special hatred for British Jews …
Who Gives You the Right to Decide What Unite Members Can or
Can’t See or Hear?
No one has alleged
that The Big Lie is anti-Semitic. This
would be surprising since Jews feature prominently in it. Yet Cartmail says
that it ‘will offend ’ and ‘rake up issues’ that you want
to bury.
Zionists may be
offended. So? what? Are you opposed to offending racists? As George Orwell
said: ‘If liberty means anything at all
it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.’ Freedom
of speech is meaningless without the right to offend. Cartmail does not
understand this but I would expect you to.
Lord
Justice Sedley ruled
in DPP v Redmond-Bate(1999) that
Free speech
includes not only the inoffensive but the irritating, the contentious, the
eccentric, the heretical, the unwelcome and the provocative provided it does
not tend to provoke violence. Freedom only to speak inoffensively is not worth
having.
You have no grounds to
ban this film or the book. This is censorship carried out on behalf of the same
Israeli state that is currently waging a campaign of terror against the Palestinians.
B ranches have the right to show films about what happened during Corbyn and
make up their own mind without Big Sister interfering. Offending those who
support pogroms and murder of children should be welcomed.
When Muslims attacked
Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Versesthe media proclaimed If
we don’t defend free speech, we live in tyranny. When Charlie Hebdo mocked
the Prophet Muhammad, it was a case of Je
Suis Charlie. But when anti-Zionists criticise the tactics
of supporters of Israeli Apartheid ‘preventing
hurt’ to racists is your priority.
As
Ken Loach noted:
Asa Winstanley’s book has
been widely praised, including by noted Jewish commentators, for its rigorous
and authoritative research.
By banning the
author from discussing it in this way, Unite has shown the title to be accurate
– anti-Semitism has indeed been weaponized. This is a critical political issue.
Buy this important book and judge for yourself.
Cartmail, in her email of 22
August to David Plank, said
‘Unite is proudly anti-racist
and stands with all minorities in our communities who face prejudice and
discrimination.’
Prehistoric is Cartmail and Graham's View of Zionism - They Have Learnt Nothing and Forgotten Nothing
Does this
apply to billionaires who are undoubtedly a minority? Have ordinary words lost
their meaning for you too? All minorities?
Are we not allowed to offend fascists? Cartmail’s ready resort to clichés and hackneyed
phrases is embarrassing, even for a union bureaucrat.
What
possible connection does Cartmail’s statement have to the film? How was the
film supporting prejudice and discrimination?
The clear
implication of Cartmail’s words, on your behalf, is that the Big Lie is racist. In essence you have
chosen to take the word of a far-right Zionist, an officer of an organisation
that spearheaded the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians in 1948 over Jewish socialists.
The
role of an Ambassador is to lie
on behalf of their country. Is that Cartmail’s role? She has adopted the stratagem
Orwell described in 1984 whereby the constant repetition of lies become the
truth. In her email to Plank, Cartmail boasted that
Unite has a
longstanding commitment to international solidarity and has for decades supported
the Palestinian cause and will continue to do so. No union has done more on Palestinian
solidarity than Unite.
This too is a lie. The
union which has done most for the Palestinians is the FBU. The late Ken
Cameron, its General Secretary, worked
tirelessly to win the trade union movement to the Palestinian cause.
Cartmail’s boasts are designed to conceal the truth of your support for the
Zionism and Israel’s apartheid state.
Cartmail
quoted the EHRC
Report into Labour ‘antisemitism’ in support of the ban. She assumes that
the EHRC is an anti-racist body. Nothing
could be further from the truth. In July 2020, two former EHRC
commissioners — Simon Woolley, previously the only black person on the
Commission, and Meral Hussein-Ece, the only Muslim — told Newsweek that they had not been reappointed
to their posts in 2012 because they were “too
loud and vocal” on questions of racism.
The EHRC Report
was produced by Alisdair Henderson who was caught
tweeting in support of Roger Scruton, the fascist
founding editor of Salisbury
Review. Henderson combined racism,
homophobia
and misogyny
in one. See The
Labour Antisemitism Report Has Always Been a Politically Motivated Travesty]
The Report
was legally
flawed and is currently subject to judicial review proceedings. Yet Cartmail
relies on this worthless
report much like a drunk leans on a lamppost, for support not illumination.
The EHRC
has an appalling
record of discrimination against its own Black members of staff. Successive
governments have stuffed its Board with Tory appointees such as David Goodhart
who argued
that the “hostile environment” should not be watered down in the wake of the
Windrush scandal or Jessica Butcher who believes
that modern feminism disempowers women.
The
EHRC's first Chair, Trevor Philips is a bigot who was suspended from the Labour
Party for comments
such as Muslims are a ‘nation
within a nation’. Starmer quietly reinstated
him.
Cartmail
mentioned that Labour List had published
an article on the film but didn’t mention that it was by Paul Mason, a lapdog
for the security services, who declared that he was waging
war against anti-imperialist academics. That you should cite Mason’s attack
shows the lengths to which you will go in order to appease Starmer.
What this
shameful decision demonstrates is that your militant talk and support for strikes
takes place in the context of your own right-wing, chauvinist pro-capitalist
politics.
The
Objection to A Big Lie Comes from
Zionists not Jews
Between 2015 and 2019, a campaign
was waged by the British Establishment to paint Corbyn as an anti-Semite and
the Labour Party as anti-Semitic. Politicians like Tom Watson, who had spent
their careers demonising refugees, overnight became
anti-racists.
The dishonest nature of this
campaign was exposed by the Labour Leaked Report which
detailed how senior Labour staff had sabotaged Labour’s election chances in
2017.
Because of the British media’s complicity
it was Al Jazeera’s “The Lobby” and the “Labour Files” which exposed the confected
nature of the ‘anti-Semitism’ allegations. The Forde Report later confirmed that anti-Semitism had
been weaponised by the Right.
Gideon Falter, Chair of the Jewish National Fund & Vice-Chair of JNF-UK which refuse to lease or rent land to non-Jews - this is Sharon Graham's comrade-in-arms
You Sharon
Graham have banned an anti-racist film at the behest of an organisation whose
Chair, Gideon Falter, is Vice-Chair
of the Jewish National Fund,
an organisation which refuses to rent or lease the 93% of land in Israel that
it owns or controls. It makes Unite party to the JNF’s continuing ethnic
cleansing of the Palestinians.
In 2004 the Adalah Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights
in Israelpetitioned
the Supreme Court demanding the cancellation of the allocation of JNF lands to
Jews only. The JNF’s response was that
The JNF is not
the trustee of the general public in Israel. Its loyalty is given to the Jewish
people in the Diaspora and in the state of Israel... The JNF… is not a public
body that works for the benefit of all citizens of the state. The loyalty of
the JNF is given to the Jewish people and only to them is the JNF obligated.
The JNF, as the owner of the JNF land, does not have a duty to practice
equality towards all citizens of the state.
Electronic Intifada
has just revealed
that the CAA is directly funded by JNF-UK. In 2018 and 2019 it received
$450,000 from an Israeli para-state organisation. Far from upholding ‘a longstanding commitment to international
solidarity’ you Sharon Graham have been holding hands with the
practitioners of Israeli apartheid.
Look Who's Just Dropped In To Support Israel
Cartmail
states that Unite has for decades supported the Palestinian cause. So let us
get this correct. On the one hand you are working with lobbyists for Israeli
apartheid and on the other hand you support Palestinian liberation. Do you not
see the contradiction?
It would
have been like saying you support Black people under apartheid in South Africa whilst
at the same time vetoing anything that was critical of apartheid on the grounds
that it ‘might give offence’ to White
South Africans. It is shameful.
‘Anti-Semitism’
has been the principal defence of the racist regime in Tel Aviv. Everytime
someone calls out the murder of Palestinian children, the demolition of homes or
theft of land up goes the cry of ‘anti-Semitism’. Have you learnt nothing in
the past 7 years?
‘Anti-Semitism’
is the only defence the Zionists have left. Such cries are themselves
anti-Semitic. To see you going along with this brands you an utter hypocrite
and a collaborator with apartheid.
If these bans remain then Unite policy on Palestine will be
worthless. Every time that we call out Israel’s crime of apartheid Israel’s
supporters will cry ‘anti-Semitism’ and you will jump to attention.
See Unite’s ‘disgraceful’ response to branch about film and book ban and
Correspondence Between David Plank, Cambridge Community Branch & Gail Cartmail
