Fake institutional racism:
"At a press conference in London, Liverpool Wavertee MP [and former director of Labour Friends of Israel] Luciana Berger said she was 'embarrassed and ashamed' to be a member of the Labour Party which she said was 'institutionally antisemitic' and had 'a culture of bullying, bigotry and intimidation'. Ms Berger has long been a target for antisemitic Labour activists who have plied her with abuse and death threats.* (Seven Labour MPs resign citing 'institutional', 'sickening' antisemitism, Orlando Radice, thejc.com, 18/2/19)
Real institutional racism:
"The Conservative party has suspended 14 members for allegedly making Islamophobic comments after a string of abusive posts were uncovered on social media... The suspensions come at a time of growing scrutiny of the Conservative party's record on Islamophobia, with the former Tory chairman Sayeeda Warsi again calling for an internal inquiry and suggesting the most senior figures in the party - including Theresa May - need to take the problem more seriously. The messages included one from an individual who wrote that they would like to 'turf all Muslims out of public office'. Another said they wanted to 'get rid of all mosques'... A spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain said the [FB] posts showed 'the scale of Islamophobia at all levels of the party is astonishing'." (Tories suspend 14 members over alleged Islamophobia, Dan Sabbagh, theguardian.com, 6/3/19)
[*Berger's Wikipedia entry makes it clear that these came from far-right sources, not "Labour activists."]
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Asa Winstanley has an interesting story on the funding of the breakaway group at Electronic Intifada:
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/israel-lobby-funders-back-breakaway-british-mps
It appears that most of the seven, including Berger, are still members of Labour Friends of Israel.
Quotes from the article:
'In 2017, an undercover investigation by Al Jazeera revealed that Labour Friends of Israel is effectively a front for the Israeli embassy.
'One of the group’s staff privately admitted that, although “publicly we just try to keep the LFI as a separate identity to the embassy,” they work “really closely together.”
'Labour Friends of Israel chair Joan Ryan would speak to Israeli embassy agent Shai Masot “most days,” he said.
...
'Shai Masot was expelled from the UK after the scandal broke in 2017.'
Asa Winstanley of Electronic Intifada will one day write the definitive book on these grubs and their sordid goings-on. Let's hope it'll have a happy ending.
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