Squabbling on the Far Left continues

One of the main traits of far-left activists is their seeming inability to live up to what one might think is a basic tenet of the socialist creed. That of co-operation. Any history of their current will show this as an occupational hazard for the comrades. Hence there are several Communist Parties and a huge number of usually minute Trotskyist organisations.

One thing they all have in common is an absolute hatred of each other.

The Labour Left is no exception to the rule. The recently formed Momentum organisation recently decided to withdraw its support for John Willsman on the agreed slate due to his rather unseemly and some might say anti-Semetic outburst at the Labour NEC.

Too much for Lansman who has been trying to defuse this problem. Trouble is many of Momentum's recruits wouldn't toe the line and many resigned from the organisation over the withdrawl of support for Willsman.



A lot of these people are from the "three-pounders" brigade who have no political experience other than being a bit shouty on the odd demo or two. However the hardliners of the tin and totally mis-named Campaign for Labour Party Democracy are biting back in their support for CLPD supremo Pete Willsman.

According to the Red Roar website:

The CLPD is also instructing members to ask for an apology from Momentum for dropping Willsman from its slate of NEC candidates, a demand that will heighten tensions between Willsman and Lansman.

The CLPD have issued an e-mail template (presumably because their members are unable to string a coherent sentence together) and:

The email to Momentum bosses says: “the recent undemocratic decision to cut Peter Willsman from the Momentum NEC slate was a disgrace and I call upon [Momentum’s] NCG (National Coordinating Group) to make an immediate apology”.

Oddly this is combined with their demand to stop the adoption of the recognised international definition of anti-Semitism (IHRA) and along with other reprobates will be picketing the Labour NEC. This has already attracted the attention of Labour Against the Witch Hunt (LAW)which is seemingly a front for members of the Labour Party Marxists, themselves a wing of the small Communist Party of Great Britain (Weekly Worker).

It always gets complicated when the left organise parties within fronts within campaigns as they are prone to do. This way they hope to attract the unwary into their web of deceit.  

 On LAW's website Jonathan Cook continues the false conspiracy theory that:

The full adoption of the IHRA definition of anti-semitism will be a major victory both for Israel and its apologists in Britain, who have been seeking to silence all meaningful criticism of Israel, and for the British corporate media, which would dearly love to see the back of an old-school socialist Labour leader whose programme threatens to loosen the 40-year stranglehold of neoliberalism on British society.

They will be outside the NEC on 4th September they encourage members to turn up as witches would you believe.

Hopefully a counter demonstration will bring the ducking stool. Only kidding. But these people must be opposed.

Jewish Labour Movement One Day Conference (2nd September)

JLM's One Day Conference is fast approaching on Sunday 2nd September, tickets are selling fast and the line up (in our opinion) just keeps getting better and better.

We've already told you that Luciana Berger MP, Ruth Smeeth MP, Wes Streeting MP, Jon Lansman, Dame Margaret Hodge MP, Baroness Dianne Hayter, Louise Ellman MP, Anna Turley MP, Jonathan Freedland and Stephen Bush are going to be there, as well as a panel featuring the leadership of Momentum, Labour First, Progress and Open Labour. 

Sessions include:

• Dame Margaret Hodge MP in conversation with Jonathan Freedland
• The Experiences of Jewish Labour MPs - Luciana Berger MP, Louise Ellman MP and others
• Question Time - Wes Streeting MP, Anna Turley MP, Louise Ellman MP and Richard Angell
• Confronting the Far Right - Dame Margaret Hodge MP, Joe Mulhall (Hope not Hate) and others
• ‘The Labour Party - A Church Too Broad?’- featuring leaders of Labour First, Progress, Open Labour and Momentum
• Brexit: What's really going on? - Baroness Dianne Hayter, Jasmin Beckett, Richard Angell and Wes Streeting MP
• The Inside Guide to Party Conference: Debate, disagreement and controversy - What’s really going on in Liverpool this September
• The 100 Year Alliance - The Jewish Labour Movement and the Labour Party
• What's next in the Jewish community's fight against antisemitism - Ivor Caplin, Simon Johnson and Marie Van der Zyl

It's been another difficult year as Jewish members of the Labour Party, and we hope this Conference will take stock of the last year with our friends, provide a space to be inspired, but also set down the challenges as we look forward to Party Conference season. 

Tickets on sale now at http://www.jlm.org.uk/conference2018

Frank Field's letter of resignation.

The big news at the moment is the decision of widely respected Labour MP Frank Field. Highlighting the drift of Labour into becoming a racist party, specifically an anti-Semitic one. 

Field hopes that Labour can be saved but when interviewed on Radio 4's PM programme he made it quite clear that he was answerable to the electorate not a tiny group of just 30 people. 

This is a blow to Corbyn and this blog hopes others will join him. A new party is sorely needed. Labour is no longer fit for purpose.

Once More On Censorship In Universities By Trans-Activists

Photo: By Erdem Civelek

The debate over Trans-men/women continues unabated by  political activists though the general public seem oblivious to it all despite impending legislation that could adversely affect free speech over issues of who is a woman. Most people still accept the general definition that men have a penis and women have a vagina.

Of course it's not that simple. Nature produces Hermaphrodites and there is a condition known as  Body Dysphoria and there are a growing number of men who live as women, some who have gone all the way with major operations but so many more who don't and retain their male appendages whilst living as "women".

Germaine Greer has got into trouble with the modern politically correct brigade for stating the obvious that trans women are not (biological) women. A statement most of us would consider logically correct but has been attacked as "hate speech" by a number of student unions and Trans-activists.

There was a time when Greer herself was considered too radical by many. The sight of her being "no-platformed" by student unions is not only ridiculous even if you disagree with her views but more to the point an attack on free speech. The new censors don't want debate they simply want to enforce their views on all and sundry.

Whether you refer to this new tendency as the new fascism or stalinism is a moot point. They are undermining not just free speech but education as well.

The Daily Telegraph reported yesterday:

Brown University has removed research from it's website that hypothesised that teenagers who came out as transgender were more likely to have friends who were transitioning and that they were influenced by YouTube videos and social media.

Academics accused the university of bowing to pressure from activists after it removed a news article and link to Lisa Littman's research. A tweet promoting the paper was also deleted.

Rather than debate the issue pure censorship was imposed. Everybody involved was condemned as the religious right or anti LGBT. This is far from the first time and the Telegraph mentions James Caspian:

... a psychotherapist who is pursuing a case against Bath Spa University for blocking his research into people who decide to de-transition.

All this is due to activists trying to block and discredit anything that doesn't suit their agenda.

Universities and Governments need to grow a pair and stand up for academic freedom.

Call on the British Government to Stop Pushing Minority Women Towards Religious Courts

Press Release from Council of Ex-Muslims in Britain (CEMB):

In the light of recent court decisions on marriage and divorce, today we have written to the Ministry of Justice, calling for an urgent review into Sharia and civil marriage and divorce laws and to guarantee access to justice for all.

We welcome the recent High Court decision in Akhter v Khan [2018] EWFC 54 in the UK, to declare that a Muslim marriage contract (nikkah) was ‘void’, rather than a ‘non-marriage’. Shabaz Khan had refused to divorce Nasreen Akhter on the grounds that they did not have a valid marriage registered under English law. This had the effect of keeping Nasreen Akhter in marital captivity and denying her legal rights under English family law.

The outcome means that Nasreen Akthar is entitled to seek a decree of nullity, and hopefully, to obtain financial relief against Shabaz Khan. Even though the decision turned on the specific facts of the case, it is nevertheless significant for women trapped in unregistered marriages and should be examined for its relevance to marital captivity, forced and child marriage.

The judgment does not recognise ‘Sharia’ laws as some in the media have misleadingly stated. It deals with the knotty problem of women who believe that they are married but find that they have an unrecognised religious marriage only. This case shows that they can turn to the formal legal system. In fact, the judgement deals a blow to those who justify the sharia ‘courts’ as the only recourse for women who have not registered their marriages.

Our research shows that the power and control of religious fundamentalist networks over Muslims has grown enormously over the last thirty years. This has led to a widespread belief that a civil marriage is not necessary, that women must have a divorce certificate issued by a Sharia ‘court’ in an apparent judicial procedure; and that they must get this ‘certificate’ even if they already have a civil divorce.

While the judgement is a step in the right direction, the government urgently needs to examine its own complicity in keeping religious fundamentalists in business. Sharia ‘courts’, have been actively tolerated in Britain by being given charitable status and treated as partners by the police and local councils. While the government rejected the recommendation of the sharia review headed by Mona Siddiqui for regulation of the sharia councils; it has quietly ensured the continuing power of religious courts.

The application form for a divorce (Form D8) actively encourages women to turn to religious bodies. It states ‘If you entered into a religious marriage as well as a civil marriage, these divorce proceedings may not dissolve the religious part of your marriage. It is important that you contact the relevant religious authority and seek further guidance if you are unsure.’

If the government is serious about gender equality and ending violence against women, why is it undermining the validity of a civil divorce under English law? Why is it pushing women towards religious courts? For decades, the civil divorce has been the valid certificate demanded by courts abroad, regardless of whether there is also a religious marriage such as a Sikh, Hindu or Muslim ceremony. This guidance undermines women’s rights and the recognition of divorces awarded by British courts.

We call on the government to immediately withdraw this guidance from the divorce application form; to address the lack of access to justice brought about by cuts to legal aid; to overhaul outdated marriage and divorce laws and to take active measures to end religious courts and their control over women’s lives.

www.ex-muslim.org.uk

Musical Interlude: DiDo - & Youssou N'Dour - 7 Seconds Live!

One of the big hits of the early nineties was 7 Seconds by Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour ft: Neneh Cherry. A tremendous piece of music about the peace of mind a new born baby has in the first 7 seconds of life before worldly problems take effect.

This version is a live performance from Live8 in 2005 and features Dido dueting with Youssou. Different but still an excellent performance.

Campaign Against Sex Robots

The following "Open Letter" is from the Campaign Against Sex Robots which in broad terms I would support. I am really disturbed that anyone would attempt to produce child-like dolls/robots and attempt to rebrand the pernicious crime of peadophilia.
                                                                      -----------------
An open letter on the dangers of normalising sex dolls & sex robots:

We are a coalition of humanists, parents, women’s groups, survivors, academics, and activists campaigning against commercial objectification of human beings who are concerned with the normalization of “sex robots.” These technologies are developed and backed by academic and business robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) communities who have to date, the loudest voices shaping the policy direction about the benefits of sex robots while largely ignoring the potentially dangerous effects on women, men, and children.

The Campaign Against Sex Robots (CASR) was launched in 2015 to draw attention to the new ways in which the idea of forming “relationships” with machines is becoming increasingly normalized in today’s culture. Sex robots are animatronic humanoid dolls with penetrable orifices where consumers are encouraged to look upon these dolls as substitutes for women (predominantly), and they are marketed as “companions,” “girlfriends,” or “wives.” At a time when pornography, prostitution, and child exploitation is facilitated and proliferated by digital technology turning it into a global profitable industry; these products further promote the objectification of the female body and as such constitute a further assault on human intimacy.

We are also concerned that childlike dolls and robots are being promoted as “therapeutic” for “non-offending pedophiles” and pedophiles. We reject the naturalization of pedophilia as a “sexual preference” and reject terms such as “pedosexual” or “minor attracted person” that serve to legitimize adult sexual violence against children. In 2017-2018, CASR supported a move to ban electronic and artificial representations of children for adult predators in the form of the CREEPER ACT that was successfully passed in the House of Representatives reading in the United States.

We also believe that sex dolls and sex robots in the female form add to the pervasive culture where sexual violence against women and girls is reiterated in new ways.

Despite female political equality, women and girls still face serious threats of sexual violence from domestic abuse and rape to up-skirting and revenge porn. Two women are murdered each week at the hands of former or existing male partners, and mass grooming gangs have targeted vulnerable young girls for decades.

Studies show that strong ties and relationships are good for people and society and that the weakening of our social ties is a major contributory factor in mental health distress, economic insecurity, and human isolation for women, men, and children. It is therefore in the best interests of society to cultivate a culture of mutual support and interdependence and put breaks on those social practices that reinforce a culture of isolation.

We believe robots and AI should be used for the good of humanity and should not be funded or produced in forms that increase human social problems.

Government ministers lag behind technological developments and often respond with constructive policies when it is too late and the damage to human society has been done.

We urge the European Union and the UK Parliament to conduct public consultations ahead of developing legislation in line with European and UK sex discrimination laws and the European Union’s commitment to the UN Rights of the Child.

Signed by 23 Womens organisations and campaigns plus a number of feminist activists.

Musical Interlude: The Zombies

Before Argent and before I started buying records there was a band called The Zombies which featured none other than Rod Argent himself albeit with a very different kind of haircut! I do recall hearing their songs on the wireless, probably the BBC Light Service as Radio One didn't launch until 1967.

I was reminded of them by a review of their recent live performance in Cardiff published on Buzz:The Wales What's On Guide. I didn't even realise they were still touring, albeit with just two of the original band members.

Here's two songs from the Zombies. One from the sixties and a live performance from more modern times. Do enjoy.

The Green Party's "Saville" Moment

The Green Party entered troubled waters after it emerged that one of their council candidates and "front runner" for deputy leadership after it turned out the individual in a question, Aimee Challenor had appointed her father  who had been charged with serious sexual crimes back in 2015 as her agent.

Trans activist Challenor is the Green Party's "Equality Officer" and has refused to step down from the forthcoming election despite her agent & father who shared a home was sentenced to 22 years after being found guilty of raping and torturing a 10 year old child in their home.

According to the Sunday Times Aimee Challenor would "not make a statement" but an an anonymous Green Party spokesman said their candidate had "been unaware of the crimes".

Since David Challenor acted as agent despite facing these charges during the election. Aimee even changed the name of her agent on election material to Baloo Chalenoor which is illegal under British Electoral Law which rather undermines her claims of ignorance.

The Green Party said that they "knew nothing untill the case was concluded.

There is currently nothing on the Coventry Green Party's website or public Facebook page about this issue. However the Coventry Telegraph has already reported:

A man who held a young girl captive in his ‘torture den’ and sexually abused her has been jailed for 22 years.

Pervert David Challenor subjected the 10-year-old girl to horrific sexual abuse and even gave her electric shocks.

He also took photographs of the youngster being tortured and abused to help him relive the sick ordeal he had put her through.

When he was arrested, Challenor accused the girl of being a liar and a fantasist – but the police found the gruesome attic kitted out just as she had described, a jury has heard.

Despite that, he pleaded not guilty to charges including false imprisonment, rape, gross indecency, sexual assault, indecent assault and assault causing her actual bodily harm.

The report disturbingly continues:

The offences came to light after the girl confided in someone about an incident, which was reported to police who interviewed her towards the end of 2015.

Many questions remain to be answered, particularly why she changed the name of her agent to a cartoon character from The Jungle Book. Ballo was a bear. Disturbing.

ACT NOW! Iran: Free Mohammed Habibi

A LabourStart Campaign

From Eric Lee



Iranian teacher trade unionist Mohammed Habibi was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison on 4 August 2018.

The sentence by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Court also included prohibition of social and political activities for two years, a travel ban of two years, and 74 lashes.

That's right: 74 lashes.

What was his crime?

Mohammed Habibi is a member of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association of Tehran.

And he's just one of many independent trade union members harassed by Iran's public authorities for pursuing their legitimate activities.

He was arrested in May during a peaceful protest and has since been held in detention under unbearably harsh conditions.

Family members who visited him in prison reported that he had been severely mistreated. Public authorities continue to deny him the urgent medical support he needs.

The Education International, which represents over thirty million educators and support professionals has launched a campaign on LabourStart demanding that Iran free Mohammed Habibi.
Please take a moment to show your support:

www.labourstartcampaigns

The Far Left, Antisemitism, and Jeremy Corbyn

A Guide for the Perplexed

A Guest Post by Michael Ezra

Photo: By Source, Fair use

1. In 1844 Karl Marx tied up Jews with capitalism: "What is the worldly religion of the Jew? Huckstering. What is his worldly God? Money....Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist...The chimerical nationality of the Jew is the nationality of the merchant, of the man of money in general." For Marx, in order for there to be human progress, capitalism, and with it, "the empirical essence of Judaism," had to be abolished. [1] Despite some of Marx's most ardent supporters' attempts to excuse Marx's words by placing them “in context" or otherwise, this reeks of a standard antisemitic trope through the years.

2. Marxists see everything in terms of power relations. As Marx and Engels explained in the Communist Manifesto, political power is "merely the organised power of one class for oppressing another." The ruling class, which is the capitalist class, oppress the proletariat or the working class. Marx and Engels demanded the "forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions." [2] Force is required, for as Engels explained, "in history nothing is achieved without violence and implacable ruthlessness." [3]

3. Jews and/or Judaism are thus tied up with money, with power, and with oppression. Through such an analysis, violence and demonisation of Jews are justified by some leftists. Consider Ulrike Meinhoff of the Marxist Red Army Faction. For her, hatred of Jews was actually the hatred of capitalism. As a witness at the trial of Horst Mahler in 1972, she posed the question “How was Auschwitz possible, what was anti-Semitism?” Her stated opinion: “Auschwitz means that six million Jews were murdered and carted on to the rubbish dumps of Europe for being that which was maintained of them—Money-Jews.” Also, for her, the murder of the Israeli Olympic team at 1972 Munich Olympics was not only justified but something that could be praised.[4]

4. Sections of the contemporary left insist they are only attacking Zionists, they are not attacking Jews. This might be more believable if they did not use the very same themes by tying up Zionists with money and political power. As examples, one can note a 1979 comment by an activist in the National Union of Mineworkers that it was "Zionist money power" that lay behind imperialism and the oppression of the Palestinian people. [5] In a 1983 editorial of their newspaper, the Workers Revolutionary Party spoke of a "powerful Zionist connection" that stretched from such places as the top of the BBC, through to Margaret Thatcher's government and right into Ronald Reagan's White House. [6] Whether it be Jews or "only Zionists," the attacks are the same: they can be despised and justifiably attacked for political power, money, and oppression.

5. Alternatively to talking about Zionists controlling the press and influencing Western governments with money, some Marxists take the opposite approach when it comes to Israel. By this alternative, it is Western Imperialism that holds the true responsibility for the oppression of the Palestinians, but with Israel as a tool of Western Imperialism. By this reading, Israel is a country placed in the region to ensure Western imperialism's economic interests in the Middle East, notably oil, are safe. [7] But yet again, even with this alternative, political power, money, and oppression lie at the root at justifying, supporting, or excusing attacks on Zionists.

6. Since the left wish to overthrow imperialism, capitalism and eradicate oppression, and as the left defines itself as "anti-racist," attacks on Jews for having money and power might not even fit in with some on the left's view of what is antisemitic in the first place. Consider Matti Bunzl's definition of traditional antisemitism. It is that which is "designed to effect the exclusion of Jews from the national body.... [whereby] Jews were construed as intrinsic outsiders to Europe's nation-states, interlopers in a fantasy of ethnic purity." [8] This definition ignores the conspiratorial nature of much antisemitism from accusations of Christ killers, through to using money and power to control the press and government. The notorious antisemitic Russian fake document, "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" and the Dreyfus Affair in France, both of which had a Jewish conspiracy at their heart, were conveniently ignored by Professor Bunzl in his analysis.

7. From the 1970s, postmodernist leftists have attempted to redefine racism from simply having prejudice to having "prejudice plus power." They have done so with some success. Judith Katz put it in her 1978 training manual for anti-racism that "It is important to push for the understanding that racism is 'prejudice plus power' and therefore third world people cannot be racist against whites in the United States. Third world people can be prejudiced against whites but clearly do not have the power as a group to enforce that prejudice." [9] By this way of thinking, if Jews/Zionists are deemed to have power and are the oppressors and Muslims/Arabs are deemed to not have power and are the oppressed, and if antisemitism is a form of racism, Muslim antisemitism is a contradiction: it cannot really exist. This is why, in a number of articles published in the wake of the Islamist murders at the Charlie Hebdo office and the subsequent murders at the kosher supermarket in Paris in 2015, the Socialist Workers Party never mentioned the specific antisemitism at play in the choice of the supermarket where murders were committed, although they were quick to point out the rise in Islamophobia.[10]

8. One might wonder what these old texts from Marx and Engels, and extremist views of the Red Army Faction, the Workers Revolutionary Party and the Socialist Workers Party has to do with Jeremy Corbyn. The answer is that it is a similar strain of thought. And it for such reasons why Corbyn, among many other acts, attended a wreath-laying ceremony in 2014 for the members of the Black September group who had murdered the Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. [11] These were, of course, the very same murderers whose actions Ulrike Meinhoff of the Red Army Faction had praised.

_______________________________________________________________________________

References
[1] Karl Marx, "On the Jewish Question," 1844. Online athttps://www.marxists.org/arch…/…/works/1844/jewish-question/
[2] Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "The Manifesto of the Communist Party," 1848. https://www.marxists.org/…/18…/communist-manifesto/index.htm
[3]. Friedrich Engels, "Democratic Pan-Slavism," Neue Rheinische Zeitung, February 15, 1849. Online athttps://marxists.catbull.com/archi…/marx/works/1849/…/15.htm
[4] Jillian Becker, "The Red Army Faction: Another Final Battle on the Stage of History," TERRORISM: An International Journal, Vol. 5, Nos 1-2, 1981, pp.89-105. A version of this article is available free online athttp://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/cultn/cultn012.pdf
[5] "P.L.O. Petition Campaign: Miners demand recognition," The News Line, December 8, 1979, p.2. This reference was also used by Steve Cohen in his book, "That's Funny, You Don't Look Antisemitic." An online version can be seen here http://you-dont-look-anti-semitic.blogspot.com/…/zionism-an…
[6] "The Zionist Connection," The News Line, April 9, 1983, p.8. A version of this editorial is reproduced online at https://www.workersliberty.org/…/news-line-editorial-april-…
[7] An example of this argument is the thesis of John Rose's pamphlet, "Israel: The Hijack State: America's Watchdog in the Middle East," (London: Bookmarks Publishing Cooperative, 1986). A version of this pamphlet is available free online at https://www.marxists.org/…/document/mideast/hijack/index.htm
[8] Matti Bunzl, "Between anti‐Semitism and Islamophobia: Some thoughts on the new Europe," American Ethnologist
Vol. 32, No. 4 (Nov., 2005), pp. 499-508. Unfortunately, I cannot locate a freely accessible version of this article on line. (NB. I am grateful to David Hirsh for bringing this article to my attention).
[9] Judy H. Katz, "White Awareness: Handbook for Anti-racism Training," (University of Oklahoma Press, 1978), p.50. The relevant page can be seen freely online at https://books.google.co.uk/books…
[10] For examples, see Dave Sewell, "Muslims in Paris speak out—‘We are not sorry for being Muslim’" Socialist Worker, January 20, 2015 online at https://socialistworker.co.uk/…/Muslims+in+Paris+speak+out+… , "Statement of the International Socialist Tendency on the Paris shootings," Socialist Worker, January 22, 2015, online at
https://socialistworker.co.uk/…/Statement+of+the+Internatio… and Mark Brown, "Socialism, satire and Charlie Hebdo," International Socialism: A Quarterly Review of Socialist Theory, July 6, 2015. Online athttp://isj.org.uk/socialism-satire-and-charlie-hebdo/
[11] "Jeremy Corbyn 'wreath laying' attacked by Israeli PM," BBC, August 14, 2018, online at https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-45170622

Bank Holiday Extra #1 - Peter Cook & Dudley Moore

Since it's a Bank Holiday weekend I thought I would post some "extras". I've already posted a serious post (see below) so here for your entertainment is one of Peter Cook and Dudley More's classic sketches: At the Doctors.

Sectariana on a Saturday

The latest addition to the family of Trotskyist groups is Socialist View which at the moment is entirely based around Janice Godrich and her attempt (with the backing of Mark Serwotka ) to unseat the current Assistant General Secretary (see previous posts). Their Facebook page seems to have disappeared for now (I originally thought I'd been blocked) so currently there is no public face for this tiny groupscule. I did manage to save their logo though!

Anger seems to be running high amongst members of the Socialist Party over the decision of Janice Godrich to stand against Chris Baugh in 2019 but Janice has been blocking long term allies and no doubt friends from posting their their views.

Former PCS activist and Socialist Party grandee Terry Adams (now living in the south of France) writes:

This post was blocked when I tried to respond to Janice Godrich's FB post declaring her intention to stand for AGS.

I am entering the discussion on Janice Godrich decision to oppose Chris Baugh for AGS in 2019.

I am hugely disappointed with Janice's decision.

Having worked for the union for over thirty years and helped in building the left, I am well aquainted with many of the comrades who have posted on this issue. It needs to be made clear that Janice and Mark Serwotka are seeking to dump Chris Baugh as AGS - this is shameful. Chris has an incredible record in the union as a left activist and as a senior full-time officer. He has been supported on three previous occasions as the Left Unity AGS candidate. He has done nothing to warrant or justify this attack on him - leaving aside the divisive and potentially damaging effect on the pay campaign and pay ballot. In the interests of unity I hope, Janice, you will reconsider.

Retiree Dave Spagnol agrees:...

I feel the same as you, and I am really angry at being blocked by Janice, too.

Janice blocked me as soon as I went on Facebook. No love lost between us. She accused me of having a "mental illness because of my fascination with small groups".  Other left-wing PCS members highly criticised her for those remarks. There's a certain irony in her comments since she belonged to one and has now formed her own really tiny groupscule Socialist View.



Meanwhile the Independent Left (in a lengthy peice read only by true believers) had to get their pound of flesh :

When it was first announced, ahead of the union’s annual conference in May, President Janice Godrich’s decision to stand for Assistant General Secretary against incumbent Chris Baugh raised eyebrows. The Socialist Party, of which both were members but which backed Chris as AGS, was incandescent.

Others at Conference had a mildly entertaining source of gossip as the dividing lines were drawn up. Many of us wondered at the decision to put all this in the public domain right as the union was set to debate a national strike ballot over pay which would be our biggest test in recent years.

Thankfully, the spat never took off beyond a few Facebook rows and some tension at Conference. Not only would it have diverted from the pay ballot, but it would have widened the divide between the PCS leadership and members. Less than 10% vote in national elections, and there’s little reason to expect a dramatic shift from that in the AGS vote. If they don’t care who is AGS, why would the dispute over who is LU’s candidate to be AGS or the SP’s candidate to be LU’s candidate to be AGS bother them?

That's about it for now. When the election comes I'm sure more will come out!

Socialist Party Splits in PCS. Socialist View formed

The crisis inside the Socialist Party of England (formerly Militant) inside their PCS union stronghold has now gone very public. Earlier this week the Socialist Party (Scotland) a tiny group of around 50 or so people published support for the re-election Chris Baugh as Assistant General Secretary despite Janice Godrich being resident (sometimes) in the wilds of Renfrewshire.

The article used comes from the usually unreadable Socialism Today, allegedly their "theoretical journal"

Hannah Sells and Rob Williams write:

...at this year's PCS conference, Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, launched a campaign to support Janice Godrich, currently union president, for the position of assistant general secretary (AGS), in opposition to the incumbent, Socialist Party member Chris Baugh, who has held the position since 2004...

Mark Serwotka had previously approached the Socialist Party, giving us an ultimatum that, if we selected Chris Baugh as the Socialist Party's nominee for the LU candidate for AGS, he would put forward another candidate, and that his preference was Janice Godrich, a fellow Socialist Party member.

It has since become apparent that Janice had already agreed to this proposal and was determined to press ahead, regardless of the outcome of discussions in our party. As is our tradition, the Socialist Party had a comradely and democratic internal discussion, with both sides listened to and given equal time to put their views. An overwhelming majority agreed that Chris should stand. Unfortunately, a small number of Socialist Party members, including Janice, disregarded the party's decision.

Mark Serwotka initially attempted to argue that his opposition to Chris Baugh was personal. However, it is not credible to suggest that such a serious conflict could develop for purely, or even primarily, personal reasons. To date, Mark has refused to engage in a debate about his political criticisms of Chris, something he would correctly demand of any left standing against him for general secretary

Actually this would not be the first time the left in PCS has tried to remove Chris Baugh but after his "meltdown" at an LU conference he was allowed to continue. However this time the axe has fallen.

PCS has been in difficulty for some time. Their membership has dropped, in part due to job losses but a lot of members simply dropped membership and of course a whole section in the National Crime Agency walked out en-masse and formed their own union . (See Serwotka Suspends SOCA reps in PCS, Mass Resignations Of Reps In SOCA and  now have a successful union in the form of NCOA.

Nevertheless internal conflicts threaten both the unity of the Socialist Party and PCS itself long dominated by the far left:

....the duties of the elected AGS, Chris Baugh, have been repeatedly undermined or removed - in effect, handed to unelected officers. Mark Serwotka justified this in discussions with Peter Taaffe, Socialist Party general secretary, and Rob Williams, the party's national industrial organiser. He then wrote to the Socialist Party confirming his determination to stand a candidate against Chris, alleging "repeated attempts to undermine my decisions and my authority as GS".

We have refuted this accusation verbally and in writing, but the response of a general secretary to conflict with the union's only other elected official should not be to remove his duties and diminish his role. It should be to bring the issues to the elected leadership of the union, the NEC, for discussion and decision on the way forward. This has never been done.

Instead, the handing of Chris's responsibilities to unelected officials has continued, without any discussion on the NEC.

The authors continue:

We do not accept that the 'personal' behaviour of Chris Baugh is responsible for the current situation. Not one concrete allegation about his behaviour has been made within LU or on the PCS NEC.

It seems the Socialist Party is at the centre of the conflict. The SP are renowned for their bureaucratic maneuvering and the current problem is over the 2017 decision at PCS to elect all full time officers of the union.

Why has that manifested itself in opposition to one individual, Chris Baugh? Firstly, as the only other elected full-time official, it has naturally occurred that those who have come into conflict with unelected full-time officials acting in Mark Serwotka's name look to Chris for assistance. Secondly, because of his membership of the Socialist Party.

Of course, there are numerous good left activists in PCS who are not members or supporters of the Socialist Party, many of whom support Chris for AGS. And, unfortunately, Janice Godrich agreed to be Mark Serwotka's preferred candidate to replace Chris despite being a member of the Socialist Party. Nonetheless, being part of a Marxist party - with a programme for the transformation of the union movement, and of society - has aided Chris and others in standing firm under considerable pressure.

In conclusion the comrades argue:

We call upon all rank-and-file PCS members not to go down the dangerous road represented by Janice Godrich's candidature for AGS, and to support Chris Baugh and the Socialist Party's well-tested methods of building open, democratic, fighting broad lefts as a lever to transform the trade union movement.

There will be at least three candidates for the AGS post. Janice is likely to be the bookies favourite and Baugh could even face coming third if the Independent Left field a decent enough candidate.

And finally the Socialist Party has finally admitted there has been a formal split and a new group called Socialist View has been formed around Janice. The SP website announces:

Socialist View' (SV) has been launched by those in PCS who are supporting the candidature of Janice Godrich for assistant general secretary against Socialist Party member Chris Baugh who is the incumbent and has been in office since 2004. We believe that this is a further divisive step in splitting the left in PCS, following the announcement of Janice's candidature at PCS conference in May, which for many delegates overshadowed the launch of the strike ballot on pay.

More on this to come no doubt.

Interlude Over! God Gave Rock & Roll To You by Argent

Hi Folks,

I've been off-line due to technical problems as my router went. BT sorted that out and the new router arrived this morning so Howie's Corner is back!

While I catch up with everything here's some music from one of all-time favourite bands Argent, who (along with Family) were very much responsible for me getting into Prog Rock back in the seventies as a schoolboy.

This song (performed on The Old Grey Whistle Test) was a hit way back then. So even for all us atheists "God Gave Rock & Roll To Us!"

Take it away boys!

A Socialist Party "split" in the PCS

Since the rise of Jeremy Corbyn, Momentum and the capture of the Labour Party by the far-left, the two largest Trotskyist sects, the Socialist Party (Militant) and the Socialist Workers Party have found themselves somewhat out on the fringe more than usual.

The SWP is attempting to regain ground with the re-launching of the Anti-Nazi League after its rapid decline and isolation after the disgraceful "Comrade Delta" affair, whilst the Socialist Party having failed to have an "alliance" with the Labour Party and denied re-entry even into Momentum have had to console themselves with control of the largest civil service union, the PCS.

The SP are the largest single faction in the union's "Left Unity" alliance who in coalition with the so-called PCS Democrats group control the National Executive and large sections of the various different sections of the union.



The General Secretary is of course Mark Serwotka, once the left's great hope who has variously been with Galloway in Respect, sided with the SWP after the fallout and then fell into the SP backed Trade Unionist and Socialist Alliance.

Serwotka made much fuss of joining the Labour Party to help purge any MP that didn't toe the line pursued by the Corbynite left.

Meanwhile the SP comrades in PCS have had an unseemly fallout as the current Assistant General Secretary Chris Bugh faces an electoral challenge from Janice Godrich, President of the PCS. Both of theses candidates belong to the SP, though Baugh it would seem has the the official Socialist Party franchise. Janice is backed by Serwotka.

Both hope to replace the General Secretary in due course though Baugh has always made it clear he should be top honcho in PCS not Mark Serwotka. There is not much love lost between Baugh and Godrich, but Janice is without doubt much better known the useless party hack Chris Baugh.

The handful of remaining SWP members have decided to back Godrich after discussions with both candidates and the General Secretary. Socialist Worker concludes:

We believe that Janice Godrich is the candidate who is best able to work with Mark Serwotka to implement these policies. We also welcome her commitment to work to revitalise Left Unity. It is on this basis we have decided to back Janice as the Left Unity candidate for AGS.

Meanwhile the PCS Independent Left will enter the fray with a third candidate from the left. The IL are not part of PCS Left Unity and are themselves an alliance of various tiny groups such as the AWL, CPGB (Weekly Worker), Workers Power (all one of him) with a couple of Anarchists thrown in.

The IL website declares:

At its summer general meeting the Independent Left (IL) made the decision to stand a candidate for the Assistant General Secretary (AGS) election, which will take place next year.

This is to allow members a real choice between the status quo (as represented by Janice Godrich and/or Chris Baugh) or radical change in the union.

Our candidate will stand on a worker’s wage – they will not accept the £90K that is on offer.

Both Janice Godrich and Chris Baugh are content for PCS to remain a typical TUC union.

So full time officers (FTOs) are paid wages that many PCS members can only dream of, there are no elections of FTOs beyond those required by law and there is top down organisation where branches and activists have to ‘go’ to FTOs to get things.

So PCS members will have a choice of Chris Baugh (Communist), Janice Godrich (Communist) and A. N. Other (Communist).

No choice at all really. 

A bogus "peace" prize for Corbyn

IRA "Peace campaigners".

The pro Assad Friends of Syria  published the story of award of an "International Peace Prize" to one Jeremy Corbyn. In their report these Friends of Assad complain that the mainstream British Media have ignored the award. Hardly surprising when you realise it's from the almost totally unknown left-wing body the "International Peace Bureau".

Actually if the press do pick up on this story it will only confirm what they say about one of Lenin's useful fools". Corbyn was awarded the Sean Macbride Peace Prize 2017. And who is Sean Macbride you may well ask?

Macbride was a former Chief of Staff of the IRA (in 1936), who died back in 1988. Just the sort of comrade that Corbyn admires. I'm sure his mate Gerry Adams was very proud.

What next? The Hamas award for Peace in the Middle East?

Press release: Séan MacBride Peace Prize 2017*

The International Peace Bureau awards the Séan MacBride Peace Prize every year to a person, or organisation, or movement in recognition of its outstanding work for peace, disarmament, human rights.

This year the IPB Board has chosen the following three winners of the prize:

All Okinawa Council Against Henoko New Base

Noam Chomsky

Jeremy Corbyn

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*The "prize" was awarded in Barcelona in November last year. It is not known whether Corbyn remembers getting the award or not and may have been elsewhere at the time, possibly on his allotment....😈

Band Maid in the UK!

Band Maid are one of my favourite Japanese metal/rock bands. This particular video is from one of their concerts and features Kanami (lead guitar) and Misa (bass) showing off their excellent musical skills.

Band Maid are coming to the UK at the Dome on Nov 17th!




Go to: https://bandmaid.tokyo/

A new "Anti Nazi League" will have to picket itself!

Photo: By Source, Fair use,

Back in the seventies political extremism was on the march. Literally. The rise of the National Front coincided with the transformation of the International Socialists into the Socialist Workers Party. The left tried to emulate Cable Street with running battles against the fascists in Lewisham and elsewhere.

The SWP then the largest "socialist" organisation succeed in getting backing from mainstream political figures like former Young Liberal and anti-apartheid campaigner Peter Hain on board. Signing up trade unions and left leaning (and some not so left) MPs they founded the Anti-Nazi League.


Photo: By Source Fair use

The ANL was a major success spawning Rock Against Racism (RAR) utlising the services of radical and not so radical bands and budding stars who needed the publicity. Lots of people attended RAR's events but large numbers only ever went for the music. Fortunately the ANL marches were large enough to justify the groups on-going existence.

The ANL was still going in 1990 when I attended it's AGM as a trade union delegate and money was still being paid into ANL funds by at least one major union (the PCS) until only a few years ago when the question was asked about where this money (£500) was actually going.

Recently John McDonnell was contemplating whether:

.... it’s time for an Anti-Nazi League-type cultural and political campaign to resist” because “we can no longer ignore the rise of far-right politics in our society” at a time when his party is embroiled in an anti-Semitism role. (Guardian 7/8/18)

One of the issues cited was the "attack" on Bookmarks (the SWP bookshop, see here) which whilst unpleasant for the staff was somewhat exaggerated by the Socialist Workers Party in order to solicit support in a milieu that has left them isolated because of the "Delta" scandal.



The SWP is now grasping the opportunity to re-enter centre stage. It's current campaign "Stand up to Racism" has floundered because it is and is seen as just an SWP front organisation. The ANL is a brand they could use for their own benefit and get the "useful fools" that Lenin spoke of to give them undeserved credibility.

The Guardian published a letter which spoke of:

"As founder members over 40 years ago of the original Anti-Nazi League (ANL) and its sister organisation Rock Against Racism, we think that Stand up to Racism, Love Music Hate Racism and Unite Against Fascism have been established firmly within this tradition, and indeed these organisations have already provided essential and much-needed rallying points of opposition to the rising far right.

This is a process that, as John argues, now urgently needs to be deepened and extended, uniting all people and organisations of goodwill against the huge challenges we face over the next few years from the far right and fascists.

This will involve applying the ANL's tactics of mass propaganda, unrelenting opposition...."

Their intended target seems to be the self publicising Tommy Robinson and his band of supporters whose profile is kept alive by precisely the tactics currently deployed by the far-left. Denied the oxygen of publicity the former EDL leader would remain very much on the fringes

There is no far-right party riding high in the polls like the National Front was in the seventies where in London alone the fascists polled 100,000 votes. Even the BNP has disappeared. For all it's faults UKIP cannot be considered a "fascist" organisation. 

Then there is the new threat of racism emanating from the left itself.  The Labour Party has a problem with anti-Semitism. To a large  extent the SWP & Stop the War have contributed to this atmosphere with their rather extreme anti-Zionism which has in so many cases morphed into anti Semitism and attracted anti-Semites.

How would the ANL deal with widespread anti-Semitism in sections of the Muslim community. It does exist and also originates (in part) from anti-Zionism, however sections of the Koran are often quoted to justify such notions. The left tries (very hard) to ignore this preferring to ally with "Islam" against the West. 

Jeremy Corbyn is part of the problem. He's never been a "man of peace" as his supporters claim in a Goebel-like fashion. He takes sides with whoever issues a T-Shirt denouncing "imperialism whether it be Hamas, Hezbollah or the IRA.

There is no need for an organisation like the ANL. Hope Not Hate and Searchlight keep an organising eye on the "far-right", but the alt-right is a different beast that will require less belligerent and more considered forms of opposition.

The ANL would be part of the problem as it would biasedly pick it's targets. As with much of the rest of the so-called left, the "Jewish Problem" would be ignored at best an inconvenience or at worst in the service of a foreign government.....

Never Again! Means what it says comrades. We Jews have rights that you ignore at our peril.

Go To: https://antisemitism.uk/

Catch Up Post: Censorship and Zulu

Zulu is one of the most spectacular movies of all time. A cinematic masterpiece set in the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879. The film portrays the heroic stand of around 150 British soldiers defending an outpost at Rorkes Drift in the wake after a military disaster at Isandlandwa.

Whilst not entirely historically accurate (due to artistic licence) it does portray the bravery of the small British garrison in their stand against an overwhelming Zulu force of some 4,000 warriors. At the time it was used as a propaganda tool to overshadow the defeat of a modern equipped western army by a native force.

Nevertheless this battle lead to some exceptional bravery from members of the besieged British. More Victoria Crosses were awarded at Rorke's Drift than any other battle in British military history.

I first saw this when it was shown at the pictures and has remained my favourite film of all time to this day.

The film is broadcast on one channel or another at least once a year for as long as I can remember.

Fast forward to earlier this year when the Silver Screen cinema in Folkestone decided on a special showing of Zulu to raise money for an armed forces charity. Personally I would have rushed out and purchased a ticket for the opportunity to see this movie on the big screen it was designed for. As would many others did in the locality.

Now of course given the year in which it was made and the era in which Zulu was set does mean there are some none-PC moments. That's only to be expected. However the Zulus are not portrayed as mindless savages but as brave and organised warriors that demand nothing but respect.

Enter the  censerous left who wrote to the local council calling for the film to be banned. Kent on Line reported their letter which stated:

"..we believe that the choice of the film Zulu, with its inaccurate portrayal of historical events and its distortions and racist overtones, could have a negative effect on relationships within the changing and richly diverse communities here in Folkestone.”

The letter was signed by a grand total of just 28 people. Folkestone has a population of around 50,000.  Of course numbers alone don't necessarily make something right but in this case when the Kent-on-Line website ran a consultation 93% of respondents though the showing of the film should go ahead.

This idiotic campaign is part of the growing attempt to re-write history, remove historical monuments and ban the teachings of white writers & scientists in the university sector. History is what it is and cannot be whitewashed. Certainly the banning of films like Zulu leads to the frightening aspects of book burning.

Fascism isn't just the preserve of right-wing white men these days. Take note "comrades".

A large portion of the left has lost its way in the development of identity politics and has a censorious outlook on everything. Trying to ban Zulu was foolish beyond all reason. These individuals need to re-learn the concepts of freedom of speech and expression.

Or one day their campaigns will come back to bite them hard.........



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Catch Up Posts: are an occasional series of posts to catch up with items of interest that I was unable to blog about whilst in hospital.

Musical Interlude - Jellybean - Jingo

I'd almost forgotten about this record released in 1987 from Jellybean, aka John Benitz who had two hits in the UK (the other being Sidewalk Talk). He worked as a producer for many better known artistes such as Madonna & Huey Lewis & the News and even Donna amongst others. He still deejays to this day.

Catch Up Post: Drag Queens vs Faux Queens?

Panti Bliss - By ConorRonoc

There is a long tradition of men dressing up as women stretching back at least to Ancient Greek times as women were not allowed on stage, something that was perpetuated across the centuries to various degrees until gradually going out of fashion so to speak.

In modern times we still see men dressed as women in Pantomime and various stars such as Paul O'Grady as Lily savage. Plus of course the wonderful Alistair Sims as the headmistress in the original and nequealed St Trinians films from the fifties and sixties.



However I was not aware of the existence of Drag Queens (Faux Queens, Diva Queens) played by women until a report appeared in The Daily Telegraph (Saturday 31st March 2018):

As drag queens go, Lacey Lou and Georgie Bee love nothing more than dressing up in garish women’s clothes, slapping on layers of make-up and showing off to their adoring fans. But, they are among a growing number of performers in Britain who are very different to the traditional crossing dressing acts.

Unlike men who work as over the top female impersonators, Lacey Lou and Georgie Bee are actually women camping it up as women.

And resistance to this new breed of live performers is coming from unlikely adversaries - male drag queens who fear their female colleagues have a very unfair advantage. Worse still, it is even being seen as an example of cultural appropriation, the adoption or use of elements of one culture by another.

Photo: By HolyMcGrail

Apparently Drag Queen Supremo,RuPaul has a show on US TV which he says is for men only:

...he declared that drag is a male only sport and women would most likely be barred from competing on his show, which is also broadcast in the UK.

He has claimed that women drag artists lack “danger and irony”, in part because when men - invariably gay men - dress outrageously in women’s clothes they are openly rejecting masculinity.

According to Lacey Lou there's a lot of misogyny in the gay community and she rejects the idea that not only can't she play a Drag Queen but rejects the notion this is a "men only" zone. 

“A person’s biological sex or gender identity should not prohibit or inhibit their participation in an art form that mocks gender.”

Perhaps the men think a real woman would be unfair competition?  Good luck to the girls I say. Perhaps some men should try out for Drag Kings, I see no reason why.

Photo: By David Shankbone

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Catch up Posts are an occasional series of posts designed to catch up on items of interest whilst I was in hospital and unable to blog.

Celebrating with Madonna

Madonna is the worlds biggest selling ever female artist and she's been around since the eighties with almost non-stop hits. Like many I was a big fan, especially in the early years and can remember "dancing" to these songs in my younger years....

Mags is 60 today, the same age as me, but looks a whole lot better than I do!

I can't really add to the hype elsewhere in the media but here's a couple of tracks I like that hope you like or remember.

I wonder if fellow blogger Phil BC at All that Is Solid will be joining in the celebrations? (His music taste is slightly better than his politics...but always worth a read to keep me on my toes)!

When Corbyn wanted to expel the Jewish organisation from the Labour Party

Whilst being interviewed on television about his views of the Israel/Palestine conflict he claimed that he wanted people to "talk" so there could be peace. That was why he attended the Palestinian Conference that's got him into hot water over the weekend.

Corbyn claimed he had " devoted his whole life to" peace between the Palestinians and Israel.

However evidence shows quite the opposite. He backed a motion in 1984 that wanted to kick Poale Zion (now the Jewish Labour Movement) out of the Labour Party. Further he wanted the TUC to break it's links with Histadrut, the Israeli Trade Union Organisation.



How is he to talk for "peace" when he excommunicates one side of the conflict from the equation. His whole life has been to support organisations and movements that want to wipe Israel off the map and shows no regards for the self-determination of the Jewish people.

In those days the left supported every, well almost every so-called" Liberation" organisation going. The exceptions being Israel and Tibet.

Fast forward to today and although he maintains relationships with his friends in Hamas and Hezbollah, both of whom have genocidal outlooks on the Jewish state (the latter backed by Iran who want to "wipe Israel off the map".

Of course Corbyn didn't mind working for and appearing on Press TV, the propaganda channel for the Iranian Clerics.

Simply put Corbyn has NEVER worked for peace. He turned down an invitation to go to visit the Holocaust museum in Israel yet has regularly shared platforms with Holocaust deniers.

Corbyn simply cannot be trusted. Full stop!

Morning Star report shows Corbyn is lying.

This article from the Morning Star by Jeremy Corbyn shows he himself talked about "laying wreaths" on the graves of those killed by Mossad in 1991.

Erm.... Terrorists. Corbyn is Lying.

Sectariana on a Sunday

The tiny Communist Party of Great Britain is well known for it's weekly rag the Weekly Worker. Despite their protestations most readers just dip in for the sectarian information for which the "paper" is infamous. However of late they have become rather less interesting and to be honest more than boring.

Their "entry" into "Left Unity" (anybody remember them?) Only really famous for the singing contribution of one of their more deranged and self centred comrades! Pages devoted to that bored the pants off even the most intrepid "Trot Spotters". (yeah I know they're not trots but it'll do as a description for now so no OTT comments pointing this out....).

However with the rise of Corbynism the little Communist Scout Troop has half entered the Labour Party and set up its own jolly front organisation the Labour Party Marxists. Bless. One of their apparent entrants is Lee Rock who was (not sure if he still is) an "activist"  in the PCS union.

Lee, a well known member of the CPGB, has been suspended from the Labour Party for vociferously arguing for (wait for it), the right to masturbate at work. Let that sink in a minute. Then let the shock turn into laughter and then disbelief.

Priorities skewered and somewhat ridiculous.

Here's the suspension letter:

 

Musical Interlude - Cry On My Guitar by Miles Kane

It's been a few days since I last blogged so here is a piece of music that I have heard for the very first time today on Radio 2 in Zoe Ball's show. Not only is it a good song (although the video is a bit distracting) I found it reminded me of Marc Bolan/T-Rex. I'd be interested in your opinion.

This single is taken off his latest album, Coup de Grace, which was only released yesterday I have discovered. So time to go out and get a copy might try for a 45 rpm vinyl single or even the album once I've explored more of Miles material on You Tube.




Miles Kane Official Website: www.mileskane.com

There's some in every community....

In every community there are minorites, tiny groupsules of those that choose a path that is both unrepresentative and potentially dangerous to the community itself.

In the Jewish community there are those on the far-left like the self serving and rather rumbustious fools like Tony Greenstein, the politically illiterate like Jackie Walker and the tiny pro-Corbyn group of communist types and their allies in Jewish Voice for Labour.

The JVL is so small (barely 60 members) it' founders had to send emails to beg people to take up positions in the group. There are a number of other similar organisations which are essentially run by the same 6 people (probably working in the same back room).

Here's a little chart to show how this works out:

It shows how the so called anti-Semites Zionists get cover from a few of what Lenin would have described as "useful fools".

Video of SWP Bookshop invaded by "alt right"

This morning it was reported that fascists had attacked  The SWP bookshop Bookmarks and intimidated staff. It wasn't clear until now what actually happened.

The SWP Press release read:

Bookmarks in central London, a socialist bookshop and also the TUC’s official bookseller, was attacked on Saturday (4 August) by around a dozen far right supporters.

Some carried placards reading “British Bolshevik Cult” and one of them wore a Trump Mask. Books and magazines were ripped and torn, with displays wrecked.

A Bookmarks staff member said,

"Books on Islamophobia were ridiculed and thrown around. They chanted about Muslims and paedophilia, and called us traitors. While not mentioning Tommy Robinson the links are there to see.”

The far right activists also shouted about Corbyn and anti-semitism and then took Abram Leon’s “The Jewish Question” off the shelf holding it aloft as proof of the anti-semitism of the left.

The attackers also make threats to return and “show what they can do”.

Michael Bradley from Stand up to Racism said:

“Luckily no one was hurt this time, but this is a sinister development that indicates the growing confidence of the far right who feel they can attack a bookshop in central London in broad daylight. Attacking a bookshop also exposes their claims to be defenders of free speech as hollow.”

For those who do not know Bookmarks in Bloomsbury Street is just around the corner from the TUC (Great Russell St).

For information "Stand up to Racism" is an SWP front organisation.

The perpetrators, Make Britain Great Again,  uploaded a video of the event which as soon as I had watched and posted to this blog had been taken off-line. I would imagine for legal reasons..

These people are not "fascists", but supporters of the Alt Right that has grown over the last few years.

However Red London has posted a copy which is shown below.