Group disciplined for racism gives anti-Semitism training to Labour

Revealed: Group whose leaders have been disciplined for racism and don’t agree with the international definition of anti-Semitism gives anti-Semitism training to the Labour party

  • Jewish Voice for Labour, whose leaders have been disciplined for anti-Semitism is providing ‘anti-Semitism training’ to the Labour party
  • JVL is giving seminars despite not signing up to the internationally-recognised definition of anti-Semitism
  • Group is promoting its own definition that says it is not anti-Semitic to compare Israel to Nazi Germany 
  • JVL co-chair Jenny Manson, given a warning from Labour for anti-Semitic comments, said she was asked by Jeremy Corbyn’s office for training ideas
  • A Labour spokesman denied that Mr Corbyn’s office had solicited ideas from the group, which is running workshops on a grassroots level

A group whose leaders have been disciplined for anti-Semitism is providing ‘anti-Semitism training’ to the Labour party, MailOnline can reveal. 

Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL), which doesn’t sign up to the internationally-recognised definition of anti-Semitism, has trained up to three constituencies so far, with plans for 70 more. 

JVL is promoting its own definition that says it is not anti-Semitic to compare Israel to Nazi Germany. 

At a meeting with 50 Labour officials and trade union leaders last month, JVL co-chairwoman Jenny Manson said that her group is running workshops for ‘political gain’.

Ms Manson, who has received a warning from Labour for anti-Semitic comments, added: ‘We were asked by Corbyn’s office whether we have any ideas for a training course ourselves,’ she said. 

Jewish Voice for Labour co-chairwoman Jenny Manson (pictured) said that her group is running workshops for the Labour party

Ms Manson (pictured with Labour Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell) has received a warning from Labour for anti-Semitic comments

‘I don’t think there is a real problem with anti-Semitism in the Labour Party… but [Mr Corbyn’s office] asked us if we could provide training. 

‘This is quite a political point. We don’t want to say, ‘no, we don’t think any training is needed’… It is a political gain for us.’ 

A Labour spokesman denied that Mr Corbyn’s office had solicited ideas from the group, which is running workshops on a grassroots level. 

A spokesman for Jewish Human Rights Watch said: ‘JVL is acting as a Trojan Horse to legitimise racial hatred towards Jews. It’s like foxes setting up a welfare group for chickens.’ 

In August, the respected Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) withdrew its anti-Semitism workshops after the party leadership tried to censor them. 

Mr Corbyn’s office has been looking for another group that can provide the courses, with several Jewish organisations refusing to do so.

The JVL’s workshops are arranged through a training committee led by Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, who sparked fury by holding a yellow star while opposing a rally against anti-Semitism

JVL of which Ms Wimborne is a member is promoting its own definition that says it is not anti-Semitic to compare Israel to Nazi Germany

Ms Manson told MailOnline: ‘The door is finally open to the kind of training that we would really love to see in the Labour Party.’ 

At the meeting, mainstream Jewish groups were repeatedly attacked, with one JVL member remarking that Jewish leaders had ‘vested class interest against our movement.’ 

Professor Jonathan Rosenhead – who has blamed Israeli ‘false flag’ operations for Labour’s anti-Semitism row – said: ‘We have been doing training. We have done training in two or three Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs), and are developing our methodology, and we are in business. 

‘If anybody thinks they would like to have a training session, we would get a team of two or three people to come down and deliver it.’ 

He added: ‘We put a call out for people who might be interested, who are members, and we got 70 responses… We’ve got to grow and expand and evolve in visibility and expertise and so on.’ 

The JVL’s workshops are arranged through a training committee led by Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, who sparked fury by displaying a yellow star while opposing a rally against anti-Semitism. 

The JVL’s secretary, Glyn Secker, who was suspended from Labour for several weeks for joining an anti-Semitic Facebook group, said: ‘We are focused very much on opposing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition.’

The mainstream IHRA definition was finally adopted by Labour with caveats in September, after a protracted row that almost split the party. 

Professor Rosenhead, who in the past has blamed ‘Zionists’ for deaths of Jews in the Holocaust, unveiled the JVL’s definition of anti-Semitism at the meeting. 

He said: ‘JVL, with its sister organisation, Free Speech on Israel, has been thinking about another definition on anti-Semitism than this awful one that we have.

Professor Jonathan Rosenhead – who has blamed Israeli ‘false flag’ operations for Labour’s anti-Semitism row the JVL had done training in Constituency Labour Parties

‘We’ve got something quite good on the stocks. But we think now is not the time to start a new argument about another definition of anti-Semitism. We don’t think it would get a very good hearing.

‘At our meeting tomorrow, we’re going to introduce something which is not a definition of anti-Semitism, but is a document which calls it ‘anti-Semitic misconduct’.’ 

The document is a de facto definition of anti-Semitism, described by Jewish groups as ‘disgusting’.  

It is permissible to hold attitudes that ‘will make some Jews uncomfortable’, the leaflet says. 

A Labour spokesman said: ‘JVL offered for one of its members to help design a training programme. The offer was declined and they were not asked for contributions. 

‘CLPs often invite different organisations to give talks. That has nothing to do with training programmes provided by the national party.’ 

Gideon Falter, chairman of the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, said: ‘JVL is mobilising openly and brazenly to undermine the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism with its own twisted spin. 

‘Senior Labour figures, including Jeremy Corbyn, continue to embrace and support fringe activists in JVL. 

JVL, which doesn’t sign up to the internationally-recognised definition of anti-Semitism, has trained up to three constituencies so far, with plans for 70 more

‘This is one more step in the rejection of mainstream Jewry and institutionalisation of anti-Semitism the Labour party.’ 

Ms Manson, who is campaigning to become an MP with the support of the shadow chancellor John McDonnell, is a particularly controversial figure for the Jewish community. 

Earlier this month, footage emerged in which she said she ‘began to identify as a Jew in order to argue against the state of Israel’. 

Labour gave Ms Manson a written warning after she compared the IHRA definition to controversial 1980s legislation that banned the promotion of homosexuality in schools. 

Last week, she staged a meeting with Mr McDonnell at which Jewish anti-racism activists and bloggers were banned. 

Jewish journalists were also initially barred entry, but some were later admitted. Scuffles took place outside. 

A spokesman for JVL said: ‘JVL is pleased that the party is engaging in a process to set up robust education about all forms of prejudice, including anti-Semitism.

‘We are especially pleased that this is being done in a manner recommended by the Chakrabati report, which all sections of the party are eager to see implemented. 

‘Official party training should not be administered by sectional groups but by tried and tested methods such as are widely used in the Labour movement.’ 

Euan Philipps, spokesman for Labour Against Anti-Semitism, said: ‘The notion of JVL leading Labour anti-Semitism training is frightening. 

‘They appear to be a dangerous mix of hard Left agitators, rabid anti-semites and crank conspiracists, who should be kept well away from the political mainstream.’

 

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