Steve Cooke Profile picture
Feb 2, 2019 19 tweets 11 min read Read on X
Labour Against the Witchhunt wouldn't even report a Nazi.

LAW have welcomed former MP Jim Sheridan's reinstatement by the party. He was suspended last summer over an #antisemitic statement he posted on Facebook. But LAW don't accept he did anything wrong in the first place. /1
When Labour members err, there ought to be opportunity for them to learn from the experience and make amends. But comrade Sheridan's statement after his suspension was lifted suggested his only regret was getting caught and he appeared to blame those who complained about him. /2
Let's recall what got him into trouble: Sheridan declared he had lost respect and empathy for an entire ethnic group - "the Jewish community" - due to events in @UKLabour. The #Holocaust, pogroms and persecution no longer moved him because of "their Blairite plotters". /3
As I commented at the time, #JimSheridan could hardly blame political inexperience for his actions. I didn't claim that anti-Jewish prejudice was central to his outlook (I don't know the guy) or that he should never be forgiven, but his post had definitely been antisemitic. /4
That post of mine provoked a strong reaction from key members of Labour Against the Witchhunt. LAW chair Jackie Walker felt there was a double standard whereby the "the media refer to the Jewish community all the time" but Labour members got branded as racists for doing it. /5
LAW vice-chair Tony Greenstein said that "Sheridan's comments were completely understandable" and "nothing whatsoever to do with #antisemitism". He was a "working class MP" who'd seen "the Jewish community attacking #Corbyn" and "most Jews conniving in what their leaders say". /6
Things got heated when we discussed the ethics of making formal complaints to the #LabourParty over alleged antisemitism. LAW membership secretary Tina Werkmann favoured "open debate and freedom of speech" but said socialists shouldn't "act as snitches" for "witch-hunters". /7
There was agreement that one-off incidents of clumsy language should be challenged rather than reported. But Werkmann/Greenstein could conceive of no circumstances where a formal complaint was justifiable as reporting #antisemitism just "emboldened and strengthened the right". /8
Another Labour comrade recalled how his CLP had to deal with a Holocaust denier who joined. A neo-Nazi who claimed #Auschwitz was a "holiday camp". But still, insisted Werkmann, "it is not the job of socialists to go running to the fucking thought police of the Labour Party". /9
It didn't matter whether it involved "Holocaust deniers, trolls or simply morons", reporting members to the Labour Party compliance unit or even CLP secretaries was "participating in the witch-hunt against Corbyn", claimed Werkmann. /10
I made the mistake of joining Labour Against the Witchhunt when it launched late 2017. I was concerned about unjust suspensions/exclusions and the lack of due process in @UKLabour's disciplinary system but found myself shocked at the antisemitism of many if not all members. /11
People often joined LAW's Facebook group after being suspended by Labour and expected to receive solidarity whatever they had done. For the most part, that's exactly what they did receive. Only a few of us tried to challenge the antisemitic conspiracism often expressed there. /12
The group had 'unofficial' added to its name after I complained about the damage such people were doing. I naively imagined that people with ostensibly leftwing instincts who'd expressed antisemitic views or shared dodgy material on social media could be reasoned with. /13
That's the approach I tried for a while. But trying to explain to suspended Labour members that they had indeed posted antisemitic material that other people were right to be offended about often led to accusations of being a Mossad agent, a paid troll and suchlike. /14
All of these screenshots are from exchanges in the public domain after I quit LAW. I may have fallen out with them but, contrary to the hysterical claims of some involved, wouldn't leak comments from closed groups. Well, not unless there was a genuine risk of criminality. /15
@threadreaderapp unroll @Steve_Cooke's "Labour Against the Witchhunt wouldn't even report a Nazi" thread.
I may write more about my experiences in LAW in another thread. For the moment, though, I'll say it was distressing to see comrades I'd been close to for many years treating the Jewish community as, at best, mere collateral damage in the struggle for control of @UKLabour. /16
Erratum: Please note that tweet #11 in this thread should have said I "found myself shocked at the antisemitism of many ALBEIT not all [LAW] members" rather than "many if not all". That is the meaning I intended. I have amended the related Medium blog article to make this clear.
Erratum: Please note that tweet #11 in this thread should have said I "found myself shocked at the antisemitism of many ALBEIT not all [LAW] members" rather than "many if not all". That is the meaning I intended. I have amended the related Medium blog article to make this clear.

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More from @Steve_Cooke

Jun 17
George Galloway has threatened to sue @HopeNotHate over a flyer distributed in #Rochdale. Leaving aside the claim about supporting dictators, is it true that “His Workers Party is full of antisemites, racists and conspiracy theorists”? Let’s look at its election candidates. 1/20Image
WPB's #Chesterfield candidate Julie Lowe claims Jews engage in child sacrifice & plot with Freemasons, Satanists & paedophiles to take power & establish a New World Order. She disputes that 6m Jews were murdered in the Holocaust & reckons the Rothschilds bombed the Titanic. 2/20Image
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Contesting #DundeeCentral, in Galloway's home city, for the Workers Party is Raymond Mennie. His career as a Labour councillor ended when he was jailed for corruption in public office. Now he's a 9/11 Truther who promotes almost every antisemitic conspiracy theory going. 3/20Image
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Read 20 tweets
Jun 4
THREAD: George Galloway really has excelled himself this time. His @WorkersPartyGB have selected a Nazi-grade antisemite to fight #GE2024 in #PoplarAndLimehouse. Introducing Kamran Khan ... 1/6Workers Party post promoting Kamran Khan's election campaign
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Kamran Khan's X account was created only a year ago, since when his timeline has been a torrent of hate, promoting explicit Jew-hatred and Holocaust minimisation, amplifying neo-Nazi influencers and mocking victims of the October 7 attacks. 2/6


Kamran shares a post with a Google logo modified to say "Jewgle" and the comment "I'll saw [sic] the quiet part out loud".
Kamran Khan shares a meme captioned "Can you make it illegal for jews to suck baby penis? Best I can do is make it a felony for you to tell people".
Kamran Khan shares a meme depicting a caricatured Jewish man (with the Star of David his head to make sure we know he's a Jew) saying to a Christian: "I hate you with every fiber of my being". The Christian replies: "I know, I read the Talmud."
Kamran Khan shares a meme that depicts a man saying "Aww, those poor Jews were so persecuted" and then, five hours later, having researched the topic on the internet, the same man is shown wearing a Nazi uniform, implying that what he learned about Jewish people has convinced him of the National Socialists' ideology.
If you don't recognise the antisemitism in the posts below - shared by Kamran Khan and portraying Jews as responsible for "debt slavery", privileged and powerful, a danger to children and to blame for their own persecution - then you never will. 3/6


Montage of three posts by neo-Nazi Jory Micah shared by Kamran Khan
Kamran Khan shares post by neo-Nazi Jory Micah agreeing with the claim that the United States is "controlled by a Jewish mafia".
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Read 6 tweets
Jun 1
THREAD: Let no one accuse George Galloway’s @WorkersPartyGB of #antisemitism. No siree. Akil Kata, prospective parliamentary candidate for #CardiffWest, says he is a brother to Jewish people - but only the “real Jews”, “true Jews” who denounce “so-called” Israel and Zionism. /1

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He’s not so keen on Jews who feel an affinity with Israel. Zionists, as “Zoinests” as he calls them, are apparently worse than Nazis, have “funded every side of every war since the American Civil War”, control our education and own the media, banks and pharmaceutical industry. /2

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Akil Kata believes that these incredibly powerful Zionists - or is it “the Jewish lobby”? - control American and British governments and politicians as “puppets”, and that both the Conservative and Labour parties are “slaves” of Israel. /3

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Read 5 tweets
May 19, 2022
Thread: A few days ago, I highlighted the #antisemitism and Holocaust denial of Phil Oakland of Ilkeston. His posts suggested he might be a member of the Communist Party of Britain so I contacted them via Twitter. Soon after they DM’ed me promising to investigate urgently. 1/4
I received a statement from CPB general secretary Rob Griffiths confirming that Oakland had been a member until 2021, when his subs lapsed: “Had he still been a member when his social media posts came to [our] notice, he would have been suspended pending an investigation … 2/4 ImageImage
“… and expelled, for advocating positions fundamentally opposed to the CP’s Marxist-Leninist outlook and policy and for serious misconduct that brought the Party in disrepute.” 3/4 Image
Read 5 tweets
May 15, 2022
Phil Oakland's Facebook timeline is so full of vile #antisemitism and Holocaust denial dressed up as support for Palestinians that public exposure really isn't enough. I've reported him to @DerbysPolice for incitement to racial hatred and breaching the Communications Act 2003. ImageImageImageImage
Of course, a racist like Phil Oakland was bound to be an admirer of David Icke and Gilad Atzmon, wasn’t he? He also appears to be a member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and a supporter of the Communist Party of Britain. Not that either organisation would endorse his views. ImageImageImageImage
I decided to give Phil Oakland some constructive feedback on his antisemitic social media posts. #antisemitism ImageImage
Read 4 tweets
Jan 28, 2022
Jews can't even be murdered in their millions without the disgusting racists who joined the Labour Party in recent years suggesting they are somehow being afforded special privilege because of it or using it to gain advantage. #HolocaustMemorialDay #HMD2022
See, for example, the many antisemitic comments about Margaret Hodge's @LabourList article on #HolocaustMemorialDay. It seems that Nick West here, just one of many such commenters, is a full-time communications officer for my union, @unitetheunion.
facebook.com/LabourList/pos… ImageImageImageImage
Nick West's posts are vile. This cannot be allowed to go on. How can a Unite full-timer get away with this? He said these things publicly so can't complain about being called out for them. I hope that @UniteEqualities will follow up this matter. @UniteSharon @SteveT_Unite
Read 4 tweets

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