Before becoming a Labour MP, Ruth Smeeth was Director of Public Affairs and Campaigns for Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM), a pro-Israel lobby group established by Poju Zabludowicz, the billionaire son of an Israeli arms dealer. Not a big Corbyn fan. 1/8
After becoming a Labour MP, Ruth Smeeth received a £5,000 donation from Tamares Real Estate, a company owned by her former boss at BICOM, Poju Zabludowicz. This was just a few months before Palestinian rights advocate Jeremy Corbyn was unexpectedly elected Labour Leader. 2/8
A year later, at the launch of Shami Charkrabarti's report into antisemitism in the Labour Party, Ruth Smeeth stormed out of the room, accusing black anti-racism campaigner Marc Wadsworth of insulting her using an antisemitic trope. Wadsworth didn't even know she was Jewish. 3/8
Marc Wadsworth was subsequently expelled from the Labour Party, although there was no mention of antisemitism in the reasons for his expulsion. During his decades as an anti-racism campaigner, Wadsworth met Nelson Mandela and campaigned with the parents of Stephen Lawrence. 4/8
On the day Marc Wadsworth was expelled, Ruth Smeeth and a posse of Labour Friends of Israel MPs, including Jess Phillips and Margaret Hodge, marched to his disciplinary hearing in full view of the cameras. It reminded me of the lynch mob scene in To Kill A Mockingbird. 5/8
Last night on #c4news, Ruth Smeeth blamed Jeremy Corbyn for turning the Labour Party into a cesspit of antisemitism. She claimed it was alright before he took over. Even though Jewish actress Maureen Lipman quit the party during Ed Miliband's leadership, citing antisemitism. 6/8
As for the implication that Jeremy Corbyn himself is an antisemite, let's look at his record. He campaigned to save a Jewish cemetery from the bulldozers. He campaigned to stop the BBC axing a Jewish community radio show. He campaigned to resettle persecuted Yemeni Jews. 7/8
Now, I'm not saying for one minute that former pro-Israel lobbyist Ruth Smeeth is cynically using antisemitism as a weapon to stop Palestinian rights advocate Jeremy Corbyn becoming PM and recognising the state of Palestine. God, no. I'm just saying it smells a bit fishy. 8/8
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Chuka Umunna's Flip Flops
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!