Thread by @OzKaterji

Yesterday Owen Jones wrote a thread detailing every article he has ever published condemning antisemitism. In reality, there was no need, because every word he has ever written on the subject has served only one purpose: to defend and protect the reputation of the Labour Party.

It is somewhat understandable, because defending the Labour Party is what Owen Jones is paid to do, but defending and protecting British Jews was never the purpose of his public interventions.

They all follow the same structure:
1 - antisemitism is bad
2 - antisemitism exists in society as a whole (but only as a minority on the left)
3 - Labour/Corbyn are innocent, only a small “fringe” is to blame
4 - the media is ignoring Tory racism.

For Jones that counts as solidarity. The problem that he misses is that calling out racism in the abstract is easy, most people do that for free. Calling out racism among your allies, where it will cost you to speak out, is hard. Jones has failed nearly every test in that regard.

The real tests Owen Jones faced on this issue were as follows:
1 - When antisemitic remarks made by Jackie Walker were first made public, Owen Jones urged his followers to write to the Labour Party in her defence, denying she could ever possibly be an antisemite.

2 - When photographs proved Corbyn laid a wreath for the founders of Black September, Owen responded by calling the totally true allegations “smears” and stating “no one was killed by a wreath”

3 - Waiting until Chris Williamson was suspended from the party before denouncing him, more than 6 months after the JLM first called for his expulsion. Owen “all out war” Jones had not criticised him once publicly before February 2019.

4 - When the details of the Labour leadership’s direct interference with antisemitism disciplinary cases was made public by Panorama, Owen Jones attacked the BBC for producing a “botched hatchet job” and dismissed the damning evidence presented.

Ultimately, 87% of British Jews believe Jeremy Corbyn is an antisemite. They believe this because of Corbyn’s history of comments and behaviour over the course of many years. Jones’ solidarity towards Jews ends where defending the Corbyn project begins.

Sure, he has criticised the party’s slow response and processes, but never the direct responsibility of those in charge. Every single word he has published on the subject has been an exercise in public relations for Labour.

I abhor the treatment Owen is subjected to by homophobes and the far right, and let’s be fair none of it is connected to any of these issues, he would be attacked by those same people regardless. But Owen’s record here IS worthy of criticism, and he is oblivious to that fact.

Jones wouldn’t tolerate a Tory pundit saying: “here are all the times I’ve condemned Islamophobia, but it’s a ‘smear’ to say the party leadership has a problem”, yet he can’t even fathom how he comes across as he contorts his own moral principles to defend the leader’s office.

The same leader who defended the mural. Who laid the wreath. Who stood in solidarity with blood libellers. Who saw the “hand of Israel” behind Islamist terrorism in the Sinai... not a single word of condemnation.

If Owen can’t understand the depth of anger in the Jewish community about these incidents he should do everyone a favour and stop writing about the subject. And no Mea Culpa after an EHRC ruling will ever make up for his role in Labour’s attempted cover up.

I’m blocked so I can’t have a conversation with @OwenJones84 despite him tagging me, but let me be very clear here to you directly.

Owen, you’re a liar. I detailed specific examples of you abandoning solidarity to defend Corbyn. Why not address them for once?

Your position is *still* that calling Labour institutionally antisemitic is a “smear”, despite leaked emails definitively proving political interference from Jeremy Corbyn’s office.

Owen why haven’t you apologised for defending Jackie Walker?

You can block me and hide like a coward from these legitimate questions or face up to them like an adult. Your choice. Either way, hiding from accountability isn’t working anymore, and I’m not going to stop asking these questions till I get answers.

But hey, @OwenJones84, if you want to talk, let’s talk. If your position really is as reasonable as you imagine it to be, sit down and explain it to me. DMs always open.

Now we’re getting somewhere. You got it wrong because you believed your ally rather than reflecting to the evidence. This is the crux of the accusations against you.

Yet, despite getting it so wrong, did you publicly apologise for defending an antisemite?

No, you just deleted your Facebook post and hoped people would forget about it. Why should anybody listen to you in good faith about left wing antisemitism when you actively tried to dismiss a serious incident, then act like nothing happened when it got too large to ignore?

Can we just clear this up, @OwenJones84 wrote an entire thread about how excellent he has been on the subject of antisemitism, yet nowhere in the thread does he acknowledge that he rallied to the defence of an antisemite. Maybe your mistakes should be in there too Owen

Because otherwise, it just looks like more PR to me.