Welcome To Zelo Street!

This is a blog of liberal stance and independent mind

Thursday, 29 April 2021

Peterborough Anti-Semitism Hypocrisy

We are discovering, sadly, that despite moves to educate and inform, and to penalise instances of hate speech and worse, racism never really went away. That includes anti-Semitism, which has been talked about in recent years in connection with one political party. While Labour has had the mud slung at it, the Tories have thus far escaped with barely a blemish on their record - despite their indulgence in the practice.


Suella Braverman, Priti Patel, Ben Bradley, Jacob Rees Mogg, even Michael Gove - all veered rather too close to the anti-Semitism line, or even crossed it. But the tsunami of condemnation that crashed over Labour under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership would not do the same to The Blue Team. Now has come a string of anti-Semitism accusations made towards both Labour and Tory in the Cambridgeshire city of Peterborough.

As Jewish News has reported, “Both the Labour and Conservative parties in the city of Peterborough have been rocked by serious allegations of antisemitism amongst members”. So what action is being taken? “Labour have moved to suspend at least 14 individuals, including at least SEVEN councillors, from both the Peterborough and North Cambridgeshire CLPs”. And what about the Tories? Any action there?

The Tories are facing calls to act over allegations made against at least three local members, who are either sitting councillors or candidates … Andrew Percy, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Antisemitism (APPGAA) told Jewish News he had asked for their ‘immediate removal’ from the party”. But were any of the three even suspended?


Well, not as such. “A spokesperson for Peterborough Conservatives added they ‘utterly reject antisemitism.’”. However, “Jewish News has also learned of growing concern amongst communal leaders about the failure of the Conservative Party to act over allegations of antisemitism within local parties across the country … ‘In quite a few cases, investigations into allegations involving Tory Party members appear to drift into a black hole,’ said one senior figure within the community”. That’s most revealing.

It would, at least, show consistency: the “drifting into a black hole” could equally be applied to the Tory response to exposure of Islamophobia among its membership. And what is worse is that some of those who might have been expected to pick up on this issue and pursue the Tories on the subject have so far been absent from the scene.

For instance, there is no sign of the Tories’ inaction on the Twitter feed of the Jewish Chronicle. Equally absent from the scene is the feed of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, although the latter includes a signposting to an article tellingA Conservative candidate in the coming local elections has reportedly expressed remorse over a social media post that included the phrase ‘Jew Boy’”. No condemnation, then.

Anyone could form the impression that allegations of anti-Semitism against Tories “drift into a black hole” because no-one is on the party’s case. I’ll just leave that one there.


Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by adding to its Just Giving page at

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/zelostreet8

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

In due time old media "antisemitism" lies levelled against Jeremy Corbyn's leadership will be shown to be the most disgusting propaganda since the Zinoviev letter. Those old media scumbags who helped unquestionsbly propagate the smears are as guilty as those who fabricated them.

You can safely bet the same guilty ones will ignore this latest example of tory corruption.

Which is but one reason why this country has become an immoral cultural cesspit.

Robert Dyson said...

The biggest anti-Jewish act of the Tories in recent years must be putting up a statue to Nancy Astor: Jew hater and Hitler admirer. If you can accept that you can accept anything.

Martin Read said...

It must help the Tory cause that they would appear to own much of the UK's MSM.

Sam said...

Did those who harnessed false accusations or exaggerated claims of antisemitism for base political purposes or solely blamed Corbyn for matters often out of his control,not think there would be repercussions?. That includes the largely unread Jewish newspapers & the Tory supporting Jewish Board of Deputies (the only BoD in the world that is not scrupulously bipartisan) who aided Britain's mass media gutter press & ghastly folk like Margaret Hodge or Lord Sugar(now boring Australian TV viewers with a ridiculous Apprentice revival). They all joined & chorused wild claims of antisemitism which inevitably waters down genuine interest in real antisemitism. Lurid claims that Jews would flee the UK (as if) if Labor won office and so on.
I'm Jewish (no longer living in the UK) but have little interest in a Jewish community that largely remained silent (apart from noble exceptions) when antisemitism was harnessed for such base reasons as ensuring the corrupt rich 1% (includes multi millionaires Hodge & Sugar)remain in control to the point they happily supported a racist like Boris Johnson who has harnessed antisemitism in the past, to become PM rather than a man who is known to have fought racism his entire political life and certainly had the support of his large Jewish constituency.
Working and lower middle class Brits have a myriad of problems & millions including their children are living in poverty. Do you think they give a flying stuff about a few minor racist councilors either Tory or Labor?