Anti-racism charity trustee quits over failure to listen to Jewish community's concerns over Ken Loach appointment

He said: "What makes the whole antisemitism issue and the whole Ken Loach issue so uncomfortable for me is that Ged is very clear on what is and what isn’t racism.

"He knows what he is doing, and it is not like he doesn’t understand what racism is and how it can manifest itself.

"That is where I have been left deeply uncomfortable with the way the Jewish community has been treated.

"Not just with the Ken Loach issue, but also with Jeremy Corbyn’s appearance at (the charity’s annual) Arsenal stadium event.

"That last event the Labour leader attended after the EHRC investigation had been announced. That to me is deeply troubling.’’

The JC revealed on February 5 how Mr Loach had been chosen as a judge for the SRtRC schools contest in which young people are asked to produce creative designs on the theme of anti-racism.

Mr Grebby hailed the judges at the time as "valued supporters" of the charity and added he could not think of anyone "better qualified to choose winners".

But Mr Loach's appointment sparked anger within the community over his past comments about Labour's antisemitism crisis.

The Board of Deputies said the film maker was "a poor choice to judge a competition on anti-racism".

In 2017, Mr Loach sparked outrage when he dismised concerns about someone who defended the right to ask "the Holocaust, yes or no?" at a fringe event at that year’s Labour conference.

He said: “History is for all of us to discuss. All history is our common heritage to discuss and analyse.

"The founding of the State of Israel, for example, based on ethnic cleansing, is there for us to discuss... So don’t try to subvert that by false stories of antisemitism.”

Mr Loach later clarified his view, saying: "The Holocaust is as real a historical event as the Second World War itself and not to be challenged.

"In Primo Levi’s words: 'Those who deny Auschwitz would be ready to remake it'."

Last year, Mr Loach called the BBC’s Panorama documentary on Labour antisemitism “probably the most disgusting programme I’ve ever seen on the BBC”.

He also dismissed the revelations from former Labour staffers as "propaganda from people who were intent on destroying Corbyn".

Mr Ahmad said the issues around Mr Loach – whom Mr Grebby praised to charity executives in an earlier email sent on January 24 as "the esteemed film director" - were to be discussed at a meeting of the SRtRC trustees on February 21.

"I knew the recruitment of Ken Loach was going to be a problem," he said.

"There were public accusations of antisemitism being made (on social media) towards the chief executive of the organisation.

"They one way or another had to be addressed. It was the failure to do that, combined with an email forwarded to the trustees in which Ged sent an email from Ken Loach and all the other letters of support for him.

"At that point, I knew the decision to appoint him would have been upheld, it was a forgone conclusion.

"I just felt I couldn’t have anything to do with it, so my resignation got submitted via my solicitor on the morning of the meeting of February 21 where it was discussed."

A letter sent to Mr Grebby by the Board of Deputies outlining fears about Mr Loach was not disclosed to the trustees ahead of the meeting.

On March 15, SRtRC backtracked on Mr Loach's appointment after the trustees refused to endorse it "following new information".

The "new" information was an admission by Mr Loach that he had offered support for Pete Gregson, a former Labour activist who had been expelled from the GMB union over alleged antisemitism.

Mr Loach subsequently said he regretted this after Mr Gregson’s "antisemitic behaviour and comments have been drawn to his attention".

But Mr Ahmad, whose resignation was accepted on March 16, said the controversy over Mr Loach typified a wider problem with dealing with antisemitism at SRtRC.

"I don’t want to turn this into a political debate but left-wing politics overrides the organisation, in my view," he said.

"Thorough association, through the funders, it’s very much about doing what they want us to do.

 "I’m not sure where the autonomy has been."

Asked for his impression of Mr Grebby as a leader, Mr Ahmad said: "He has his vision. Things stem from that.

"He leads by statement, rather than through discussion. There has not been a great deal of consultative leadership."

Mr Ahmad also claimed that SRtRC had failed to take a position on the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

He added that Mr Grebby did not "understands the value of the IHRA definition, and in particular its examples [about how criticism of Israel can veer into antisemitism].

"Where has the organisation been on this issue over the past two and a half years?

"To me it seems like a lost opportunity. A lot of the work the charity does it quite good.’’

He also took issue with the chief executive’s claims that antisemitism features throughout SRtRC’s education materials.

"That is just not true," said Mr Ahmad. "I have never known any specific antisemitism activities that the organisation has run in the past.

"As far as I’m aware there has never been anything specific on it."

Mr Ahmad said: "I would want my voice heard.

"If I had genuine legitimate concerns about something and if an organisation like SRtRC was being very dismissive of it, I would be gutted.

"Ultimately racists are racists, they don’t care whether we are Jewish or Muslim, we are other."

SRtRC was formed in 1996 and its competition runs across 474 schools with 27,000 young people taking part last year.

The JC approached the charity and Mr Grebby for comment.