She was responding to the suspension of a council candidate for posts about the 'Israeli bloodline' and claims Israel was carrying out 'a genocide'
April 29, 2019 17:03
A Labour member in Brighton suggested that the local party “march to" a local Synagogue to protest against the suspension of a fellow Labour party member over alleged antisemitism, with an MP calling on the police to investigate her for "incitement".
Amanda Bishop was writing in the Brighton and Hove Labour party forum Facebook group in response to news that local council candidate Alex Braithwaite had been suspended from the party.
Miss Braithwaite was suspended two weeks ago over her posts to social media.
One such post claimed that Israel was “giving African migrants 90 days to leave the country so they don’t effect [sic] Israeli bloodline. They must leave or they will be jailed or murdered.”
Another showed a cartoon with BBC and CNN news cameras pointing at a crying Israeli child while ignoring dead Palestinian bodies.
The image’s caption accused “the media” of being “nothing more than an accessory to the police/terror state”. In another post written by Ms Braithwaite herself, she accused “IsraHell” of carrying out a “genocide” against the Palestinians.
Braithwaite is @UKLabour & @PeoplesMomentum candidate in Brighton. She’s an “anti racist” but believes:
— GnasherJew #LeftAntisemitism (@GnasherJew) April 16, 2019
*The media is controlled by Israel
*Nazi Rothschild’s conspiracy theories
*Calls Israel IsrHell
Alex is an antisemite & picks her anti racism to suit her political ambitions pic.twitter.com/rFMEL7EK3r
As publicised by the Guido Fawkes and Red Roar blogs, in the wake of Ms Braithwaite’s suspension, Ms Bishop wrote on Facebook: “This was the flimsiest reason for suspension I’ve ever seen… I’m so angry and upset.”
She went on to say “we need to march about this to the synagogue in Hove, all of us members in Brighton… why are we continuing to accept this bulls***? Why aren’t we defending ourselves?”
This is shocking: Labour activist Amanda Bishop calls on Brighton members to march on their local synagogue to protest an antisemitism suspension. pic.twitter.com/zSsEofis8Y
— The Red Roar (@TheRedRoar) April 29, 2019
Ian Austin MP, who left Labour in February, described Ms Bishop's comments as "appalling" and called for her to be “booted out of Labour” and said police should investigate her for “incitement.”
The parliamentarian who now represents the Dudley North constituency as an independent, said the incident showed "how much has gone wrong with the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership that people with views like this are joining the party or feel able to say this disgusting stuff.
“What are decent Labour MPs and members going to do about it?
Mike Katz, chair of the Jewish Labour Movement, described the case as "truly beyond belief.
"Won't have it from Neo-Nazis. Won't have it from supposed progressives."
Truly beyond belief.
— Mike Katz (@mikekatz) April 29, 2019
When is 'let's march on the Synagogue' ever the right reaction?
Won't have it from neo-Nazis. Won't have it from supposed progressives. https://t.co/X3G38tVxhk
Euan Philipps, spokesperson fro Labour Against Antisemitism, called for Ms Bishop to be "immediately expelled, to show that this kind of incitement to racial violence has no place in British politics.
"The Labour Party in Brighton has been shown to have a deep-rooted and longstanding problem with antisemitism. It is about time Jeremy Corbyn got a grip and placed the city’s Labour branches in special measures, before we find ourselves talking about real acts of racial violence being committed."
Brighton MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle tweeted on Tuesday evening, after the news broke, that Ms Bishop had been suspended after he reported the comments.
What she said was revolting and tonight, after I first read the comments today and reported them, she has been suspended. This is anti-semitism and not acceptable in our society and our party; no excuses.
— Lloyd Russell-Moyle (@lloyd_rm) April 29, 2019
