News
Labour activist suspended for claiming Jews financed the slave trade allowed back in the party
May 28, 2016 19:50
Jackie Walker, the Labour activist who was suspended for claiming that Jews were “chief financiers of the sugar and slave trade” has been readmitted to the party.
Ms Walker, vice-chair of Momentum, a hard-left group loyal to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, was suspended after her comments were brought to the party’s attention by the JC.
She was allowed back into the party this week following an investigation.
In a blog post, Ms Walker said that she first heard of her suspension from this newspaper.
She went onto to claim that there was an "increasing convergence between Zionists, the right of the Labour party,the Tories and our right wing media," adding: "Of course, most want to destabilise and undermine the left - but they’re after much more. Is it coincidence that Sadiq Khan, new London Mayor, full of his new found fame, has already met with the Israeli Ambassador for talks that it is suggested may lead to greater trade links with Israel?"
She also claimed that Labour did not have a problem with antisemitism despite a number of members being suspensed over antisemitic comments.
She said: ”If you ask if I think antisemitism is a major problem in the Labour Party, I would give almost the same response as the one I was suspended for – 'no' but with one amendment: antisemitism is not a major problem, the suspension process is."
She suggested there was an anti-left bias in the media.
She wrote: "The fear in my [constituency Labour Party] is palpable; McCarthyism lives and with the same purpose – the destruction of the left.
"In this way Israeli propagandists and their fellow travellers, who conscientiously use every minute of their working day and probably more, to uncover racists as rabid as me, are left with a clear run to get on with their dirty work."
A Labour spokesman told political blog Guido Fawkes: “Following the outcome of an investigation, Jacqueline Walker is no longer suspended and remains a member of the party”.
Jonathan Arkush, president of the Board of Deputies, said: “We find it remarkable that Jackie Walker has been readmitted to the Labour Party without any disciplinary sanctions and by a process completely lacking in transparency.
"We are very disturbed by the way she has reacted with unrepentant and defiant statements. Her position promotes the myth that Jews played a leading role in the slave trade.
Ms Walker also appears to think that Jews are somehow undeserving of the solidarity that minorities should generally rightly expect when they face racism. It is unhelpful and regrettable to suggest that the victimhood of one diminishes the victimhood of the other, whether that is racism against black people, anti-Muslim hatred or, as in this case, antisemitism.”
The Jewish Labour Movement said: “The outcome of this process shows once again that the political rhetoric of zero tolerance on antisemitism is not matched by action. This is why we are proposing changes to party rules.”
