Labour's Rebecca Long-Bailey has been subjected to vicious attacks from pro-Jeremy Corbyn activists after it was revealed she had met Jewish Labour Movement officials.
The shadow business secretary – increasingly tipped as a likely successor to the current Labour leader – was repeatedly accused of collaborating with the “pro-Apartheid Israel lobby” and betraying the Labour leader after the JC revealed details of her meeting with JLM national vice chair Stephane Savary and north west chair Dena Rynes in Manchester.
The backlash prompted Labour’s Head of Complaints Laura Murray to tweet on Tuesday that the Salford and Eccles MP "is a first-class socialist MP.
“Hard-working, clever, kind and principled.”
Ms Murray added: "Any section of Twitter 'cancelling' her needs to take a deep breath and have a quiet word with themselves.”
On Wednesday, as attacks on Ms Long-Bailey continued, leading pro-Corbyn journalist Owen Jones wrote: "Not only are people attacking Rebecca Long-Bailey - one of the left's biggest stars - below; the same loud but unrepresentative faction have been denouncing everyone from Jon Lansman to John McDonnell to (leftwing journalist) Ash Sarkar as traitors.
“It's madness that'll destroy the left if successful.”
But responding to Mr Jones, one tweeter said: "JLM is an openly racist movement, part of the World Zionist Organization that has sponsored war crimes and supports both settlements and discrimination.
"Shouldn't they be thrown out of the party for hatred against arabs?”
Another activist claimed that JLM “are more than merely representatives of Jews in the Labour movement, they are a conduit for Israel interference in the Labour Party.”
During her meeting with JLM last Friday, Ms Long-Bailey said she recognised that Mr Corbyn had lost the trust of the Jewish community.
She also angered many of Mr Corbyn's supporters by saying she believed suspended MP Chris Williamson should not be a member of the Labour Party and questioning why he had not been expelled.
Ms Long-Bailey also discussed giving an interview to far-left website The Canary, saying she was “not aware of concerns about The Canary at the time” and that she would “condemn” any antisemitic comments made by anyone linked to the publication.
