Attendees of a far-left event on the subject of “Corbyn, antisemitism and justice for Palestine” were filmed making comments such as “the Jewish people do not exist”, and “if you walk around expecting to be treated like Jewish ‘scum’, that’s what’s going to happen to you.”
The event, which was held on Tuesday night at London’s Conway Hall, featured speakers such as Tariq Ali, Ben Jamal, the director of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign and Richard Kuper of Jewish Voice for Labour.
The event’s description on social media claimed that “Criticism of Israel is being conflated with antisemitism in ways that threaten free speech and the right to protest while silencing Palestinian voices. We must vigorously oppose all forms of antisemitism, but we can’t let smears be used to silence criticism of the Israeli state.
“This meeting will discuss the importance of challenging any attempt at a witch hunt, strengthening the struggle for Palestinian freedom while maintaining zero tolerance for antisemitism and all forms of racism.”
Joseph Cohen of the Israel Advocacy Movement and a number of other pro-Israel activists were refused admission to the event.
However, footage filmed by Mr Cohen showed a number of people queueing to attend making antisemitic comments.
“Think of the Dollar – that’s all you care about,” one woman told a Jewish protestor.
“You like silver, you like gold, that’s all you care about.”
One person handing out a newsletter on behalf of the Communist Party of Great Britain, who claimed to be Jewish, was also selling books showing a swastika melded together with a Star of David, with the title “Zionism – a racist, antisemitic and reactionary tool of imperialism.”
He went on to say that “the Jewish people do not exist”, before attempting to put a pro-Israel campaigner in a headlock.
A smiling teenager informed Mr Cohen that he supported “I support Hamas. I support Nasrallah, I support Hezbollah.”
Both Hamas and Hezbollah are genocidal antisemitic terror groups, with Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, having said “"If they [the Jews] all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide."
Another man claimed that “every oppressive regime, the Zionists have been linked to,” while another called Mr Cohen, who is visibly Jewish, “a lecherous, satanic piece of s***…”
After the event, one attendee told Mr Cohen and others that “if you walk around expecting to be treated like Jewish ‘scum’, that’s what’s going to happen to you.”
She went on to accuse them of being part of the “Zionist lobby”.
“What makes me part of the Zionist lobby?” Mr Cohen asked.
“Because you think that there’s antisemitism in the Labour party,” she responded.
