A prominent anti-Israel journalist has been suspended by Labour, the JC understands.
Asa Winstanley, who writes for the Electronic Intifada blog and has 27,000 followers on Twitter, is understood to have been suspended, pending an investigation, after people on social media highlighted the fact he was a party member, which shocked many.
Mr Winstanley has repeatedly attacked those warning about the extent of Labour's problem with antisemitism.
After the Jewish Labour Movement held extraordinary general meetings on whether to disaffiliate from Labour, Mr Winstanley called the group an "Israeli embassy proxy" that engaged in "shameless sabotage of the party" by submitting a dossier of Jew-hate in the party to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which is now investigating.
Israeli embassy proxy the JLM confirms it was responsible for the referencing of Labour to the Equality and Human Rights Commission for supposed "institutional antisemitism".
— Asa Winstanley (@AsaWinstanley) March 7, 2019
Shameless sabotage of the party.
This is what Israel terms "lawfare" https://t.co/jJyJGrOGS2 pic.twitter.com/xUPHyNcaiT
He also previously attacked the IHRA definition of antisemitism and, once Labour had adopted it, tweeted that "Israel is a racist endevour [sic]" to mock it.
He even attacked Momentum, the pro-Corbyn campaign group, for acknowledging Labour's antisemitism issue, saying it should rename itself "Momentum Friends of Israel".
He wrote that Joan Ryan, the chair of Labour Friends of Israel who quit the party last month, saying she had "fabricated antisemitism".
This week, it was revealed on Twitter that Mr Winstanley was a member of the Brent North Constituency Labour Party and had signed an open letter urging the party's governing body not to adopt the IHRA antisemitism definition.
A party spokesman said Labour did not comment on individual cases but said on Thursday evening: "The Labour Party takes all complaints of antisemitism extremely seriously and we are committed to challenging and campaigning against it in all its forms.
"All complaints about antisemitism are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken."
After a JC journalist revealed Mr Winstanley's suspension on Twitter, he said this "would, if true, be confidential" and it "indicates attempts to politicise and compromise Labour's disciplinary process".
