The following article was written by and posted on Ricky from Council Estate Media.
ED BALLS ACCIDENTALLY ADMITS TO LABOUR’S WEAPONISATION OF ANTI-SEMITISM I MEAN, WE ALREADY KNEW, BUT STILL…
Former Labour MP Ed Balls, the world’s most unbearably smug centrist, has just admitted to something we’ve been saying for years: that Sir Keir Starmer’s purge of alleged anti-Semites has nothing to do with anti-Semitism. It is factionalism and he uses anti-Semitism as his cover.
As many of us have pointed out, the cynical weaponisation of anti-Semitism is, in fact, anti-Semitic, and it is now coming back to bite the Labour leader.
On Good Morning Britain, Ed Balls was discussing Graham Jones, the second Labour candidate to be suspended in a matter of days due to accusations of anti-Semitism from Labour Friends of Israel and other pro-Israel lobby groups (Americans, think AIPAC, but in the UK).
What makes these recent suspensions interesting is the accused were in Starmer’s faction of Labour and as such, would normally be allowed to get away with just about anything.
Socialist Andy McDonald was suspended from Labour for saying he wanted everyone “from the river to the sea” to live together peacefully, but as Kevin Schofield pointed out, the Labour right have been allowed to say all sorts of offensive things.
Ed Balls defended the suspension of Andy McDonald and Kate Osamor because Starmer defined his leadership as “clearing up the anti-Semitism of the Jeremy Corbyn period.”
However, Balls took a different position when it came to Graham Jones because he has the right sort of politics:
“Let’s stand back here and get some facts… Graham Jones, I know him really well. He is not a Corbynite., not hard-left, absolutely not anti-Israel.”
Not long ago, Starmerists would have said anyone defending a person suspended for anti-Semitism is also guilty of anti-Semitism. They would have kicked them out of the Labour Party, but obviously, Ed Balls is not going to be kicked out because he’s on team Starmer.
By saying Jones is not a Corbynite, hard-left or anti-Israel, Balls is admitting those are things you’re not allowed to be in the Labour Party. He’s admitting you can’t share the politics of the enormously popular ex-leader (politics the Labour Party was founded on). He’s admitting you’re not allowed to have socialist views (this is what centrists mean by “hard left”). Most tellingly of all, he’s admitting you’re not allowed to be critical of the Israeli state in any meaningful way (this is what he means by “anti-Israel”).
Starmer introduced these unofficial rules to stamp out socialist voices and crush the membership so no one could stand in the way of him turning Labour into a pro-corporate party. He knew that most of his critics cared about the plight of the Palestinians and it was easy for him to pretend they were anti-Semites. This was his excuse for a purge.
The miscalculation Starmer made is that Labour Friends of Israel and other pro-Israel lobby groups are not interested in his neoliberal factionalism, they’re interested in stamping out any criticism of Israel, regardless of which faction the person belongs to. This means the Starmer Project is now eating itself.
None of those things Ed Balls highlighted above would be justification to expel someone from Labour, but he admitted they are considered justification by the leadership. He also admitted the disciplinary process is politically influenced, even though the EHRC introduced legally binding measures to ensure the process is non-political. As many of us know, this is irrelevant because the whole point of the EHRC investigation was to make Corbyn look bad.
Under Starmer’s unofficial rules, a majority of the Labour membership would be expelled if they expressed their political views and they would likely be branded anti-Semites for objecting to genocide. The EHRC, which was so mad about alleged political interference under Corbyn, obviously couldn’t give a shit now the right sort of people are being expelled.
If you’re still not convinced this is all so cynical, consider this: according to the Telegraph, there is now a hit list of MPs, including Zarah Sultana, Thangam Debonnaire, and Shabana Mahmood, who have two things in common: they’re critical of Israel and they’re non-white.
There is a massive stench of racism here. The Labour Party has been expelling black and Muslim MPs left, right and centre, and punishing anyone who dares speak up for Palestinians. Meanwhile, the Labour leader can support the withdrawal of humanitarian aid to Gaza and that’s apparently fine. The Labour Party is being racist under the guise of anti-racism and it’s becoming impossible to deny.
14.2.24
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also see:
Ed Balls accidentally admits to Labour’s weaponisation of anti-Semitism I mean, we already knew, but still…
Who the hell rehabilitated Alistair Campbell?
http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2024/02/12/who-the-hell-rehabilitated-alistair-campbell/
Top uni accused of fuelling racist abuse of Black colleague who condemned Israel
http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2024/02/08/top-uni-accused-of-fuelling-racist-abuse-of-black-colleague-who-condemned-israel/
Western racism laid the foundations for Israel’s genocide in Gaza
UK’s chief rabbi gives his blessing to war crimes in Gaza
http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2024/01/12/uks-chief-rabbi-gives-his-blessing-to-war-crimes-in-gaza/
How big business took over the Labour Party