Labour figures who defended Israel’s actions appear to be in full retreat after widespread condemnation of their statements in response to the massacre of around sixty unarmed Palestinians during yesterday’s demonstrations and the serious wounding of as many as two thousand more.
Labour Friends of Israel’s (LFI) statement read:
LFI deleted that tweet – without comment or apology – and replaced it with a diluted version after it triggered revulsion on social media.
LFI chair Joan Ryan went further, writing an article for the Jewish Times titled “Time to end Gaza’s cycle of violence“.
The article still pushed the idea that Israel was legitimately defending its border – a claim rejected by the United Nations earlier today – and that Hamas is the real threat to both Palestinian and Israeli lives. However, it appeared to row back hard on LFI’s initial blaming of Palestinians for the Palestinian deaths yesterday, saying that Israel must exercise restraint and stating:
LFI condemns the deaths of any innocent peaceful protesters and think it is important that urgent action is taken to prevent the loss of further human life.
Right-wing former National Executive Committee (NEC) member Jasmin Beckett yesterday matched or even exceeded the outrage triggered by LFI, with this tweet taking direct aim at Labour’s strong condemnation of the slaughter:
Parliamentary aide Ben Sellers’ response was typical of the appalled reaction:
But author Alex Nunns pointed out that Ms Beckett will shortly be asking Labour members to vote for her to return to the NEC:
A day after her initial tweet, Ms Beckett followed it up with an attempt to soften it by claiming that her initial tweet was only a partial opinion as it would be ‘impossible’ to properly express thoughts on the matter in a single tweet.
But readers seemed unimpressed:
https://twitter.com/MattTurner4L/status/996474957264760834
In spite of the back-pedalling, complaints have been sent to Labour’s General Secretary about the comments, numerous Labour constituency and branch parties are tabling motions calling on Labour personnel to disassociate themselves from LFI and a petition is underway calling on the Labour Party to cut all links with the group because of the comments widely condemned as victim-blaming.
Please put the petition you mentioned in the above article on the LFI
Here is the link to the petition
https://www.change.org/p/john-cryer-mp-parliament-uk-all-labour-personnel-to-publicly-end-any-association-with-labour-friends-of-israel
“Labour apologists for Gaza massacre in retreat after widespread revulsion”
The only problem for the LFI is that they’ve already exposed their complete lack of humanity and how little they care about the Palestinian’s plight or the crimes of the Israeli state. No amount of back-peddling is going to change that, is it?
It takes incidents like this for the apologists of evil to come out of the woodwork. Exactly the same happened during ‘Cast Lead’ when appalling Labour MP after Labour MP commented “Israel has a right to defend itself” Not against the Palestinians it doesn’t, on the contrary as an occupier it has a duty to obey International Law.
Israel is an illegal occupier of Palestinian land, therefore the Palestinians have the legal right to do their utmost to eject the occupier, who incidentally has nuclear weapons and one of the best equipped (terrorist) armies on Earth. Whereas the Palestinians have no army, stones, and rockets which are little more than distress flares. They have even stopped firing the rockets in an attempt to promote peaceful negotiations but what do the Israelis do? they keep killing Palestinians and destroying their olive trees.
I assume Jasmin Beckett will be suspended from the Labour Party until her statement has been thoroughly & speedily investigated.
I hope Jasmine Becket is suspended by the Labour party, but not for a speedy investigation. She can get to the back of the queue of members to be investigated, tried and convicted (I say convicted, because for ordianary members that’s what it is). The queue is estimated to be in the area of 11 -12,000 members suspended or expelled, many for trivial offences.
Let Ms Becket (who as a member of the NEC oversaw this debacle) stew for a couple of years while the mess she helped to create is sorted out.
Surely the Antisemitic remarks posted above should be reported to the CLP? The fact that the peace loving IDF were subjected to a lot of shouting and also had to withstand a hail of stones which came as close as 50 metres from them needs close examination by the UN. The accidental shooting of 60 Palestinian men, women and children by the IDF was the responsibility of the Palestinians themselves as they waved flags which caused deep distress to the soldiers of Israeli army causing them to fire their weapons into
the air. The fact that as the spent bullets fell to earth they accidently came in contact with the bodies of these demonstrators causing unfortunate and completely deadly effects. I trust that the Americans at the UN will exonerate those soldiers who were merely defending the land they had stolen quite recently.
Yes, it’s quite obvious that the children deliberately got themselves shot in the back to gain sympathy and get those innocent Israeli snipers into trouble.
Careful guys, we left wingers are not known for our grasp of irony. Apparently.
Kevin Fitzgerald sadly I have just heard the Israeli ambassador take that line and it also appears to be the approach adopted by the US during the UN emergency debate. Therefore I am sure it will be the BBC stance by the end of the day.
I doubt that people really recognise the pressure that the squaddies have to endure. As soon as the border problem is successfully negotiated they have the other punishing, intimidating job to complete. Yes, the mass deportation of criminal illegals. Triples all round for the valiant, redoubtable, fearless and yes most moral army in the world. Good wishes to all.
I can’t believe that Jasmin Beckett actually had aspirations to be elected to the NEC in the coming months. I would rate that her chances of ever being elected to that body are now virtually nil. Her arrogant and utterly reprehensible comments will not be excused or easily forgotten by the very many Labour Party members who thought that Emily Thornberry’s statement was well measured and entirely appropriate.
For her own part Beckett has simply demonstrated that she is a person who woefully lacks any real experience and is totally unsuited to be entrusted with any sort of office within the Party.
I am sorry to have to say that about a young member of the Party but if a person choses to attack and be so damming of others in such a public way and on such a sensitive subject then they would do well to be darn sure of the ground that they are on.
Is this the same Emily Thornberry who is a member of LFI? At least Beckett isn’t a hypocrite.
On the contrary Ms. Thornberry has been forthright and unequivocal in her condemnation of the Israeli State over this unjustified massacre.
Israel’s high court blesses killing and maiming of Gaza protesters
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israels-high-court-blesses-killing-and-maiming-gaza-protesters/