Jewish man wins case against UK Labour antisemitism expulsion

A Jewish former member of the UK's governing Labour party has won an appeal against its decision to expel him over alleged antisemitism, according to a recent report in Skwawkbox. 

The man, who was not named in the report, was expelled in 2022 with no details given at the time other than the claim it was for antisemitism. 

He has been exonerated by Labour's Independent Complaint's Board (ICB).

The ICB said that Labour's national executive council panel did not provide detailed analysis on why social media posts used as evidence were considered antisemitic. 

"The posts were not so obviously or inherently antisemitic as to justify the conclusions of the NEC Panel without further analysis or explanation," it said. 

The formerly expelled member said: "I still do not know who made the complaint against me. This typifies the one-sided nature of the process, in which I was compelled to refrain from talking about the investigation under threat of disciplinary action."

He said that he would not be returning to the Labour party, because it "had long ceased to be my political home". 

"[Keir] Starmer’s leadership brought betrayal after betrayal, disappointment on disappointment, so it was no loss to be free of it," he added. 

"While antisemitism was the nominal charge made against me my real offence was to criticise Israel and support for Israel, in its oppression of the Palestinians."

Jenny Manson, co-chair of leftwing campaign group Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL), said that Labour should now require the ICB to review every expulsion and suspenstion on the grounds of antisemitism. 

'Wrong type of Jew'

Jewish Voice for Labour has alleged that non-Jewish members of the party have often harassed its members for being “the wrong type of Jew”.

Jewish members of the party are six times more likely to be investigated over claims of antisemitism than non-Jewish members, JVL found in a study, and 13 times more likely to be expelled.

Manson herself was placed under investigation in August 2021 for antisemitism after saying on BBC Newsnight that the problem of antisemitism under Corbyn had been “exaggerated” by Labour’s right wing . 

She ultimately received an apology from Labour’s National Executive Committee. 

Andrew Feinstein, a prominent Jewish activist and former MP in South Africa, told MEE that he had been investigated by Labour due to his social media posts. 

In one of the tweets cited as problematic, Feinstein had called Israel a “brutal, rogue, apartheid state just like my home, South Africa, was”. 

He later left Labour and stood against Starmer as an independent candidate in Holborn and St Pancras. 

Meanwhile, Stephen Kapos, an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, resigned from Labour after being told he would be expelled from the party if he spoke at a Holocaust Memorial Day meeting organised by a proscribed left-wing group. 

A report by barrister Martin Forde, commissioned by Labour’s National Executive Committee and released in July 2022, found that allegations of antisemitism within the party were "treated as a factional weapon" by officials in Labour’s party headquarters and in former leader Jeremy Corbyn's leadership office.