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UK shadow minister Robert Jenrick shares post by 'antisemitic' activist

Shadow justice minister fails to respond to questions over reposting of far-right conspiracy theorist
Robert Jenrick waves on the third day of the annual Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, central England, on October 1, 2024 (AFP)
Robert Jenrick waves on the third day of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, central England, on 1 October 2024 (AFP)

Robert Jenrick, Britain's shadow justice secretary and a former Conservative leadership candidate, reposted content by a self-proclaimed "raging antisemite" and ethnonationalist on social media.

On Monday, Jenrick quote-tweeted Irish writer and activist Keith Woods, who has been widely accused of antisemitism and Islamophobia, and last week shared a meme on X suggesting that British policemen allow Pakistanis to rape white girls. 

Responding to Woods' post, which attacked former Conservative MP Rory Stewart for his description of Britain's child sexual abuse scandals, Jenrick posted an 11-part thread which had received over a million views at the time of publication. 

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The shadow justice secretary joined Woods in attacking Stewart and his co-host, former Tony Blair ally Alastair Campbell, saying: "They downplay the most appalling sexual abuse imaginable."

On 9 January, Woods had responded to a comment below his original post calling Stewart a "disgusting cuck".

He replied: "Truly loathsome."

On Wednesday morning, Middle East Eye contacted Jenrick by email and informed him that Woods, whose real name is Keith O'Brien, had described himself as a "raging antisemite".

MEE sent Jenrick several examples of allegedly antisemitic social media posts by Woods and asked if he would like to comment on his engagement with the writer's account.

Jenrick had not responded by the time of publication. 

MEE further contacted the Conservative Party's press office, also receiving no response. 

'Antisemitic' posts

Woods has widely been accused of antisemitism.

In an X post in March last year, Woods posted images of four pro-Israel Jewish public figures, inaccurately describing them as "four of the most respected voices of the organised Jewish community". 

He has posted on multiple occasions that Jewish people are overrepresented in the media. 

Last year, he also attacked the American pro-Palestinian Jewish organisation Jewish Voice for Peace after they were quoted in an article by Middle East Eye saying they were "alarmed" by far-right figures with a "history of promoting white supremacy, antisemitism, and homophobia" exploiting pro-Palestinian sentiment.

Woods responded: "It's almost like these organisations are more concerned with policing discussion of Jewish power than they are with stopping a genocide."

In August 2023, Woods spoke as a guest at a conference in Tennessee organised by American white nationalist publication American Renaissance.

In essays, interviews and a recent book, he has argued extensively in favour of ethnonationalism and promoted the theory of a racial IQ gap.

In a recent essay, Woods insisted that the Irish struggle was not multiculturalist.

He argued of several Irish nationalists: "Rewriting their struggle to be for anything but an ethnonationalist cause is not only insulting to the intelligence of anyone with the most basic knowledge of Irish history, but a desecration of the great legacies of these men and of anyone who has sacrificed for the cause of Irish freedom."

Last week, he posted a cartoon meme depicting a British police officer giving someone a piece of paper reading: "We decided to let a Pakistani rape your daughter."

MEE put several of Woods' contentious social media posts to Jenrick and asked him whether he would delete his post responding to Woods, receiving no response.

Jenrick himself was widely criticised in early January for saying "grooming gangs" were a result of "alien cultures" with "medieval attitudes towards women".

He has since defended his comments - as has Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative Party.

Jenrick has also positioned himself as a staunch ally of Israel and an opponent of antisemitism, previously arguing during his pitch for the Conservative leadership that a Star of David should be placed at "every airport and point of entry to our great country" to show "we stand with Israel".

Jenrick has called for people shouting "Allahu Akbar" in public to be arrested and personally pushed for the removal of a Palestinian student's visa after she spoke at a pro-Gaza rally.

Now he risks being drawn into fresh controversy.

MEE contacted Woods for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

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