By Fiona Grahame

The recorded history of Western Europe is littered with campaigns and pogroms targeting Jews. In England between 1189 and 1190 in major cities: London, York etc and even small towns, appalling violence, including murder, was inflicted on Jews, even by those who had been their neighbours.

The Crusades, which saw Europeans march off to The Holy Land with the blessings of the Pope, resulted in massacres of innocent civilians in the lands passed through, including Jews. The Crusaders, who sometimes are pictured in books as heroic figures, wreaked devastation and carnage in their wake throughout the Holy Land.

In the 19th century many Jews fled to England and to the USA from Russia and parts of Eastern Europe when attacks and violence drove them from their homes. The Jews that came to England set up homes and businesses in areas of London and Hull, busy ports, points of entry for those fleeing persecution in other lands.

The horrific murder of 6million Jews by Nazi Germany was the culmination of years of persecution, rounding up of individuals and mass shootings.

Human Rights Watch state that: antisemitism is pernicious, poses real harm to Jewish communities around the world, and requires meaningful action to combat it. However, the UN leadership should ensure that its efforts to combat antisemitism “do not inadvertently embolden or endorse policies and laws that undermine fundamental human rights, including the right to speak and organize in support of Palestinian rights and to criticize Israeli government policies.”

In ‘Weaponising Anti- Semitism’, Asa Winstanley, has forensically detailed, how supporters of the state of Israel, worked their way into trusted positions in the UK Labour party, and used the accusation of anti Semitism to successfully smear and drive out activist members who supported the cause of the Palestinian people.

It is a fascinating book because it is so detailed and lays before the reader the ways in which, by subtle ( and sometimes not so subtle) manipulation of branding an individual with being anti semitic, can be used to destroy the political lives of those who do not support Israel’s colonial illegal occupation of Palestine where they are engaged in decades of driving out and meting violence upon the indigenous population.

There are copious foot notes to back up Winstanley’s evidence which readers not familiar with the events and the UK Labour party will find useful. Jeremy Corbyn, as the Leader of the Labour Party and a possible future Prime Minister of the UK was targeted for his support for the Palestinian people and criticism of Israel. To bring him down, others had to fall first, including prominent politician Ken Livingstone.

The Israel Lobby manoeuvred itself, including the MPs who were part of it, to pounce on any activist supporting Palestine, and criticising the violent colonisation and apartheid policies of Israel. It even successfully had Labour party members who were Jews thrown out the party for being anti Semitic. This is all detailed in Chapter 7 ‘Jews and Un-Jews’.

This year’s Labour Party Conference, where a protestor was dragged from the hall because he was shouting about the UK still selling arms to Israel despite the war crimes being committed in Gaza, Lebanon, and the settler violence in the West Bank, during a speech by the Chancellor Rachel Reeves, confirms how successful the Israel lobby was and still is.

“We are still selling arms to Israel, I thought we voted for change.”

This book is recommended reading to all those whether active supporters of the Palestinian people or not. As Israel continues its genocide in Gaza, settler violence increases in The West Bank, and has the world teetering on war with its bombardment of Lebanon where hundreds are being killed, with this book the reader might gain some understanding of how the Israel Lobby has been able to manipulate our mainstream media, politicians, and even the UK Government. The Israel Lobby has successfully used the fear of being branded anti Semitic to halt criticism of the policies of Israel by our political leaders, the media and the ordinary public who are appalled by what they are seeing happening to innocent civilians under the Israeli regime.

The United Nations Demands an End to Israel’s Illegal Occupation of #Palestine