A Few End of Year Eyebrow Raisers

(Anti-Israel) Welsh Greens politician Pippa Bartolotti's apparent enviable powers of persuasion with Al Beeb's gatekeepers, at least on one issue:

If only friends of Israel were so lucky!

Anti-Israel blogger Robert Cohen, a darling of the anti-Christian Zionist crowd, spruiking the antisemitic site Mondoweiss:

A wee glimpse into the machinations that have ended 70 years of Australian bipartisan agreement on Israel with the Australian Labor Party's recent pronouncement that a future Labor government will recognise Palestinian statehood:

A small taste of the mindset of certain followers of Baroness Tonge, in a recent Facebook post of hers  excoriating Jonathan Hoffman for his forthright pro-Israel activism, which resulted in the White Rocks Hotel in Hastings cancelling her talk scheduled for 24 January, a cancellation which has led to many slurs on the intrepid Zionist activist by furious enemies of Israel on that same thread:

And on another post by Tonge that links to this report:

Importantly, the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding (CAABU) demonstrating yet again why it's so dangerous, with, as I've mentioned before,  its easily facilitated  manipulation of impressionable UK schoolchildren:

..

From The Times of London  (29 December):

'A Labour activist has been dismissed by the GMB union after claims that he accused Israel of “inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust”.

Pete Gregson, a union official at NHS Lothian, says that blog posts attacking “Israeli apartheid” and activities including signing a petition stating “Israel is a racist endeavour” were not antisemitic.

Mr Gregson says that he will fight the dismissal in court and challenge the accepted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, resisted calls to accept the IHRA definition for months because it could suppress legitimate criticism of Israel, but it was adopted as party policy in September.

The following month Labour started an investigation into Mr Gregson’s activities.

GMB Scotland said that it would never seek to suppress legitimate debate but said that Mr Gregson “did not adhere to the standards we would expect in taking forward any point for debate”.

Jim Lennox, its president, said: “The committee does find the materials you have written and promoted as being antisemitic in nature, not least accusing Israel of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust. For ourunion, Holocaust denial or claiming the Holocaust was exaggerated is simply unacceptable.”

Mr Gregson was also rebuked for ignoring decisions and policies of GMB authorities, and circulating internal documents to the media.

Mr Lennox added: “You have acted against the best interests of the GMB, you have acted against policy and we believe your antisemitic comments are racist in nature.”

Mr Gregson has had his union benefits withdrawn and been suspended from holding office or taking part in any union business. The committee will urge the central executive council to permanently exclude Mr Gregson from the union.

Mr Gregson said: “I will appeal to the general secretary, but of course that will fail. Therefore it looks like to beat this it needs to go to court for a judicial review . . . The IHRA has never been tested properly in the courts.

“If we can beat this thing, we can stop anyone being expelled from Labour for saying Israel is racist, and stop people being sacked by public authorities or kicked out of college.”'

Meanwhile,

'More than 120 Jewish leaders from around the world attended the Conference on Countering Antisemitism and the Boycott of Israel held last week by the World Zionist Organization in collaboration with the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland.

The conference took place between December 14–16, 2018 and was held in central London for the second year in a row. Among the many participants were prominent community leaders, representatives of federations, community activists and students from 16 different countries.

The conference began with remarks by Vice Chairman of the World Zionist Organization Yaakov Hagoel and Chairman of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland Paul Charney. They discussed various challenges facing Diaspora Jewry and how to combat Antisemitism.

Mr. Hagoel explained the need for Jewish education, the importance of studying the Hebrew language, and Israel’s relationship with the Diaspora. He stressed  the obligation of reporting Antisemitic incidents to the proper authorities and heads of Jewish communities as part of the struggle against the phenomenon.

The conference unveiled the publication of an extensive survey conducted by the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency which shows a growing trend of Antisemitism. “The most disconcerting to me,” said Hagoel, “is the continued failure to report incidents, whether verbal or physical Antisemitism or hatred of Israel. Almost 80% of respondents who said they were affected by Antisemitic attacks did not report the incidents to law enforcement authorities, local rabbis, communal leaders or family members. This alarming figure is a slippery slope as Antisemitism continues to rise and Jews continue to feel a lack of security,” he stated.

“We are witnessing a situation in which Mezuzahs on doorposts are being removed, not by Antisemites, but by the Jewish homeowners themselves for fear of identified as Jews. This is equally as concerning because it leads to loss of Jewish identity. Let us not bury our heads in the sand...."

Read more here