Dear Friends and Comrades,

The dismissal of Rebecca Long-Bailey from the Shadow Cabinet has demonstrated  that Keir Starmer is determined to implement the Board of Deputies ‘10 Pledges’ whose purpose is to both eradicate solidarity between those on the Left, and silence those who stand with the oppressed Palestinian people.  

Pledge number 5 states that any MPs, Peers, Councillors, Constituency Labour Parties [CLPs] or members of the Labour Party who ‘support, campaign or provide a platform’ for those who are suspended or expelled as a result of ‘anti-Semitic incidents’ should also be suspended. This is unacceptable interference from a political organisation outside the Labour Party, some of whose leaders support the Conservative Party.

The vast majority of ‘anti-Semitism’ expulsions and suspensions are in fact not for anti-Semitism but for criticism of Israel and Zionism. It is shocking that speaking the truth, having an opinion on a political ideology, have become a disciplinary offence in the Labour Party.

It is no surprise that the Board, for whom uncritical support for the State of Israel is hardwired into its Constitution, should propose these McCarthyist ‘pledges’. What is shocking is that candidates for the Labour leadership, without consulting members, should have agreed to be bound by them.

Criticism of Israel has nothing to do with anti-Semitism. The suggestion that British Jews are inextricably associated with Israel is in itself anti-Semitic, which is why Starmer and 5 other MPs have been made the subject of a complaint for anti-Semitism.

Given that a significant proportion of those suspended or expelled from the Labour Party are themselves Jewish, as well as African, Caribbean and Asian, this is not only a McCarthyist provision, it is racist.

As we know, there is only one way to fight a political witch hunt and that is to oppose it and extend solidarity with those unjustly penalised. That is why we are calling for your solidarity by asking you to sign this petition, which clearly and unequivocally states that you will not be deterred by this McCarthyism. We reject the Board of Deputies 10 Pledges, particularly the fifth pledge, which is a blatant attempt to gag free speech and we refuse to be bound by it.

Please sign this letter and include your CLP and position (if any).  

In solidarity

Tony Greenstein, Marc Wadsworth, Jackie Walker and Chris Williamson