We received correspondence from the Middle East Eye (MEE) web-site which was not only bizarre, it promoted a conspiratorial line of questioning where the journalist explicitly made a link between Government support to counter extremism and promote shared values through the Building Stronger Britain Together (BSBT) programme and how “the government is using public funds to support political attacks on the leader of the opposition”. This is what the journalist, (Simon Hooper), wrote in his e-mail – that there was a covert plan by Government to attack the leader of the opposition. It was suggested by him that Faith Matters and Muslims Against Antisemitism (MAAS) were involved in this conspiracy theory.

Given the nature of his questions, we wanted to stipulate the following publicly, (unlike groups like Middle East Eye who have repeatedly deflected questions on where their funding comes from).

Faith Matters has received no funding from the Prevent programme, unlike other groups who have been heavily funded and who continue to deny that funding whilst working with Muslim communities. At the very least these organisations should be open about it, as it tackles risk to our communities and country. We have received no social media training via the Home Office, unlike other organisations and we are proud to have developed Muslims Against Antisemitism, which receives no Government funding. Furthermore, we have received no assistance in counter-messaging from the Home Office.

Hooper’s theory that the Government is funding an anti-Corbyn campaign is not only perverse, it brings into question how such a twisted conspiracy could have been formulated.

Faith Matters has responded to the allegation and line of questioning in the below manner (in bold), which Middle East Eye journalist, Simon Hooper, purposefully claims he is not going to cite in his e-mail to us. It was the explicit comment below that he was instructed to use as our response and which he says he is not going to. So, the question we ask, is why not? Why is the Middle East Eye not willing to be transparent about its own funding or which state that money emanates from?

The response we gave him was:

“Given the irony that it is MEE who are apparently the beneficiary of political or State funding, it would be wholly inappropriate for us to provide any response to your unfounded and potentially defamatory assertions.”

Instead, by-passing our explicit statement, Hooper said that he would use a statement that was marked as private and confidential by our solicitor. Breaking a trust, (hardly good practice from from a journalist), he stated in an e-mail that he would use the following comment from our defamation and libel solicitor:

“Faith Matters received (BSBT support) from the Home Office and acts without fear or favour in its criticisms of anyone including politicians or political parties whose words or actions risk stirring up anti-religious hatred. It does so, and will continue to do so, from wherever such words or actions emanate”.

The BSBT programme is separate to the counter-terrorism strategy and was developed to build resilient communities against all forms of extremism. We utilized that funding to counter far right and online extremism and promote civil society and democratic engagement to young people, hardly any secretive ploy to attack Jeremy Corbyn.

Given that a number of our staff have been subjected to repeated and long-term threats, intimidation and abuse, we made a decision not to highlight this support publicly, but did do so to partner organisations and those working within the anti-extremism (far right) activities, so that they were aware. This is perfectly reasonable given the long term threats to colleagues and to our organisation, including threats to mob our offices by anti-Muslim activists.

Faith Matters has been and will continue to be critical of the poor way in which antisemitism has been tackled within the Labour Party and the way that Jeremy Corbyn has linked up with groups who have a very poor track record of relationships with communal Jewish organisations. Correspondingly, we have consistently been critical of the Conservative Party and their lack of transparency and action around stamping out anti-Muslim bigotry within parts of their membership base. Notably, Middle East Eye have missed this element out and focused on the former. 

It is also interesting to note what respected BBC journalist Daniel Sandford said of the Middle East Eye in August 2019:

“The story about the Home Office secretly funding the “This is woke” social media brand was brought to us by Middle East Eye, whose funder is unknown. Sigh. They are all at it.”

He then added:

“Basically what you do is run a “news” or “issues” web-site or brand. Put all kinds of content interesting to your target audience on it, and then slip in hidden messages or a deliberate editorial slant.”

Sandford clearly understood MEE is about.

Financing of Middle East Eye

Little information can be found on the funding sources of Middle East Eye. David Hearst, the MEE’s editor in Chief who was a former foreign correspondent for The Guardian has refused to highlight where the site’s financing comes from. He has previously stated that it comes from “individual private donors”. So much for the transparency that they try and enforce on others.

Hearst has previously written articles somewhat fawningly entitled, “It’s open season on the Muslim Brotherhood” and “Why the West Cannot Afford to Ignore Political Islam”.

In an article for Middle East Monitor (MEMO) in February 2019, Hearst commented on the cancelling of a Parliamentary room booked for the controversial Chris Williamson MP where the film ‘WitchHunt’, sympathetic to Labour activist Jackie Walker was to be shown. Hearst stated:

“The debate about antisemitism in the Labour Party is all about Israel, and whether indeed anti-Zionism is antisemitic”.

He also went onto add:

“The problem lies with the Board of Deputies (of British Jews) which claims to speak for all Jews in Britain. These are the leaders who have appointed themselves judge, jury and hangman in each and every allegation of antisemitism”.

For Hearst to reject what was at its heart calls to tackle antisemitism in Labour, betrays any empathy or understanding for Jewish Members of Parliament like Luciana Berger, Louise Ellman or Ruth Smeeth MP.

Additionally, Hearst’s attack on a respected communal organization where Board members are elected and held accountable by members of Jewish communities, was not only uncalled for, it deflected from the abhorrent and misjudged comments by Walker who previously said:

“In terms of Holocaust Day, wouldn’t it be wonderful if Holocaust Day was open to all people who experience Holocaust?”

This seems like a noble sentiment and when challenged that Holocaust Memorial Day included other genocides such as Rwanda and Srebrenica, she stated that it was not ‘advertised’ as such – which was patently untrue.

The Director of Middle East Eye – Jamal Bassasso

Al Jazeera (AJ) connections with Middle East Eye also should raise eyebrows as to who finances this outlet? The Director of Middle East Eye Ltd is Jamal Bassasso who was a former director of planning and human resources at Al Jazeera. It is also known that Jonathan Powell, who worked with Al Jazeera since 2009, was one of the founding members who supported the infrastructural set up of Middle East Eye. Powell worked for around 6 months to support the set up of MEE before returning to Doha to carry on his work for Al Jazeera.

Bassasso was a former director for  Samalink, which in turn was the registered agent for the website of the Hamas linked Al Quds TV. Hamas’ antisemitism is well known, and let us not forget that Hamas recently saluted Jeremy Corbyn for his support for a pro-Palestinian rally in which a speaker stated that Jewish organisations are ‘in the gutter’ and are ‘part of the problem’.

Al Jazeera and the state that funds it (Qatar), through its associations with some of the individuals mentioned above need to be highlighted. Remember this is the same state (Qatar) that gave sanctuary to one of the Muslim Brotherhood’s religious leadership, one Yusuf-Al-Qaradawi, who has been barred entry into the UK. It is precisely individuals like Qaradawi who have promoted antisemitism where he has issued fatwas authorizing attacks on all Jews. On Al-Jazeera Arabic in January 2009, he said:

“Oh God, take Your enemies, the enemies of Islam….oh God, take the treacherous Jewish aggressors….Oh God, count their numbers, slay them one by one and spare none”.

It is precisely this kind of hatred that Muslims Against Antisemitism (MAAS) was developed to challenge. Individuals like Qaradawi who were previously feted by the likes of Ken Livingstone need to be challenged and when leaders like Corbyn attend events in Doha in 2012, where in an interview with the Iranian state funded Press TV, he praised his ‘brothers’ – some of whom were speakers from questionable organisations, MAAS will challenge and hold to account such two faced leadership. At this very conference was Khaled Meshaal, Hamas’ political voice and Dr Abdul Aziz Umar who was given seven life sentences for his role in a Jerusalem suicide bombing.

So let’s be clear; Corbyn’s approach on tackling antisemitism has been abysmal and duplicitous. Until Jewish members and individuals feel that they have a home in Labour and until they feel that the leadership demonstrates tackling this hate, we will continue to critique this kind of behaviour. Attempts by sites like Middle East Eye to intimidate and bully us will not be tolerated. Muslims Against Antisemitism will continue to speak out as will Faith Matters which was founded on building better relations between Muslims and Jews; this is something that we know Corbyn has yet to enact through his actions. Instead he chooses to play off one community against the other.

Many Labour MP’s and members support our work. They have done so for many years and they continue to do so because we have challenged those who seek to divide and play off communities.

Finally, conspiracy theories suggesting that the BSBT programme is a covert mechanism to undermine Corbyn through not-for-profit organisations is not only perverse, it reeks of conspiracies that form the bedrock of parts of the hard left today. We don’t need to be critical of Corbyn or Boris Johnson for that matter because of a ‘higher’ plan. It is pretty simple; Corbyn has failed Labour and the leadership needed by many. This country needs a strong opposition. It needs a Labour Party that can hold the Executive and the Government to account, particularly at this turbulent time. For us, it is clear that Corbyn has fallen short of providing that.

Britain’s former Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has called Labour opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn an anti-Semite and said comments about Zionists he made five years ago were the most offensive by a senior UK politician in half a century.

Labour has been battling accusations of anti-Semitism for months, and Corbyn has previously apologised for what he has described as “pockets” of anti-Semitism in his party.

Sacks, who was Britain’s Chief Rabbi from 1991 to 2013, accused Corbyn of having “given support to racists, terrorists and dealers of hate who want to kill Jews and remove Israel from the map”.

He said Corbyn had depicted a group of British citizens as “essentially alien” when it was revealed last week he said in 2013 that British Zionists “don’t understand English irony” despite “having lived in this country for a very long time”.

“When he implies that, however long they have lived here, Jews are not fully British, he is using the language of classic pre-war European anti-Semitism,” Sacks told the New Statesman political magazine.

“Now, within living memory of the Holocaust, and while Jews are being murdered elsewhere in Europe for being Jews, we have an anti-Semite as the leader of the Labour party and Her Majesty’s opposition. That is why Jews feel so threatened by Mr Corbyn and those who support him.”

Labour said in a statement there is no place for anti-Semitism in their party and that they are committed to rebuilding trust with the Jewish community.

Some opinion polls put Labour ahead or level with Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives, meaning he is a potential British leader, although the next election is not due until 2022.

Sacks compared Corbyn’s comments to the infamous “Rivers of blood” speech by Enoch Powell in 1968 in which the then-Conservative shadow cabinet member warned of the dangers of immigration. His speech is widely regarded as one of the most divisive made by a modern British politician.

Labour dismissed the comparison with Powell as “absurd and offensive”.

Since unexpectedly becoming Labour leader in 2015 after decades spent on the left-wing fringes of the party, Corbyn has repeatedly faced accusations of turning a blind eye to anti-Semitic comments in the party and among groups he supports.

Corbyn has responded to protests by meeting Jewish community leaders, reassuring Jewish people they are welcome in the party.

In his 2013 speech to a meeting convened by the Palestinian Return Centre, Corbyn spoke about the importance of history and of how necessary it was for people to understand the origins of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

He said Zionists had “two problems” – firstly, that they do not study history and, secondly, they do not understand English irony.

After the emergence of footage, Labour asserted that Corbyn had been referring to a “group of pro-Israel activists” and had not been singling out Jewish people as a whole.

The deputy leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party increased pressure on its leader, Jeremy Corbyn, over anti-Semitism on Sunday, saying the party could “disappear into a vortex of eternal shame” unless he tackled a growing crisis.

Corbyn has been criticised by Jewish groups for what they describe as his tolerance of anti-Semitism in Labour, a crisis that has threatened his standing at a time when the governing Conservatives are struggling to unite behind a Brexit plan.

Corbyn’s again appealed to Jewish members on Sunday, using a video message to press his pledge to drive anti-Semitism out of the party “for good” after a similar attempt fell flat for several Jewish groups on Saturday. One — the Jewish Labour Movement — called for action, not words.

In an interview with the Observer newspaper, deputy leader Tom Watson took aim at Corbyn saying the party had to “take a long, hard look at ourselves, stand up for what is right and present the party as fit to lead the nation – or disappear into a vortex of eternal shame and embarrassment”.

“I think it’s very important that we all work to de-escalate this disagreement.”

He called on Corbyn to adopt in full an internationally accepted definition of anti-Semitism. Labour says it has concerns about part of the definition but had re-opened discussions to take into account Jewish community concerns.

In his message, Corbyn did not refer to the definition but apologised for the hurt caused to many Jewish people and pledged to speed up disciplinary cases in Labour to drive out anti-Semitism.

“People who use anti-Semitic poison need to understand: You do not do it in my name, or the name of my party. You are not our supporters,” he said.

The Labour Party has been benefiting in the polls from a row in the Conservatives over Prime Minister Theresa May’s plans for Britain to leave the European Union, which has deepened divisions and raised the possibility of an early election.

But some Labour members fear the growing row over anti-Semitism will damage the party before an election, which is due in 2022.

“When my family helped to form the Labour Party in 1906, they suffered terribly because of that. The Jewish community in Leeds stood beside them and supported them. That is why I took on the role 13 years ago chairing the All-Party Group. I didn’t expect today when Labour members stand in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues and Jewish communities, to be targeted by an organisation called Momentum, which has happened to all of us who stood in solidarity, but worse than that that, explicitly targeting Jewish members of the Parliamentary Labour Party because they are Jewish. That is what is going on at the moment. I did not expect when I took on this voluntary cross-party role, for my wife to be sent by a Labour Marxist anti-Semite, a dead bird through the post, I didn’t expect my son after an Islamist death threat to open the door in the house as a school boy to the bomb squad. I didn’t expect my wife in the last few weeks from a leftist anti-Semite in response to the demonstration to be threatened with rape. I didn’t expect my daughter similarly to have to be rung up in the last few weeks by special branch to check out her movements in this country. No, I didn’t expect any of that.

“And I tell you the principles that we operated on. The very first speech that I made on this, 13 years ago in this chamber, that every party in this house should look after its own backyard first. And I have said that repeatedly on hundreds of occasions since and I have specifically in private letters to every party in this house, repeatedly challenged antisemitism in all parties. And for years action was taken, painful action and I am not sure people welcomed getting the letters and having the discussions with me in all parties, but that was the principle we operated on and we worked cross-party. And I recall that Jewish people used to say, “Is it true that there is a growth in anti-Semitism?”

“We identified 13 years ago the three forms of anti-Semitism. Islamist anti-Semitism, traditional right anti-Semitism and the anti-Semitism of the new left, all documented and discussed in here. It is not new. And those who say it is a smear, a smear, in raising this issue need to publicly apologise and publicly understand what they are doing and saying and the dangers.

“It does not end with me and my family, it does not end with British members of Parliament here, this stuff ends is what happened in Copenhagen, is what happens in Brussels, is what happened in France repeatedly including 4 weeks ago. People murdered because they are Jewish. That’s where this ends. You know this ends and this is the reality now.

“Last night in my constituency – it is constant, explicit anti-Semitism and then the bigger group. The excusers for anti-Semitism, the people who say this is something to do with who the leader of the Labour Party is and in challenging him. No it isn’t, in the 13 years I have been doing this, what Jewish people say to me now is different to what they said 13 years ago. “Is it true that there is a growth in anti-Semitism”, 5 years ago Jewish people would come up to me and say, “we’re concerned that there is a rise in anti-Semitism”.  I am stopped in the street everywhere I go now by Jewish people who say to me very discreetly, “I am scared”. Young people, old people, “I am scared”. You see what happened in France and you see what happened in Belgium and you see what happened in Copenhagen and then you understand why people are scared.

“People who are scared, young Jewish members to go to a Labour Party meeting with me because they are fearful of how they will be intimidated and threatened and how their identity will be challenged

“Any Jewish person is entitled to say and define that they are an anti-Zionist and I have no right to challenge that. Any Jewish person has the right to say, as the vast majority do, “I am a Zionist” and I have no right to deny them that and those that do are racists. And just that change in language by making the word ‘Zionist’ as a pejorative insult by the Labour Party, just that change, would alter the dialogue in this country in a very big way. We all have a choice on what we do, stand in solidarity with the Jewish members of Parliament under attack today, that is the role of Parliamentarians.”

Numerous newspapers have picked up on the ‘Palestine Live’ Facebook group that the Labour Leader, the Rt Hon. Jeremy Corbyn, had once been a participant within. The Labour Party has also moved to suspend members of the secretive group according to Ha’aretz and the issue is not going to go away particularly when so many within Jewish communities are feeling very uneasy with regular reports of anti-Semitic discourse from some within the Labour Party.

Furthermore, the level of mistrust from Jewish communities towards the Labour leadership has sharply risen and this is something that is particularly concerning, given that the Labour Party has historically been at the vanguard of tackling and countering anti-Semitism for decades. Trade Union movements and other Labour affiliated grass-roots movements have made a point of challenging hatred, racism and bigotry where they found it.

However, of late, that gulf between Jewish communities and the Labour Party continues to become a gaping chasm. Reports by David Collier on the ‘Palestine Live’ Facebook page paint a devastating picture of anti-Semitic discussions within the group and full details of the reports can be found here and here. 

The Labour Party has been quick to issue denials around the activity of the Opposition Leader and have stated that he did not mention anything within the social media group that was anti-Semitic in nature. 

In all of this, the Palestinian cause of self-determination is not assisted by those who sit in the United Kingdom and who support the cause of Palestine by promoting anti-Semitic discourse. This also goes for those who couch their anti-Semitism  through the liberal sprinkling of the term ‘Zionist’, a term also used against those who work with Jewish communities and who are from Muslim communities.

The cause of Palestine has sadly been hijacked by many, including Islamist extremists and anti-Semites, who have both done a dis-service to Palestinians, and to many other communities. Such individuals and groups must be called out and held to account, since in the end, they help no-one but promote poison within the heart of communities. 

After the national debate on Antisemitism, the Labour Party has set up a working group to stamp down on Antisemitism, which is to be warmly welcomed. Antisemitism, like other forms of hatred and prejudice, must be tackled and tackled with vigour.

Yet,there is also a unique nature to Antisemitism that we should acknowledge. We also need to be aware of the deep scar of the Holocaust and the over-riding spiritual, religious and cultural trauma that it has caused and will continue to shape feelings and fears within Jewish communities for well over another hundred years. This must be taken into account and reactions also need to be seen through this lens.

European Jewry was, in a mechanised fashion, virtually wiped off the face of the continent and through that lens, we must always understand and empathise with the gut like reaction to Antisemitic discourse that takes place within Jewish communities. However, this does not mean that the policies of the State of Israel cannot be scrutinised and objected to. The latter is legitimate political discourse and there is no getting away from that fact.

Yet, over the last few days, the wider public may have got the impression that Muslims and Jews are completely at odds with each other over Israel and Palestine. As though it is the only thing that shapes relationships between both communities. This has been the impression that many beyond these two communities have got and the furore over the last two days may have further consolidated these positions. However, this is not the full picture.

Work between Muslim and Jewish communities has yielded much that is positive to both communities and to our country. Let  us be clear. Interfaith, conflict resolution, cohesion and integration work between both communities has meant that investment has been injected into local communities in our country. It has ensured the safety and security of both communities and of wider communities. It has ensured that the United Kingdom is seen as a beacon of hope globally of how communities can and do work together. And it has given strength to both communities to reach out and to take on extremist and bigoted groups, for the safety of these communities and our nation.

Much of this is not talked about or mentioned in the headlines. Much of this is not even recognised, but the reality is that it happens every day and goes without notice, yet we all feel the benefits.

Let us therefore remember that even in the darkest of moments, Jewish and Muslim communities hold a candle of hope for a better future. There are others within and beyond these communities who will try and snuff out that light, but they will not be successful. Nor should we let their voices be the enduring ones in the public space. We simply cannot allow them to shape our collective futures.

The post Let us Not Forget That There is Much That Binds Muslims and Jews appeared first on TELL MAMA.