You Can’t Be An Anti-Racist If You Are Not An Anti-Imperialist – Racism isn’t prejudice but the Justification for Colonialism
Starmer should have gone down on both knees – to ask for forgiveness for his support for Zionism & Apartheid – you can’t pick & choose which victims of racism you support
Keir Starmer’s Statement – apologies for the poor quality which is beyond my control. The original can be seen here
Whatever his other faults, Jeremy Corbyn was a dedicated opponent of Apartheid in South Africa. He even got arrested picketing the South Africa High Commission.
Starmer is completely different. He was elected as Leader having accepted the Board of Deputies’s 10 Commandments (Pledges) drawn up by the Board of Deputies whose constitution commits it to defend Israel right or wrong.
Starmer was quoted in the Times of Israel has saying that ‘I support Zionism without qualification.” He then goes on to say ‘“If the definition of ‘Zionist’ is someone who believes in the state of Israel, in that sense I’m a Zionist.”
This means that Starmer, who fully understands the implications of what Zionism and a ‘Jewish’ state means, is a fully-paid up racist. He knows fully well that an ethno-nationalist Jewish state cannot be other than a state that relegates non-Jews to a guest status.
A Zionist is not someone who believes in the State of Israel in the abstract. It’s someone who supports Israel, as a Jewish state as opposed to a state of its own citizens. As Netanyahu has often repeated, Israel is not a state of its own citizens but only of its Jewish citizens. That is Apartheid.
That is why you get the phenomenon of what happened in Afula, a nearly 100% Jewish city in Israel. Last summer, hundreds of Israelis in Afula demonstrated against the sale of a single house to an Arab. The demonstrations included the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Afula. This is what a Jewish state means in practice and it is this that the wretched Starmer and his useless deputy, Angela Rayner support.
Netanyahu has made it clear that when and if Israel annexes 30% of the West Bank including the Jordan Valley, it will only be annexing the land. The people or rather the Palestinian people will not be granted Israeli citizenship. This is not just the policy of Netanyahu but of the whole Israeli government, including the Israeli Labor Party.
Palestinians in ‘enclaves’ will continue to live under military law. This is what is called Apartheid but maybe the wretched Starmer has another word for it? Zionism?
The Jewish Labour Movement describe the ILP as their ‘sister’ party. Since the ILP has signed up to Netanyahu’s vision of legally entrenched Apartheid I look forward to them disaffiliating from them!
The JLM has been waging the ‘anti-Semitism’ war in the Labour Party with the full blessing of Starmer. On March 16 Starmer met with the JLM and they handed him a list of activists, especially Jewish activists, to target for expulsion.
If we are to take Starmer at his word, he opposes the racist violence of the United States Police whilst supporting the Israeli state’s violence against Palestinian people.
In August 2016 Black Lives Matter caused a storm amongst the Zionists when, after sending a delegation to Israel/Palestine they adopted a policy which termed Israel an Apartheid state. They also supported BDS and accused Israel of waging a genocidal war against the Palestinians.
Why? Because Black people are the best able to recognise and understand the similarities between their experiences and that of the Palestinians. Of course White Liberals were outraged. None more so than Zionists who believed that their ‘support’ for BLM could, as has historically been the case with the leaders of America’s Black community, be exchanged for support for Israel.
BLM have refused to engage in this game of bartering support in exchange for betraying the Palestinians. That is why the Zionists have for the last 4 years been doing their best to undermine BLM.
The present mass movement in the United States coupled with the historic support of America’s Jews for the Democrats, something reinforced by the naked anti-Semitism of Trump’s Christian Zionism, means American Jews have been even more repelled by the Republicans. America’s Jews know that racism against Black people is waged by the same people that would like to see them under the racist thumb.
That is one more reason why support for Israel is against the interests of America’s Jews. Israel is supported by the most racist elements in the USA.
But for Starmer to take the knee when he has openly come out in support of the Zionist state is the purest hypocrisy.
I watched Starmer’s video statement with growing disbelief. Starmer can’t help the fact that he is a a wooden version of a human being. What he can help though is engaging in a piece of political theatre. His statement oozed with insincerity.
‘I was shocked and angered at the killing of George Floyd’ he began. Does anyone seriously believe this for a moment? As James Smith wrote last January ‘In 2009 and 2010, Starmer refused to prosecute the police officers accused of killing Jean Charles de Menezes and Ian Tomlinson (although in the latter case, he changed his mind in 2011 when new evidence came to light).’
In the Tomlinson case there was a Metropolitan Police and Independent Police Complaints Committee cover-up with a first post-mortem conducted by a dishonest and incompetent pathologist, who even the Met had reported to the Home Office in 2005. He repeatedly failed to record bruises to the body in victims. A trick he repeated with Tomlinson. Something which wasn’t helped by the fact the police had asked him to “rule out any assault or crush injuries associated with public order”.
Whenever the Police were given an opportunity they lied. Until video evidence surfaced they alleged the Police had tried to save Tomlinson but that they came under a hail of missiles. When film emerged, there were no missiles nor any attempt to save Tomlinson.
In all this the IPCC and the Met colluded. Starmer, as Director of Public Prosecutions refused until a jury reached a verdict of unlawful killing to prosecute the policeman, Simon Harwood, who had a string of complaints against him. In the end the jury acquitted him after a half-hearted prosecution.
Five days after George Floyd was murdered Palestinian Iyak Hallak, a 32 autistic man, was mowed down like a cornered animal, by the Israeli Border Police. The final 3 bullets killed him cowering in a garbage hut whilst his carer screamed to them that he was disabled.
In Israel none of the police have been arrested still less charged. Starmer, who professes to be moved by the killing of George Floyd has said nothing. Why? Because Starmer has declared he is a Zionist which means that he supports a Jewish supremacist state.
Israel – Where the technique of knee on neck was first invented
Zionism aims to keep the Israeli state as Jewish as possible which is why ‘Jewish settlement’ is a national virtue written into the Jewish Nation State Law. It is why ‘demography’ i.e. the number of Arabs in the state is a national obsession.
Jewish settlement means settlement at the expense of the Palestinians. Within 1948 Israel it means Judaising the Negev, Galilee or Jerusalem. It is about displacing the indigenous population, which is why half Israel’s Arab villages are unrecognised, liable to be demolished at any time.
Netanyahu has introduced a raft of racist legislation in the Knesset as part of his belief in the ‘Zionist dream’. Legislation such as the 2011 Admissions Committee Law which allows Jewish communities to legally bar Arabs, thus getting around an earlier court ruling in the case of Kadan which stated that Arabs could not be prevented from renting or leasing the 93% of Israeli land held for the ‘Jewish People’
Starmer, who is determined to appease Labour’s Zionist lobby, spoke of how ‘… the last week has shone a spotlight on the racism…’ He even had the audacity to quote Martin Luther King’s saying that ‘injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere’. You would look in vain for Starmer saying anything about the injustices against the Palestinians. His wife’s family lives there. We can only conclude that Starmer is a conscious racist
In his statement Starmer went on to
‘reflect on injustices in our own country… we must face to and understand and redress the systemic racial discrimination that exists in our own communities… the Labour Party stands with Black communities in our country and across the world because Black Lives Matter.’
This is the man who as DPP ensured that people caught over claiming their benefit, a minor problem compared to the billions lost in tax avoidance, could receive up to 10 years in prison.
When we read that“Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and deputy Angela Rayner have taken the knee in solidarity with “all those opposing anti-black racism”.
It is clearly a cynical attempt to cash in on public support for BLM. Starmer as DPP he was supremely unconcerned about Black deaths in custody.
When Starmer says that George Floyd: “must not become just another name. His death must be a catalyst for change.” the insincerity of this pale, white stiff representative of the British Establishment is clear to all. Starmer is the epitome of the Establishment’s opposition to change. That was why he was their chosen candidate to replace Jeremy Corbyn.
It is six years since the deaths of Eric Garner in New York from a chokehold in which he shouted ‘I can’t breathe’ and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
On 2nd August the Movement for Black Lives issued a policy document which stated that
‘The US justifies and advances the global war on terror via its alliance with Israel and is complicit in the genocide taking place.’
It described Israel as an Apartheid state and supported BDS.
According to CNN its Vision for Black Lives included ‘dozens of thoughtful policy recommendations designed to promote concrete, real-world solutions to racial and economic inequality.’ Unfortunately the Platform has disappeared from the Internet.
However it sparked a four year war by Zionist groups against BLM. In the The Tablet of 5 August 2016 Jonathan Greenblatt, Executive Director of the Anti-Defamation League, labeled the genocide slur “repellent”:
Prime amongst the Zionist groups attacking BLM was the right-wing Zionist Organisation of America. When Trump came to power, the Z ZOA invited Steve Bannon to be its guest of honour at its annual gala dinners in 2016 and 2017. In 2016 a Jewish demonstration led by IfNotNow and Jewish Voices for Peace led to Bannon not turning up.
In 2017 he did brave the Jewish mob accompanied by another Trump advisor, a genuine 24 carat neo-Nazi, Hungarian neo-Nazi Sebastian Gorka, a member of the fascist Vitenzi Rend with links to other anti-Semitic Hungarian groups. [See EXCLUSIVE: Senior Trump Aide Forged Key Ties To Anti-Semitic Groups In Hungary, Forward, 24.2.17.] and Anti-Semites feted by Zionist Organization of America Electronic Intifada 15.11.17.]
Unfortunately the ZOA, led by far-Right bigot Mort Klein, has no tactical sense. So when it began criticising BLM at the very moment it was leading a mass movement, other Zionist groups and organisations took fright. The Jerusalem Post reported that
‘A coalition of Jewish and pro-Israel groups have called for Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, to be expelled from Jewish umbrella groups, accusing him of “bigotry” and “hatred” following a number of tweets by Klein in which he accused Black Lives Matter (BLM) of antisemitism and promoting violence.’
On 6 June Klein had urged the Southern Poverty Law Center to put BLM on their list of hate groups, tweeting:
“BLM is a Jew hating, White hating, Israel hating, conservative Black hating, violence promoting, dangerous Soros funded extremist group of haters.”
Klein mixes anti-Black racism with anti-Semitic conspiracy theories involving George Soros as the all-powerful Jewish financier.
These Zionist groups, which have sat with the ZOA for years, tolerating Klein’s anti-Arab racism and bigotry, have suddenly woken up. As the Times of Israel put it on 10th June ‘At time of racial strife, US Jewish groups call to expel ZOA from umbrella org’
It wasn’t always like this. In April 2018 Ha’aretz reported that a range of Zionist groups in the United States ‘condemn Black Lives Matter Platform for Accusing ‘Apartheid’ Israel of ‘Genocide’ ‘. According to Boston’s Jewish Community Relations Council,
“We cannot and will not align ourselves with organizations that falsely and maliciously assert that Israel is committing ‘genocide,’”
a statement from the group read.“We reject participation in any coalition that seeks to isolate and demonize Israel singularly amongst the nations of the world.”
In December 2016 Fox News’s report told how
‘an investigation conducted by the Haym Salomon Center reveals the group’s embrace of anti-Semitism and collaboration with a State Department-designated terror group.’
What led to this?
‘In August, Black Lives Matter singled out Israel for condemnation, declaring it an “apartheid” state engaged in “genocide.” These accusations angered Jewish leaders, many of whom had steadfastly supported the BLM cause. Nonetheless, despite what can only be described as a total lack of relevance to its own agenda, BLM did not back down.’
The Zionists decided that opposition to apartheid in Israel was totally irrelevant to the fight for racial justice in the United States. That is what is called White Privilege.
Not backing down is indeed a sin in the eyes of Zionist groups accustomed to getting their way with the likes of Jeremy Corbyn. Their particular target was the Dream Defenders, who represent young migrants to America who are under most threat especially since Trump has removed the immunity from deportation.
Their offence was to proclaim solidarity with Palestinians. Fox explained that
‘DD claims that the black community in America, together with Palestinians in the “occupied” territories of Israel, are all victims of state-sanctioned violence. As such, the two causes are related and should learn “resistance” from each other.’
This was a result of a joint trip to the Palestinian territories in January 2015 by BLM and DD, the latter of which devoted‘an entire page’ of the DD web site is devoted to Palestinian solidarity. Unfortunately the web page is also missing.
The ADL, which calls itself an anti-racist organisation, has also been heavily involved in funding and organizing the trips of American Police to Israel to learn the latest techniques in repression, including the neck hold which Israel patented. The ADL in years gone by undertook spying on the anti-apartheid movement at the behest of South Africa’s secret police BOSS.
When Starbucks staff called the police after accusing Black customers of ‘loitering’ in April 2018, they set up a training day in racism awareness for their staff, which included the ADL. After protests from BLM Starbucks dropped the ADL from its ‘bias training’. Politico described how
‘Bowing to pressure from African-American activists, Starbucks excluded the Anti-Defamation League from an upcoming daylong anti-bias training session…. Almost immediately after the April 17 announcement, activists attacked Starbucks over the ADL’s involvement, citing the ADL’s support for Israel and its arms-length relationship to the Black Lives Matter movement.’
The activists described how
“The ADL is CONSTANTLY attacking black and brown people. This is a sign that they are tone deaf and not committed to addressing the concerns of black folk.”
As Cat Brooks, the co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project, told ABC News
“You can’t be a piece of an anti-bias training when you openly support a racist, oppressive and brutal colonization of Palestine.”
The Washington chapter of Black Lives Matter, meanwhile, tweeted that the ADL was “ultra pro-cop,” and cited a 2016 letter in which Greenblatt said
“ADL has not endorsed the Black Lives Matter movement” because “a small minority of [its] leaders … supported anti-Israel — and at times anti-Semitic — positions.”
In Co-opting Black Lives Matter to target Israel, Israel’s largest freesheet (owned by Sheldon Adelson) quoted Mark Greendorfer, president of the Zachor Legal Group attacking
“The cynical use of the Black Lives Matter by groups backed and controlled by foreign terror movements is nothing less than a repeat of the many other times that terror groups have used human shields to push their violence and hate,”
If Starmer is sincere in his support of BLM then he will have to drop his support for Zionism . But we know that he is anything but sincere. When the statue of Edward Colsten was thrown into Bristol’s harbour Starmer condemned the demonstrators. You have to obey the law however unjust it is. Martin Luther King’s take on this was slightly different. In Letter from Birmingham Jail he wrote
“How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: there are just laws, and there are unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “An unjust law is no law at all.”
Starmer would, if he’d been around at the time, told Anne Frank off for breaking the law by hiding from the Gestapo. As for the Suffragettes and Emily Davidson bringing down the King’s horse at the Derby, he would have been besides himself with rage. After all, the law must be obeyed, come hell or high water.
If you are going to quote Martin Luther King you can’t pick and choose which bits you like and which bits to ignore. What MLK said came as part of a whole.
Meanwhile, as Canary shows, the attempts to demonise BLM, on both sides of the Atlantic proceed apace.
Tony Greenstein
