So anyone suggesting anti semitism in the Labour party is either an Israeli govt politician or a dupe of them?
That wasn't my point. What I was asking was: if non-Jewish politicians are also routinely accused of trying to bury or distract people from negative news by creating political rows or controversy or by trying to capitalise on political rows, is it antisemitic to make the same accusations against politicians who happen to be Jewish?
On the issue of lobbying, no I don't think everyone who makes accusations of antisemitism is an Israeli politician or a dupe of them. I think a lot of them genuinely believe there are pockets of antisemitism or supporters feel they have experienced antisemitism themselves. That doesn't mean that some Israeli politicians can't capitalise on this or ask people in the UK with whom they have links, to escalate accusations into a bigger row to create negative publicity and to keep up the pressure on UK politicians to try and achieve certain political goals, which might include distracting the media from focusing on other issues.
I remember going to a couple of talks at the House of Commons around the time of the 2nd Palestinian uprising (Intifada), which was attended by Palestinian spokespersons and negotiators. They were very clear on violence not being a solution to the situation. One of the requests that was made at the meeting though was that pro-Palestinian people in the UK should act in a more coordinated, effective way by copying the tactics of the pro-Israeli lobby in the UK or in the US. At another meeting people spoke about the tactics of AIPAC and resolved to learn from them. So people would sign up to receive an email where they were asked to contact their MPs and the media to protest about statements and stories that were unfavourable to the Palestinians. There was admiration expressed for the quick and effective way the pro-Israeli lobby mobilised supporters in Britain or the US to jump all over journalists and politicians who were unfavourable to Israel and demand answers, partly to educate but partly to try to make those politicians or journalists think twice before saying unfavourable things about Israel. Supporters would be asked to include key phrases when contacting journalists or politicians on the basis that repetition would make the argument more effective.
I even tried it myself - a few days after the meeting in the House of Commons, I got an email about a negative story and I called up Reuters, not expecting to get through to an actual journalist - it was very strange being put on speakerphone during an editorial meeting at Reuters, while I gave them my opinion on why their reporting on the Israeli - Palestinian conflict was biased against the Palestinians. They said they had had a few phone calls and emails that morning from various people making that same point and had finally decided to actually get a caller on the speakerphone so everyone in that team could hear, as they had not experienced this kind of a response to previous stories they had run. I didn't have time to get more involved but I know this ended up being a massive coordinated campaign aimed at Muslims to encourage them to become more politically active in a similar way to the pro-Israeli lobby. Not long after I started hearing the new phrase "the Muslim vote" being uttered in the media by politicians.
If, as it appears, this creation of "political rows" is part of the political tactics that some people employ, I am not really seeing what the issue is if Mark Serwotka wonders if this is is the case in relation to the antisemitism row.
