British Labour Party Suspends Members Of ‘Palestine’ Facebook Group
Jeremy Corbyn Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — Britain’s Labour Party suspended several members of a private Facebook group that included the party’s leader, Jeremy Corbyn, over alleged anti-Semitic hate speech.
Reports in the British media Thursday did not name those who were suspended. The group had thousands of members.
A spokesperson for Corbyn, a left-wing politician whom many Jews accuse of tolerating anti-Semitism in the party’s ranks, stressed in a comment to The Guardian on Thursday that Corbyn is not alleged to have said anything anti-Semitic in the group, which he left in 2015. The spokesperson also said that Corbyn should not be held accountable for the discourse.
“As anyone knows, in social media all sorts of things are posted which often others participating aren’t even aware of,” the spokersperson, who was not named, was quoted as saying.
Content from the Palestine Live group was revealed in a 250-page dossier looking at the posts and profiles of members of the group compiled by David Collier, whose blog is about anti-Semitism. Some of the posts include links to Holocaust denial myths, allegations of Israel’s involvement in the 9/11 and other terror attacks and the training of Islamic State fighters, as well as conspiracy theories involving the Rothschild family.
Corbyn posted several times in the group after being tagged in posts. He left the group around the time he became Labour leader.
A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren
We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.
With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.
— Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief
