Waltham Forest Labour and anti-semitism (1)

The Waltham Forest Guardian is reporting that the Labour Party has suspended Walthamstow activist David Watson, with a statement reading: ‘“An individual member of Walthamstow Labour Party has been suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation by the national party. We condemn anti-Semitism and racism of all kinds but cannot comment further until the Party investigation has concluded.”’

 Predictably, Mr. Watson denies any link to anti-semitism, and believes that the charges are wholly without justification (mercifully, he spared us the ‘I’ve been quoted out of context’ routine).

(see

http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/wfnews/14485879.New_anti_Semitism_row_for_Labour_as_Walthamstow_activist_suspended/)

Those who wish to delve deeper into the curious workings of Mr. Watson’s mind are able to do so courtesy of Harry’s Place:

http://hurryupharry.org/2016/04/27/meet-david-watson-of-walthamstow-labour/

Whether his ramblings add up to anti-semitism is open to question.

For my own part, I am struck by the fact that the one thing which unites virtually all the Leftists that I meet locally is their obsession with Israel. Talk to them about LBWF mis-managing millions of pounds meant to alleviate poverty in the poorer wards, and depending on their manners, they will more, or less, openly yawn. Seek to discuss something a little more esoteric – say the issues generated by local gangs – and ditto. But criticise Hamas, or defend Israel in any way, and you risk being sent post haste to Room 101.

I’ve often asked, ‘Why no concern with North Korea, then?’, but that just kills the conversation stone dead, amidst disdainful glares. 

Of course, one commonly accepted definition of anti-semitism includes precisely the holding of Israel to standards that are not applied elsewhere.