Guardian letter banned for telling truth

Picture shows lobby outside NEC in support of Chris Williamson

The letter below appeared in the print edition of today’s Guardian (July 9th). It has mysteriously disappeared from the online version ‘pending investigation’. Guardian readers should be asking why. Here it is anyway.

Jewish Support for Chris Williamson  

We the undersigned, all Jews, are writing in support of Chris Williamson and to register our dismay at the letter organised by  Tom Watson, and signed by Parliamentary Labour Party and House of Lords members, calling for his suspension (Anger over return of MP who said Labour was “too apologetic” over antisemitism, 28 June).

Chris Williamson did not say that the party had been “too apologetic about antisemitism”, as has been widely misreported. He correctly stated that the Labour party has done more than any other party to combat the scourge of antisemitism and that, therefore, its stance should be less apologetic. Such attacks on Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters aim to undermine not only the Labour Party’s leadership, but also all pro-Palestinian members.

The mass media have ignored the huge support for Chris both within and beyond the Labour Party, support that includes many Jews. The party needs people like him with the energy and determination to fight for social justice. As anti-racist Jews, we regard Chris as our ally: he stands as we do with the oppressed rather than the oppressor. It should also be noted that he has a longer record of campaigning against racism and fascism than most of his detractors.

The Chakraborti Report recommended that the party’s disciplinary procedures respect due process, favour education over expulsion and promote a culture of free speech, yet this has been abandoned in practice. We ask the Labour Party to reinstate Chris Williamson and cease persecuting such members on false allegations of antisemitism. 

Noam Chomsky and more than 100 others.

Chris’ exact words are quoted in a previous article on this website: https://labourrep.com/blog/2019/6/28/welcome-back-chris