Labour activist embroiled in anti-Semitism row should NOT be on NEC, suggests Chakrabarti
SHADOW Attorney General Shami Chakrabarti implied she would be more comfortable if a Labour activist at the centre of the anti-Semitism scandal had not been re-elected to the National Executive Committee (NEC).
Peter Willsman called Jewish members “Trump fanatics” and accused them of fabricating anti-Semitism in the party.
He was re-elected to the NEC in September in the midst of the row over the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism.
He later apologised for his comments and referred himself for equalities training.
Baroness Chakrabarti, who chaired an inquiry into anti-Semitism in 2016, was asked on Sky News if she would feel more comfortable if Mr Willsman had not been re-elected, to which she replied “possibly”.
However, she added: “But he has apologised and people have to have the opportunity to reflect and learn and change and be more sensitive and become aware of other people’s experiences.”
Her comments come ahead of an expected publication of new Government statistics demonstrating the scale of hate crime in the UK.
It is expected that these official figures will show a rise in hate crime against Jewish people.
The Community Security Trust, a Jewish safety group, recorded 727 anti-Semitic incidents in the first half of 2018.
Peter Willsman was outed as disbelieving Jewish voices in the Labour party in July when an audio recording of his outrageous comments was released.
He can be heard on the recording saying he was “not going to be lectured to by Trump fanatics making up duff information without any evidence at all”.
He also said rabbis should be asked “where is your evidence of severe and widespread anti-Semitism in this party”.
Lady Chakrabarti said it was important to “try and listen to the broader experience” and “understand things that you have not experienced yourself”.
She said: “Well guess what, if you aren’t Jewish, you are not going to have necessarily personally experienced it and maybe you have been insensitive to it or maybe it is just you are speaking through your own experience.
“The thing about racism of any kind or frankly misogyny or any other kind of discrimination or hate, the thing about it is that you have got to try and listen to the broader experience.
“You have got to try and understand things that you have not experienced yourself and that was what I was trying to advocate then and continue to advocate now.”