1. Pressure group “Labour against the Witch-hunt” have come out in support of me
2. The National covered the story today- read it at tinyurl.com/gmbnat2; please take note of the second comment at the end of the article, where my nemesis Rhea Wolfson is exposed (a mole at the GMB revealed she was behind my suspension as a shop steward and ongoing GMB investigation). What I ask you to do is to go to the website and add a comment at the end. It helps to push the story up the rankings; the journalist is being questioned by others at the paper as to why he supports this saga. He tells them that he is concerned about my loss of freedom of speech on Israel. Please help him convince the paper not to lose interest. What we really need is the Indy, the Guardian, The Times and the Eye to pick up on this story. They ignore all my press releases. With your help, we can shine a media spotlight on this subject. Because that is where the battle must be fought and won.
3. Michael Mansfield QC has agreed to represent me- he is the best lawyer in the country (read about him here as well) ; his success is our victory – donate to his expenses here
4. I have got one helper for Saturday (thanks, Gerry!) – I need one more? Will any of you living in London please help out with just 3 hours of your time – from 12 noon to 3? You can help carry the banner (we need 2 for that). If you can come, please email me at postmaster@roseburn32.plus.com
Here is my press release, sent to 130 journalists today:
SCOTTISH LABOUR ACTIVIST WELCOMES SUPPORT ON ANTI-SEMITISM ROW
Yesterday, Labour Against the Witch-hunt came out in support of Pete Gregson, the Scottish Labour activist who is in trouble with the Labour Party over his “death wish” petition at tinyurl.com/israelihra , when they published their post headed
“LAW Statement: Lift suspension of Peter Gregson from GMB, stop investigation”.
Gregson is hugely grateful for their support- they are the only body to publicly acknowledge the validity of the campaign, in spite of attempts by Gregson to get pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist groups and politicians of all parties involved. The charge sheet against Gregson from Labour can be read here . And here is his response to the allegations. His case will be discussed by Labour’s Disputes Panel on the 20th November.
Gregson has also been suspended from the GMB as a shop steward in the large public sector organisation in Lothian for whom he works; he is the only GMB steward for 24,000 people. On Saturday, the union informed him they would be writing to his employer after he named GMB Organiser and Parliamentary candidate Rhea Wolfson as being behind the union attack. (Gregson had mentioned her name in the comments string of this National new item when he learnt of her actions from a GMB mole.) Gregson faces GMB charges of anti-Semitism, also over the petition. The charge sheet against him can be read here.
Both Gregson and Wolfson are members of Momentum, but Wolfson is senior in the Party hierarchy – she sits on the National Policy Forum and is a protégé of Jon Lansman. Gregson had previously appealed to the Scottish Committee of the GMB over the allegations. His emails can be read here and here. In response, he was forbidden by the GMB Scotland Secretary from contacting them again: see here. Momentum Leader Lansman is furious with Gregson; see here.
Notes to the Editor
To understand how Israel drives the above actions through its IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, now adopted by most UK public bodies and Parties, please read “International campaign is criminalizing criticism of Israel as ‘antisemitism’” from “If Americans Knew” blog.This more recent long read is also very good: "BDS: how a controversial non-violent movement has transformed the Israeli-Palestinian debate".
Also watch Al Jazeera undercover documentary (passed by UK Broadcasting Watchdog as being accurate) “The Lobby” which shows how Israeli cash is used by Labour Friends of Israel and the Jewish Labour Movement ( and other Friends of Israel groups) to push for widespread IHRA adoption and take down tricky politicians. Hundreds of Labour members have called upon Labour’s Complaints Chief Sophie Goodyear and the General Secretary Jennie Formby to act against these bodies who bring Labour into disrepute by forcing it to ignore racism in Israel. All requests for action have been ignored time and again, as the Party focusses its energy on rooting out pro-Palestinian activists instead.
24 Palestinian trade unions wrote to UK unions and the Labour Party just a week before Labour’s NEC voted for the full IHRA on the 4th Sept. Their request, headed “Labour must reject biased IHRA definition that stifles advocacy for Palestinian rights” was an appeal by Palestinian civil society to the British Labour Party and affiliated trade unions. The appeal was ignored: read it here. These trade unions correctly observed that the IHRA is a “politicised and fraudulent definition of antisemitism”.
Norman Finkelstein, whose parents suffered in the Warsaw ghetto under the Nazis, also warned Labour against the IHRA in his blogpost of 28th August 2018 WHY THE BRITISH LABOUR PARTY SHOULD NOT ADOPT THE IHRA DEFINITION OR ANY OTHER DEFINITION OF ANTISEMITISM Another appeal that was ignored…
[PS if you want to see previous updates, please click below left]