Labour Party Marxists proudly supports Labour Against the Witchhunt (LAW), which was launched on October 21 2017 in response to the expulsion from Labour Party membership of emeritus professor Moshé Machover – one of a long line of socialists, Corbyn supporters and defenders of Palestinian rights expelled or suspended on bogus charges of anti-Semitism.
LAW’S KEY DEMANDS:
- We demand that the Labour Party ends the practice of automatic, instant, expulsion or suspension of Labour Party members without a hearing, with no right of appeal;
- that all those summarily expelled or suspended from membership without due process be immediately reinstated;
- that a member accused of a breach of rule be informed of who their accuser is;
- that a member accused of a breach of rule be given all the evidence submitted against them by their accuser;
- that a member accused of a breach of rules be regarded as innocent until proven guilty;
- that membership rights must not be removed until disciplinary investigations and procedures have been completed;
- that disciplinary procedures must include consultation with the accused member’s CLP and Branch;
- We demand that the Labour Party reject the International Holocaust Memorial Alliance (IHMA) definition of anti-Semitism, which conflates anti-Semitism with support for the rights of the Palestinian people and with criticism of the state of Israel and its racist and apartheid policies and practices. Instead, the Labour Party should adopt a simple, straightforward, definition of anti-Semitism, such as Brian Klug’s definition: “Anti-Semitism is a form of hostility to Jews as Jews, where Jews are perceived as something other than what they are”.
- We demand the immediate abolition of the Labour Party’s “compliance unit”. Disciplinary decisions should be taken only by elected bodies, not by paid officials.
Steering Committee: Peter Firmin, Tony Greenstein, Stan Keable, Jackie Walker.