Ken Livingstone and Naz Shah

Here's an article on Ken Livingstone by David Rosenberg of the Jewish Socialist Group.  In it he seems to come on the side of those seeking Ken's expulsion from the Labour Party:

If  Livingstone had had the nous, he would have simply noted Shah’s acknowledgement that she had crossed a line into antisemitism, welcomed her apology and then used all the weight of his background in anti-racism in London to utterly condemn the Tories for their thoroughly racist campaign against Khan. That could,  and should, have been the story. Instead he tried to excuse Shah’s tweets as “completely over the top but … not antisemitic”. Immediately after this came his infamous remarks about Hitler and Zionism.

David goes on to take exception to Ken invoking Lenni Brenner as a source for his Hitler/Zionism remarks.  David finds Brenner's work wanting.

Brenner’s book reads much more like tabloid journalism than any serious academic study. It makes crude allegations of Zionist-Nazi collaboration, treats the actions of some Zionists as representing all Zionists, and utterly distorts the power relations between Zionists and Nazis.

Within the same article David mentions the main victims of Zionism who have been absent from most of this bogus antisemitism campaign, the Palestinians:

this whole effort to try to find evidence of Zionists behaving badly in the 1930s in order to expose the way Zionism behaves today, is such a poor way of supporting the Palestinians and their just demands. It rests on too many crude generalisations. You do not have to go back to Hitler and the 1930s in order to expose and challenge the oppression of Palestinians by Zionist ideology and practice today.

I have a few problems with David Rosenberg's take on all this and here's something I wrote elsewhere:

Did Naz Shah actually apologise specifically for saying "the Jews are rallying" for Israel or was it a more mealy mouthed showtrial sort of apology couched in terms that failed to pinpoint what she had actually said that was antisemitic?  I thought it was the latter. In fact the more she apologised the more she seemed to be saying something like, "I'm sorry I said whatever I said, I had no idea of the extent to which the Jews rally for Israel".

And did Ken Livingstone actually make an intervention? Or was he invited to a radio interview with Vanessa Feltz? I thought that was the latter.

The first mention of Hitler was by Feltz and Ken responded.  He seemed to be pointing up the hypocrisy of the Zionist movement on the whole question of Nazi Zionist collaboration or of comparisons between Israel and the Nazis.

Certainly Ken invoked Lenni Brenner as a source but there are many sources to support the idea of Zionist collaboration with the Nazis including some that say that Hitler himself must have intervened to maintain Ha'avara when other leading Nazis were against it.

I think to gift the Zionists by throwing Ken under the bus when the NCC seems to have deliberately avoided examination of what Ken (and by extension, Naz Shah) actually did say would be a major mistake not least because if Ken's offence in the eyes of the NCC was to defend Naz Shah then what becomes of people who defended Ken?

My own view is that the NCC didn't expel Ken and avoided discussion of the "historical facts" because, as David said, most of what Naz Shah said wasn't antisemitic and what she did say that was antisemitic was no different from what most Zionists say (and indeed did say at that appalling select committee).  

The NCC avoided what Ken said about Hitler, Nazism and Zionism because what Ken said was broadly correct regardless of whether we run with Lenni Brenner as a source or not.  (eg, see this)

Of course this isn't now simply about the NCC charges. Ken is now being condemned for defending himself whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Regarding whether or not an exposé of Zionist collaboration with antisemitism or nazism is good or bad for the Palestinians is irrelevant given that Ken isn't being accused by JLM or the NCC of not being good for the Palestinians and if he was being good for the Palestinians no doubt he'd be accused of antisemitism for that.

So I don't think we have to twist or ignore facts to support Ken Livingstone. We should welcome a more forensic examination of all of the facts of both Ken and Naz Shah's cases.

For a more detailed examination of the case of Ken Livingstone and the NCC see this article, Compulsory Lies by Mike MacNair in the Weekly Worker.

East End of London before the Bankers moved in

You must find something of interest in David Rosenberg's latest mailout:

David Rosenberg’s

 East End Walks Newsletter •24•

April 2014 

david@eastendwalks.com

 www.eastendwalks.com

In this bulletin:

Next 6 walks • Radical Bookfair • Cable Street – the bigger picture • Weinstein’s War • Mackay’s hell of poverty • 100th anniversary • Phil’s photos • Bread and brotherhood

• Remembering Bob Crow

My next 6 walks

Sunday 6 April, 11am-1pm: THE RADICAL JEWISH EAST END

Sunday 13 April, 11am-1pm: FIGHTERS FOR EQUALITY (Westminster)

Sunday 11 May, 11am-1.30pm: ANTI-FASCIST FOOTPRINTS: A WALK THROUGH THE 1930s EAST END

Saturday 17 May 10.30-1pm: VISIONARIES, DISSENTERS, REBELS (Islington)

Sunday 15 June, 11am-1pm: ACTIVISTS, MILITANTS, PIONEERS – WOMEN OF THE RADICAL JEWISH EAST END

Sunday 29 June, 11am-1.30pm: SPARK OF REBELLION IN BOW AND MILE END

These walks can be booked online at www.eastendwalks.com or by emailing: david@eastendwalks.com

SPECIAL OFFER TO RETURNEES: If you bring a friend on a walk you have already done, your friend pays the normal rate but you go free!

Radical Bookfair

The Bishopsgate Institute, near Liverpool Street, which borders the East End just near Spitalfields Market, will be hosting this year’s Radical Bookfair on Saturday 10^th May from 10am-5pm. It will be taking place on all three floors of the building and will include bookstalls and talks from authors. There is sure to be some literature relating to the radical East End traditions, as Five Leaves Publicatons, who have an excellent East End list and published my book Battle for the East End, are among the principal organisers.

Cable Street: the bigger picture

To coincide with the bookfair, the Bishopsgate Institute asked me to do a special short course relating to the fight against fascism in the East End. My course, Cable Street and fighting fascism in 1930s London will be taking place over three sessions –  two in the classroom (evenings of Thursday 8^th May, Friday 9^th May) and a third session outdoors – a guided walk from Aldgate to Cable Street on the Saturday morning (10^th May). Full details and booking on http://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/course/1661/Cable-Street--Fighting-Fascism-in-1930s-London?&Keyword=CABLE+STREET&Category=&TimeOfDay=&

Weinstein’s war

This is the title of a book that is based on the letters exchanged between an East End socialist activist Dave Weinstein, a gunner in the 8^th army, and his wife Sylvia during the Second World War. David Weinstein had been a street speaker for the Independent Labour Party in the 1930s East End when the ILP together with the Communist Party were the main forces confronting the growth of fascism in East London. Co-author Jeremy Weinstein will be talking about the book at a meeting organised by the Jewish Socialists’ Group at 7.30pm on Sunday 11^th May. Venue (central London) to be confirmed.

Email david@eastendwalks.com nearer the time for details of the venue.

Mackay’s hell of poverty

“The East End is the hell of poverty. Like an enormous, black, motionless giant kraken, the poverty of London lies there in lurking silence…”.  This oft-quoted piece of prose about the late 19^th century East End is taken from The Anarchists, a novel published in 1891, set in London in 1887, and based on the very real struggles of that period, both in the East End and West End. The author was the Scottish-German writer and poet, John Henry Mackay. I tracked down a copy recently – definitely well worth a read!

100^th anniversary

One hundred years ago, in March 1914, a new publication hit the streets of East London, often sold from a stall outside a shop at 321 Roman Road. That shop belonged to the East London Federation of Suffragettes (ELFS) and the newspaper was the Women’s Dreadnought edited by a leading figure in the ELFS – Sylvia Pankhurst. The newspaper’s title reflected both their preparedness for battle and that they dreaded/feared nothing and no one. Unlike most of their sisters in the West End, the ELFS stepped up rather than turned off their campaigning during war-time, being especially active in work for equal pay as women temporarily took jobs of men called up for war. They also launched many other local initiatives to support women struggling economically during the war.  The inspiring story of the ELFS and Sylvia Pankhurst’s role as and activist and organiser features in a couple of my walks: in Fighters for Equality on 13^th April and in Spark of Rebellion in Bow and Mile End on 29^th June. Book now at www.eastendwalks.com

Phil’s photos

Looking forward very much to getting to the tail end of the launch of my friend Phil Maxwell’s long-awaited book Brick Lane, which documents the area in and around this iconic street through the stunning photos he has taken over the last 30+ years. Brick Lane is published by Spitalfields Life Books. http://spitalfieldslife.bigcartel.com/product/brick-lane-by-phil-maxwell-published-on-april-3rd

Bread and Brotherhood

Solomon Lever was the General Secretary of one of the smallst but longest lasting Jewish trade unions in Britain, the London Jewish Bakers Union. Most of its members were concentrated in the Jewish bakeries of East London. Lever died in tragic circumstances in July 1959, when he was also acting General Secretary of the Workers’ Circle, set up as a Yiddish-speaking immigrant based socialist friendly society in East London. The Workers’ Circle moved to Hackney following the Second World War. Its original premises in Great Alie Street suffered major bomb damage. The details of Solomon’s life and the issues and activities he was part of have now been researched and documented by his great nephew Jason and these can now be accessed on a website that Jason has put up: http://www.unclesolly.co.uk/

Remembering Bob Crow

Early in 2009 I had a phone call from Adrian Scott, a trade unionist, eager to book a walk with me for members working at his union’s central office. I was really pleased to find that he was calling on behalf of Bob Crow, leader of the RMT. Adrian was very insistent about the timing: “It will need to end at 6pm because the men will need a drink”. Around 25 people turned up for the walk. They weren’t all men as it happened, though they did have a drink or three. But the heart and soul of this walking party was their General Secretary, Bob Crow.

This was the start of a friendship formed through these walks and through our common campaigning interests. It was a privilege and pleasure to take Bob and his comrades on walks on three occasions, and on each one of those events Bob contributed a great deal to my narrative from his own experience and his deep knowledge of London and labour movement history. We sat together on a platform close to the Cable Street mural in 2011, on the 75^th anniversary of the battle, where we were both addressing a commemorative rally, a stone’s throw form where he grew up. He was very proud of the role that railway workers had played alongside tailors and dockers in fighting fascism in the East End of the 1930s and of those who went to fight fascism in Spain.

I last saw Bob and spoke with him about three weeks before he died suddenly, at just 52 years old. Our last conversation was about football. Bob was a die-hard Millwall fan, and me, West Ham – absolute rivals. I asked Bob if he knew why Millwall were doing so badly this year, and I suggested it might stem from when they appointed an ex-West Ham player (Steve Lomas) as their manager. Bob came back instantly with: “We all know about secret agent Lomas!”

Alongside several hundred others lining the streets by the City of London Crematorium in East London, I attended the emotional farewell to Bob Crow. He was a true representative of the East End’s militant traditions of trade unionism and anti-fascism. And he made sure that these traditions continued under his stewardship of the RMT. Salud comrade!

Hope you have found this newsletter interesting and useful and I would love to see you and your friends on a walk soon…

These walks are looking more attractive the more ordinary Joes are being driven out of the East End by bankers and corporate lawyers pushing property prices and rents beyond their reach. Still the East End's loss is Dagenham's gain.

Late Cable Street commemoration news

There have been a lot of Cable Street commemorations since the start of this month and some are still to come.  I went to a talk last week by David Rosenberg of Jewish Socialist Group and Roger Mills at Housmans, the leftist bookshop. David was discussing his book, Battle for the East End and Roger was discussing his, Everything happens in Cable Street.

I've been reading Battle for the East End and it deals with far more than the battle of Cable Street, more than just the east end and more than just fascism and the struggle against it.  The book is subtitled, Jewish responses to fascism in the 1930s but it is something of a social, political and economic history of the UK in the 1930s though of course there is a special focus on fascism, Jews and London's east end.

Here's the blurb taken from David Rosenberg's East End Walks site including dates of forthcoming talks and the chapter titles from the book:

Battle for the East End: Jewish responses to fascism in the 1930s

268pp ISBN: 978 1907869181 Five Leaves Publications, 2011, £9.99
What’s the book about?
During the 1930s, Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts intensified their campaign against the Jewish community, particularly in London’s East End. As that campaign became more overtly antisemitic, and more physically intimidating, Jewish groups debated how to deal with the Fascist threat, ultimately building their own defence organisations, and forging alliances with other campaigners.  The simmering tensions in East London culminated in the Battle of Cable Street, when more than 100,000 people, especially from the local Jewish and Irish communities, prevented Mosley’s troops from marching through the East End.

In Battle for the East End, David Rosenberg charts the changing nature of the British Union of Fascists’ ideas about Jews and describes the growing rifts between the official leaders of the Jewish community and those who wanted to mount an active resistance to the fascists.

“Battle for the East End is written by an anti-fascist activist with a real feel and connection both to the politics and the geographical area he writes about. For anyone who wants to understand the political, historical and cultural context in which the Battle of Cable Street took place then Battle for the East End is a must for the bookshelf.” Searchlight Educational Trust

“The Battle of Cable Street is one of the most celebrated moments in Anglo-Jewish history and, in Battle for the East End, David Rosenberg gives a compelling account of the context and controversies that surrounded it, made even more vivid by eye-witness testimony.” Nadia Valman, Jewish Chronicle

Contents of the book
Preface
Introduction
1. Britain’s Jews
2. How Jews were viewed
3. The rise of Mosley’s movement
4. Antisemitism and the British Union of Fascists
5. How Jewish leaders perceived the threat
6. Battle for the East End
7. Divided on defence: the grassroots rebellion
8. Rally to Aldgate and Cable Street
9. Antisemitism, fascism and the state
Conclusion
Order it online
To purchase the book online go to:http://inpressbooks.co.uk/battle_for_the_east_end_jewish_responses_to_fascism_in_the_1930s_david_rosenberg_i022676.aspx
Battle for the East End is one of five publications that Five Leaves are publishing to coincide with the 75^th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street. To see the other titles visit: http://www.fiveleaves.co.uk/

Come to a reading/discussion from David’s book
Wednesday 12th October, 7.30pm Reading/discussion at England’s Lane Bookshop, NW3 4YD
Thursday 13th October, 5.30pm, illustrated talk on Cable Street with book excerpts, in Small Hall Cinema, Goldsmiths College, SE14 6NW
Thursday 20th October 6.30pm Brick Lane bookshop, 166 Brick Lane E1 reading/discussion (jointly with Roger Mills)
Saturday 22nd October, 11am, illustrated talk on Cable Street with book excerpts, at the Anarchist Bookfair (room 319), Queen Mary College, E1

I must say that David Rosenberg deserves special credit for wading through a mountain of Jewish Chronicles from the time when they were advising Jews to not be so Jewish and to stay at home and ignore those nasty fascists.

Hasbaranik places "Israelis" in Spain in 1936

I can't quite do justice to what's happened here but there was a letter in the Jewish Chronicle on 8 July from a Martin Sugarman who has a certain amount of form for bogus Israel advocacy.  The letter claimed that the largest contingent of volunteers for the International Brigade against Franco in 1930s Spain was "Israeli".  I thought it was a strange claim given that there was no such thing as an Israeli then but I couldn't argue because I didn't know enough detail.  Never mind. David Rosenberg of the Jewish Socialist Group is a good enough historian for me and way to good for Martin Sugarman.  His letter was published in the latest JC print edition. They don't publish their letters on line but I'm well connected so I didn't need to copy it out:

It was very moving to see David Lomon and fellow International Brigade veteran Thomas Watters laying their wreaths at the International Brigade annual commemoration last weekend, recalling the volunteers for liberty who went to Spain to fight against Franco's forces. However Martin Sugarman’s claim (JC letters 8 July 2011) that Lomon is “the last surviving British-Jewish member of the International Brigade” will come as news to Stepney-born Brigade stalwart Lou Kenton who is approaching his 103rd birthday in a few weeks.

I’m sure that was an honest mistake. but then Sugarman goes on to claim that “the Israelis” per head of population “sent the largest contingent from any nation”, a claim made presumably so that those who support Israel today should feel a vicarious pride in those who courageously volunteered to fight against Franco.

The truth may be less palatable to them. There was no State of Israel in 1936, but there were Jewish immigrants in Palestine. The 300 Jews who went to Spain from that community (of whom 70 were killed) were overwhelmingly Communists who were committed to creating a bi-national state built on workers unity between Jew and Arab – a far cry indeed from the current state of Israel.

Moreover, the leaders of the Zionist movement in the Yishuv – left and right – completely disapproved of them going to Spain rather than staying in Palestine to work to create a Jewish state. Zionist leaders coined the phrase “Hanita before Madrid”, referring to a kibbutz that had been established in Northern Palestine. But the volunteers for the International Brigade went anyway, having decided that the fight against international fascism must take precedence.  Their conflicted lives have been celebrated in the film “Madrid Before Hanita” made by the Israeli film-maker Eran Torbiner.[links added by me]

Now consider why anyone would seek to misrepresent the identity of those fighting fascism?

More recent anti-fascism here.