This is a cross post by Dave Rich of The CST Blog
Liverpool Friends of Palestine states on its website that it is “affiliated with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC)”, and the Branch List page of the national PSC website includes a link to Liverpool Friends of Palestine. It functions, therefore, as the Liverpool branch of PSC.
The Liverpool PSC website includes a page titled “The Power of Zionists“. The first item under this headline is this cartoon, showing a Jewish man with a hooked nose and a Star of David flag, ordering an American soldier to fight a war on behalf of Israel:
According to one report, in 2007 this sticker was distributed in the United States by the neo-Nazi group White Aryan Resistance (WAR), and may have actually been produced by them. It is still available for download from the WAR website on a page of extremely offensive antisemitic cartoons (under the heading, “Kikes“).
There is no indication that Liverpool PSC are aware of the neo-Nazi provenance and use of this cartoon, but it reminded me of another, which was distributed in the UK in 1991 by the veteran (and now late) neo-Nazi Colin Jordan. Note again the antisemitic depiction of a Jew, with Stars of David on his pocket and around his hat:
In 1991, the then Shadow Foreign Secretary Gerald Kaufman MP was so offended by this sticker that he referred it to the police (Jordan was investigated but not prosecuted).
The first part of Liverpool PSC’s page on “The Power of Zionists” contains links to several articles and videos which allege Israeli, or Zionist, or Jewish control of America. A typical example amongst this selection is an article by Stephen Lendmanwhich claims that “the enormous Jewish Lobby” in America has had “grassroots and high-level control over government, the business community, academia, the clergy and mass media since at least the 1960s.”
The Liverpool PSC page then warns:
Now the Zionist lobby is hard at work in the UK and Europe, infriltrating the major political parties to ensure that, in spite of the well documented Israeli violations of human rights, political support for Israel remains strong.
The first article linked to which is about the UK or Europe is by Stuart Littlewood on the Uprooted Palestinians website, and begins:
Jews are Eight Times Over Represented in Parliament
At that rate Muslims would have 200 seats
By Stuart Littlewood 21 May 2010
Stuart Littlewood considers the phenomenal over-representation of Jews and non-Jewish Zionists in the UK parliament which, in terms of support for Israel, is magnified even further when viewed alongside the Conservative and Labour party leaders’ umbilical ties to the Israel lobby.
The article then goes on to point out:
The Jewish Chronicle has published a list of Jewish MPs in Britain’s parliament. It names 24 – Conservatives 12, Labour 10 and Liberal Democrats two.
I thought it was more. But let us for the sake of argument accept the Jewish Chronicle’s figures.
The Jewish population in the UK is 280,000 or 0.46 per cent. There are 650 seats in the House of Commons so, as a proportion, Jewish entitlement is only three seats.
With 24 seats they are eight times over-represented. Which means, of course, that other groups must be under-represented, including Muslims.
The concept of “Jewish entitlement”, whereby Jews (or other minority groups) are limited to a certain number of seats in Parliament according to their numbers, is entirely alien to British democracy. Candidates are supposed to appeal for votes on the basis of their policies rather than assuming “entitlement” because of their religion or ethnicity; and for a party to select candidates on the basis of their religion or ethnicity would almost certainly be illegal. But then Littlewood thinks the leadership of these parties is already lost to the Jews:
Meanwhile two Jews – the Miliband brothers – are battling for the leadership of the beaten Labour Party. Ed Miliband (former energy secretary) is 40 and David Miliband (former foreign secretary) 44, both far too young to lead this country, especially when neither has achieved anything worthwhile in the real world outside politics.
[…]
And still we are cursed with the cult of youth. Cameron, 43, had no significant achievement under his belt but was able to manoeuvre himself, with the help of Jewish backers, into Britain’s prime minister slot. He is also a self-declared Zionist and voted for the war in Iraq, so how can he be trusted?
Liverpool PSC have a standard disclaimer on their website, that:
Liverpool Friends of Palestine takes reasonable care to ensure that the information contained on this website is accurate and current. However, LDFP (sic – and as the acronym ‘LFoP’ is used elsewhere on the website, this suggests that whoever wrote this may also be an activist for Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine) is not responsible for the content of information on other websites linked from this site.
Any opinions expressed in articles on this website or others linked to it are the views of the individual author(s) with whom responsibility for any such views, rest.
Fair enough: but even without taking responsibility for Littlewood’s views, or for WAR’s cartoon, someone at Liverpool PSC clearly thought that they could contribute to their members’ understanding and knowledge of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
Liverpool PSC were not the only people to read Littlewood’s article and think it was worth bringing to the attention of their members. It was also republished by the neo-Nazi British People’s Party, under the web address “Jews in Power“. Liverpool PSC put it on a page titled “The Power of Zionists“. And at that point, any distinction between anti-Zionism and antisemitism collapses entirely.
wardytron notes, below:
LFOP’s Rosemary Earnshaw was one of the people, along with Gill Kaffash [of Camden PSC], who Paul Eisen thanks for “openly and repeatedly demonstrated their solidarity” with him in his essay My Life As A Holocaust Denier:
Of course the vast majority of people simply remained silent but there were some who openly and repeatedly demonstrated their solidarity e.g. Dan McGowan, Henry Herskovitz, Gilad Atzmon, Sarah Gillespie, Israel Shamir, Francis Clark-Lowes, Gill Kaffash, Amjad Taha, Randa Hamwi Duwaji, Cambridge PSC, Rosemary Ernshaw, Fr. Michael Prior RIP, Ernst Zündel; Ingrid Rimland.
Lucy Lips adds:
Rosemary Earnshaw demonstrates outside synagogues.
Just as the neo Nazi parties do, LFOP sets out to target schoolchildren. However, they seek to do so within the scope of the National Curriculum:
LFoP Palestine is able to help schools facilitate the delivery of aspects of Citizenship as specified in the National Curriculum
They appear to have had some success in persuading schools to show the Viva Palestina expedition. Viva Palestina is a campaign which is closely linked to the genocidally antisemitic political party, Hamas:
I have seen the exhibition when on a retreat at Loyala Hall and Rod has also shown the exhibition in Chester and a number of different schools.
Could you please consider having the exhibition at your local school. It will make a valuable contribution to the citizenship curriculum.
They also promote Gilad Atzmon, a man who claims that the Protocols of the Elders of Zion represent the true picture of Jewish Power.
The PSC is the EDL.