Whether you believe it is a anti-semitic or not, she was asked to take down her retweet, and as far as I can tell she did not have a good enough reason not to do that but she refused, so quick action followed. I think the Labour leader was right.
Labour were criticised for being too slow on these matters, now they have to be seen taking action. The media and momentum will make it out as ousting a foe or the left-wing, because it suits their purpose.
Stu
Picking up on your comments, RLB re-tweeted a comment by Maxine Peake which , as well as making a comment regarding an Amnesty International report concerning Israeli security forces training Police in Chicago and Minnesota. also chronicled a whole range of failings of Capitalism and the current UK government in particular. I do think that anyone using Twitter needs their head examined and think that anyone using this platform is a recipe for disaster but , having read Ms Peake's interview in the Independent and finding much within in it with which I agree, feel that RLB's sacking is a gross over-reaction. There is plenty within the Independent interview that most normal people would accept. Even Sir John Major has been saying today that the existent of food banks in the UK is totally unacceptable.
I think it gave Sir Kier Starmer the opportunity to look strong but also gave him the opportunity to remove the one sop to the Labour Left. This is the main underlying story. I feel it to be deeply disconcerting when criticism of the Israeli government is now being snuffled out and appears to be something that cannot be discussed. There is very little criticism of the Israeli government in the UK and successive governments have refused to deal with the issue whereas all angles appear to have been debated to deal with de-radicalisation of Islamic fundamentalists including more sensitive reporting by the press where any incident such as the recent stabbings in Reading are more accurately reported as mental health issues. We are beginning to deal with these matters much more sensitively regarding Islam yet the press repeatedly turns a blind eye to the behaviour of the Israeli state. There is a serious issue here of double standards and people like Maxine Peake have actually visited Palestine in order to make more informed comments. This is not a case of some "air head" actress talking about something about which she knows nothing. I would like to see the Jewish community in this country make some kind of comment about the behaviour of the Israeli government but other than the likes of Gilad Atzmon, any dissent either does not get reported or does not exist. Either wittingly or unwittingly, the Labour Party gives the impression of not wishing to deal with what is happening in Israel.
At the same time, I have today received an e-mail from the Labour Party stating that this is "Armed Forces Day." I find this slightly odd that Labour feel this is worthwhile celebrating more that the recent contributions of the NHS or other key workers. It just sends out a message that Starmer's Labour Party does not have it's priorities correct and perhaps does not quite understand the current mood of the country insofar that the people genuinely recognise the contribution to society of those people who have shown in the last three months who demonstrably matters the most.
I do not think that RLB is unique in being victimised. The likes of anti-racist campaigner Marc Wadsworth still remain expelled from the Labour Party and the sacking of RLB is just one of the latest moves against those within the party with genuine Socialist credentials. At the moment the Left is being punished but it will not always be like this and especially so if the people protesting with BLM who want genuine change are not satisfied.
I tend to agree that Momentum will make an issue of this and would further add that I feel that this organisation is less relevant than it was say in 2016. However, I strongly believe that Jeremy Corbyn was a catalyst for making people believe that a Socialist government would make some serious improvements to this country. In many respects, the policy of the Govt since Covid-19 has vindicated Corbyn and history will prove Corbyn to have been right - is marginally ahead of the rest of the country in recognising the mood swing with such issues as Black Lives Matter. For me, the sacking of RLB is a tragedy but I think she will have her day. I had voted for her to be the new leader whilst understanding why people were unsatisfied with the previous election campaign.
A lot of the press articles I have been reading on line are expressing reservations that the Right within the Labour Party are gaining in confidence but they need to be careful because the majority of people who have become members did so purely on the vision offered by the likes of Corbyn, McDonnell and Abbott . These people are visionaries and they have not yet gone away. There are still the likes of Richard Burgon in the Party and we must keep our fingers crossed that they eventually win the day.