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Rochdale by-election

Speaking of suspensions the BBC has had to apologise to Andy McDonald however, it appears that we have a category for suspension that I haven't heard before 'deeply offensive comments relating to the Israel/Gaza war'.

McDonald's deeply offensive comments were ""We will not rest until we have justice. Until all people, Israelis and Palestinians, between the river and the sea, can live in peaceful liberty."

 
Speaking of suspensions the BBC has had to apologise to Andy McDonald however, it appears that we have a category for suspension that I haven't heard before 'deeply offensive comments relating to the Israel/Gaza war'.

McDonald's deeply offensive comments were ""We will not rest until we have justice. Until all people, Israelis and Palestinians, between the river and the sea, can live in peaceful liberty."


Difficult to say for certain, with such an all encompassing policy, but I suspect that the party case against McDonald was based on section 7 of their antisemitism policy and their belief that use of the words from river to sea is deeply offensive to some Jewish people. But really, who knows with Starmer's regime?

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Have we had this? I remember a demand for such from a poster above but heartening to see it out in the wild


and their wives and children :mad: and any councillors they've talked to since then since they'll clearly have discussed it with them and weren't reported to the right wing group that enchantingly called themselves the Stasi.
 
The guardian have kept this as their lead story all day, and the more I look at those words, the more I marvel at them. Starmer has created a regime in which dissent is crushed and people challenging his words are literally frog-marched out of venues, but in this case he expected LP members in meeting to "call-out"one of his local lieutenants. Quite something.

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The guardian have kept this as their lead story all day, and the more I look at those words, the more I marvel at them. Starmer has created a regime in which dissent is crushed and people challenging his words are literally frog-marched out of venues, but in this case he expected LP members in meeting to "call-out"one of his local lieutenants. Quite something.

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Are you a Labour Party member? Do you know someone who might say the slightly wrong thing about the mass murder of Palestinians? Grass them up using this toll free number, or if you want a pay out, ring the Daily Mail.
 
Zero tolerance policy ftw :thumbs:

I'm surprised the Guardian isn't fully behind this by the way, they certainly were last time out.
The only surprise here, so far, is that haven't yet dug up any other 'antisemitic' comments from other candidates etc.
 
And so it begins, a third man has been spoken to but not un-personed:


However the Telegraph are on the case:

Arms to Israel, 'grave concern'? Israel 'violating international law'? Hadn't realised how much of an antisemite I must be to think such things!

That last bit about Debbonaire and the like is just brilliant, because there's such a simple, obvious reply to it, all Starmer needs to say is "haddaway and shite ya wee dafty, antizionism is not necessarily antisemitic, there is such a thing as legitimate criticism of Israel." And everything about his entire career and position up to date makes it impossible for him to say that obvious, simple thing.
 
It’s possible that, loathsome that Reform are too, a win for them here could have a silver lining - if it gives momentum to Reform they could decimate the Tory vote in a GE and lead to them being wiped out.
People made that mistake about UKIP in 2015.
 
That last bit about Debbonaire and the like is just brilliant, because there's such a simple, obvious reply to it, all Starmer needs to say is "haddaway and shite ya wee dafty, antizionism is not necessarily antisemitic, there is such a thing as legitimate criticism of Israel." And everything about his entire career and position up to date makes it impossible for him to say that obvious, simple thing.
Yes, as you say, he's not only stuck with a horrible position on Israel/Palestine, he also doesn't seem able to think his way out of it - he's stuck.

Sounds cynical to say the 7th October attacks and response to them provided an 'opportunity' for Starmer to reset Labour on this, but he certainly blundered in, seemingly unable to readjust in any way. They've had a long history of battles and bans over anti-semitism and even 2 days into the Israeli response they would have known things would ramp up, In fact starmer would have discussed exactly that with his advisers. Even I could have put a wording together for them, that would still be compatible with their fanatically pro-Israel stance. 'Condemn utterly the attacks of the 7th.... have a right to self defence... however, must be proportionate and avoid civilian casualties.... as soon as possible agree a humanitarian ceasefire.... speaking as a critical friend of Israel.... recognise strong opinions in the party and the country.... need for restraint in the party... oppose all forms of antisemitism and Islamaphobia... highlights need for a permanent settlement....'. Without that kind of modest adjustment, you end up supporting mass murder (check) and kicking your own members out for even the most modest kickback (check).
 
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"I want to be very clear here, I have always called for a ceasefire and continue to call for a ceasefire now"

that or complain that it's a divisive vote and he's very clear that he won't be drawn into a hasty decision.
 
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