London councillor to Labour Party: Drop 'zero-tolerance' to antisemitism
The constituency's MP, David Lammy, slammed the amendment and came out in support of the Jewish Labour members that also spoke out against it.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFMP David Lammy with Tottenham Labour Party members and others.(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
A councillor from the London borough of Haringey has asked that the Tottenham Constituency Labour Party (CLP) should remove a clause from a motion stating that the party should adopt a "zero-tolerance policy on antisemitism," The Jewish Chronicle reported.The request came from Councillor Noah Tucker, and added that the CLP's motion on Jew-hatred should also drop the claim that antisemitism “leads to a perception of complacency and collusion with antisemitism that is not without foundation” when the claims are not handled properly.Another request included in the amendment was that the CLP should not outsource the party's disciplinary process regarding antisemitism to an independent body, the newspaper said. This was one of the 10 pledges that the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the main representative group for British Jewry, asked Labour leadership candidates to uphold.“It is not antisemitic… to describe Israel, its policies or the circumstances around its foundation as racist because of their discriminatory impact” or “to support a settlement other than a ‘2 state solution’ of the Israel-Palestine conflict,” the amendment read, The Jewish Chronicle reported.The constituency's MP, David Lammy, slammed the amendment and came out in support of the Jewish Labour members that also spoke out against it.“David unequivocally rejects this amendment and stands by the Jewish Labour members who spoke out against it in the meeting,” his spokesperson said, according to The Jewish Chronicle.“He believes that the broad sweep of Labour members in his constituency, who were not at the meeting, would also disagree with the amendment.”Tucker, who once ran a far-left website called 21st Century Socialism, has made controversial comments regarding antisemitism within the Labour Party before.In 2019, Tucker spoke about the party's punishment of former MP Chris Williamson, who said that the party was "too apologetic" regarding antisemitism. Williamson was punished “for the crime of speaking of the truth,” Tucker said at the time.
