A prominent Jewish-led organisation has accused the media and politicians of ignoring the role of Jewish groups and individuals who support the Palestinian cause.
Jewish Voice for Labour co-founder speaks out
Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, co-founder of Jewish Voice for Labour, said that pro-Palestinian Jewish voices are being silenced and dismissed by the mainstream media and political establishment. She said that she and other Jews who oppose Israel’s policies and actions have faced hostility and accusations of being self-hating Jews.
Wimborne-Idrissi said that she has participated in many protests and statements in solidarity with Palestinians, but the fact that she is Jewish is often not noted or acknowledged. She said that the media and politicians “totally ignore the prominent role” that Jewish groups occupy in a lot of these marches, as well as Jews who hold pro-Palestinian views more generally.
Home Secretary criticised for calling pro-Palestinian marches “hate marches”
Wimborne-Idrissi also slammed Home Secretary Suella Braverman for calling the recent pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the UK “hate marches”. Braverman said that the protesters were chanting for the erasure of Israel from the map and participating in the “massacre of Jewish people”.
Wimborne-Idrissi said that Braverman’s views were “dangerously wrong” and that she was generating hate herself by suggesting that people who support justice for Palestine en masse are doing so out of hatred for Jewish people. She said that this was not true and that the idea that the police should treat those marches as an assembly of people committing hate crimes was “horrendous”.
Labour leader accused of having no moral compass
Wimborne-Idrissi also took aim at Labour leader Keir Starmer for his handling of the Israel-Hamas war and refusal to call for a ceasefire. She said that he deserved to be in a bind and that he had behaved despicably throughout. She said that he had shown complete contempt for the feelings of most British people who wanted to see an end to the killing.
She said that Starmer had no moral compass whatsoever and that he had ignored the voices of many Labour MPs and councillors who had publicly backed calls for a ceasefire. She said that Starmer had sided with Israel and its supporters, who she accused of being complicit in war crimes.
Wimborne-Idrissi’s own experience of being excluded from Labour
Wimborne-Idrissi also shared her own experience of being excluded from the Labour party in December 2022 for speaking at an event held by a group that was proscribed for allegedly downplaying accusations of anti-semitism within the party. She said that her treatment demonstrated the hostile campaign to which left-wing Labour members were being subjected, including disproportionate numbers of Jewish members.
She said that she had experienced anti-semitism herself and that her parents and grandparents were either refugees or Holocaust survivors. She said that her views were taken as being worthless by the media and politicians who only recognised Jews who were 100% behind Israel.
Will pro-Palestinian Jewish voices be heard?
Wimborne-Idrissi’s claims raise questions about the representation and diversity of Jewish opinions on Israel and Palestine in the UK. She said that there were many Jews like her who supported Palestinian rights and opposed Israeli occupation and oppression. She said that these Jews existed but were not seen or heard by the mainstream media and political establishment.
She called for more recognition and respect for pro-Palestinian Jewish voices and groups, such as Jewish Voice for Labour, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Jewdas, Na’amod, and others. She said that these groups were not anti-semitic or self-hating, but rather motivated by justice, peace, and human rights.
