University of London panel calls for the DESTRUCTION of Israel
The panel was addressing the problem of antisemitism within the Labour party
A Panel discussion on Wednesday night sponsored by the University of London Students’ Union (ULSU) has called for the annihilation of Israel as a way to end antisemitism.
Tariq Ali, a British-Pakistani journalist, film-maker and outspoken supporter of Hamas called for a one-state solution, arguing that anti-semitism was a product of the state of Israel and that its destruction would therefore bring benefits to Palestinians and Israelis alike.
According to Ali the Holocaust “taught as a unique crime is not helpful” and that “if what is being done with Muslim communities today were being done to the Jews again, how many would tolerate it? Very few. And these are the double standards,”
Another person on the panel, Arthur Goodman of Jews for Justice for Palestinians argued that Jewish groups shouldn’t be allowed to define anti-semitism due to a “conflict of interest”.
An Israeli activist present at the meeting tried to“articulate Israel’s case under immense pressure” during the Q&A session at the end of the panel.
The main message of the event, which attracted 300 people was that anti-semitism was used as a means to silence critics of Israel as well as the Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn – a leaflet handed out during the meeting argued that “some people…are wielding ‘antisemitism’ allegations as a stick to beat the Corbyn leadership.”
Other members of the panel included John Rose, a leading member of the Socialist Workers’ Party and critic of Zionism as well as Walter Wolfgang, a German-born Jewish member of the Labour Party’s National Executive Council who fled Nazi persecution in 1937.
Student Unions across the country have been battling claims of anti-semitism- the newly elected NUS president Malia Bouattia has been facing severe criticism after a video emerged of her referring to the University of Birmingham as a “Zionist outpost.”