I was not suspended from the Scouts for any “anti-Semitic activities” – I was suspended because I was Chairperson of the Campaign Against Bogus Anti-Semitism (now One Democratic Palestine). What happened was that a prominent Zionist, Rea Wolfson, who was a leading light at the Jewish Labour Movement, a Labour National Executive Committee (NEC) member and a regional officer at GMB Scotland learned of my petition through my letters to the NEC and chose to get me expelled I remain the only shop steward in the world to be expelled for criticising Israel- not for discriminating against Jews.

I think if you are writing to the home secretary to complain about me, at the very least you should get your facts right. Indeed, I was not victimised by the GMB for issuing a press release it was because I lodged a petition to the Labour Party leadership asking it to abandon the IHRA definition, headed “ Israel is a racist endeavour”, which 2,652 Labour Party members have signed. If you want to learn the truth, look at this video that Ken Loach told me he loved: But why let the truth get in the way of a good story? I have never claimed the holocaust was exaggerated, as I believe you well know. I said that “Israel exaggerates the holocaust for political ends”. What you call “simply unacceptable” holocaust denial is also absolutely untrue. I was defended at my hearing by two prominent Jews who were clear that nothing I had said was anti-Semitic (Rabbi Ahron Cohen and Tony Greenstein). The truth is that I was expelled from the GMB for breaching the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, which means saying “Israel is a racist endeavour”, not about discriminating against Jews.

Pete Gregson is a former GMB Union shop steward, who was expelled for behaviour recognised by it as “anti-Semitic and racist in nature” and “simply unacceptable” holocaust denial after he issued a press release saying that Israel is a “racist endeavour” and “tends to exaggerate the importance of the holocaust for its own political ends. The whole argument that I am anti-Semitic is made because you use the fraudulent and politicised International Holocaust Memorial Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism, which equates criticism of Israel with a hatred of Jews, a plainly ridiculous conceit and one which the definition itself declares to be anti-Semitic (the definition cites an example of anti-Semitism to be “Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.”) Your website posting contains many glaring inaccuracies about me. To: Jonathan Turner, Chief Executive, UKLI, However, it failed to prevent Edinburgh City Council from discussing what it can do to help Gaza- Edinburgh Council to Explore Support for Gaza – Twin Edinburgh with Gaza () when Police Scotland and Michael Mansfield KC gave assurances that, contrary to UKLFI threats, there was nothing illegal about twinning with Gaza. UKLFI is notorious for getting people fired or exhibitions closed for having the temerity to support Palestinian voices – it recently forced a London hospital to remove Gaza children’s artwork (see Chelsea and Westminster hospital: Why is Gaza Strip artwork by Palestinian children being censored? The Independent ). On 8 March UK Lawyers For Israel (UKLFI) launched a campaign to exclude Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss from the UK, in order to prevent him speaking on the Muslim and Jew: Beyond Israel tour.

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