JSA disagrees with the decision to fire Rebecca Long-Bailey from the Shadow Cabinet. This was a disproportionate response and is yet another example of Jews being used as a political football to undermine the Left and sow division between our community and other minority groups.

We stand in solidarity with other minority communities in both the Labour Party and beyond, especially our Black siblings, whose experiences of racism have not been dealt with swiftly and meaningfully for so long.

We want to extend our solidarity to Palestinians and not obfuscate the need to hear from them about their oppression from the Israeli state. It is concerning that the impact of the Labour leadership’s actions may act as an obstacle to supporting Palestinian rights and liberation.

Peake’s words on the relationship between US police violence and Israel were inaccurate & it was right she apologised. While US police and Israeli security services collaborate, there is no evidence that this is where US police learnt the technique of kneeling on a person’s neck.

State violence against Black people in the United States long predates the creation of the state of Israel. Anti-racism is an ongoing process and it is important to engage in the work of holding each other accountable.

This could have been a teachable moment about the need for specificity and context when discussing Israel, so as to criticise its behaviour without engendering conspiratorial thinking.

Instead it was reduced to an opportunity for political factionalism.

We need to recognise how the seeds of antisemitism can be sown into criticism of Israel, while leaving space for us to criticise the globalised reality of police brutality and its impact on people of colour in Britain, the US, Israel/Palestine and the wider world.

We look forward to continuing our work to build a Progressive political project grounded in anti-racism and solidarity. This requires critical reflection, good faith, and a reckoning with the profound harm that colonialism and white supremacy has upon all minority communities.