The pro-Israel and Zionist group Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) has been granted permission to intervene in the ongoing judicial review against the EHRC report into alleged ‘antisemitism’ in the Labour Party.
The legal challenge, which could see parts of the EHRC’s controversial report overturned, is being brought by former London Mayor Ken Livingstone and former Labour councillor Pam Bromley, who were the only individuals singled out for condemnation in the report.
In its long-delayed report of October 2020, the equalities watchdog found that Livingstone and Bromley had ‘contributed’ to alleged ‘unlawful harassment related to Jewish race and religion’ by the Labour Party.
Livingstone and Bromley initiated the legal process at the end of 2020, but the case has been delayed because of case management disputes. One issue that has contributed to the delay was the CAA’s late request to intervene in the case.
In a recent Court Order from Mrs Justice Lang, it was stated that ‘the Court is likely to be assisted by CAA’s intervention’. Lang describes the CAA as being ‘rooted in the Jewish community’, having ‘built up a longstanding expertise on the nature of modern antisemitism’.
However, the CAA has been criticised for its political activities. In 2018, the Charity Commission opened a regulatory compliance case after the CAA launched a petition calling Corbyn an ‘antisemite’ who ‘must go’. Moreover, the CAA’s Head of Political and Government Investigations released a disturbing video following the 2019 general election, celebrating Corbyn having been ‘slaughtered’.
The CAA’s understanding of ‘modern antisemitism’ is also highly contested, given its conflation between anti-Israel speech and anti-Jewish prejudice. The CAA is currently under investigation in a separate Charity Commission case.
Furthermore, the CAA uses offensive language to attack those with which it disagrees. In particular, in its press releases, it repeatedly describes Jewish Voice for Labour, a group created and run by Jewish individuals, as an ‘antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation’.
However, as an Intervener in the EHRC case, the CAA will now be allowed to make written submissions and even provide oral submissions at the eventual court hearing.
The hearing, which is likely to take place later this year, will focus on the EHRC report as it relates to Livingstone and Bromley – including concerns about their right to freedom of expression – which could lead to sections of the report being declared unlawful.
The legal challenge is being supported by the Left Legal Fighting Fund, a central fund to assist activists, protesters, and whistleblowers. The Fighting Fund was established at the end of 2019 by former Labour MP Chris Williamson from the costs he won after his High Court victory against the Party.
The crowdfunder can be found at: www.fightingfund.org/kenandpam
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