Farage and Robinson - Are they really friends of Israel

Amongst my readership there are some who have identified themselves as being overtly Islamophobic. Amongst these people are some who support  the thoughts and actions of the likes of "Tommy Robinson", Nigel Farage as well as  significant elements within the Reform Party and view them as heroes and true supporters of both Jews and the State of Israel.

But is this true? Are these people friends of the Jewish community or are they riding on our backs as a tool to attack the Muslim community?

Today's blog will try to tackle some of these issues.

First, let's look in depth at some of the personalities involved, because it is quite clear that, for the most part they are all highly charismatic personalities, well experienced in using the media for their own political ends. Of course, it could be argued in this respect they are little different from any other politician, but it is how they use their skills and whether it creates a threat to the Jewish community.

So, let us analyse the history and ideology of the personalities.

1. Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon)

Robinson first came to attention when he helped found the English Defence League (EDL) in June 2009. The EDL was set up originally as an amalgamation of football hooligan groups opposed to the presence of a small Salafi group called Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamah based in Luton, UK.As EDL beme more popular among the broad far right it expanded its remit to become a broadly ant-Muslim organisation, eventually with between 25,000 - 30,000 members and headed by Robinson. 

By the time he took the leadership of EDL, he was already an experienced political activist, having been a member of the UK British National Party (an organisation with significant Nazi roots and historical connections with infamous Nazis, including John Tyndall and Colin Jordan. The political scientist Chris Allen noted that the EDL shared much of the BNP's ideology, but that its "strategies and actions" were very different.

Robinson admits to his membership of the BNP, though has argued that he left in 2005 after a year because 'it was not for him'. However, his links to the far right did not end there - in 2012 he became vice chair of the British Freedom Party in 2012, headed by Paul Weston, a known antisemite and later, in 2019 Robinson became an active supporter of UKIP under the leadership of  Gerald Batten (a questionable character with considerable evidence of his antisemitic leanings).

                                                  Paul Weston

About the same time, he had a further fling with the far right by joining Patriotic Alternative led by Mark Collett, a known antisemite among the far-right community. PA itself is a political group known for its strong antisemitic leanings and clear links to the proscribed neo-Nazi terror group,, National Action.

Realising the risks of being associated with such an outfit, he quickly left and had a short fling with "For Britain", another short-lived far-right party headed by Anne-Marie Waters (an ex-Labour Party member turned neo-fascist) with links to a number of well known European antisemitic groups and individuals.

                               Anne Marie Waters

Robinson then calmed down for a while, only to reappear on a platform with Hitler look-alike, Alex Yerbury (yes, the one whose then girlfriend was a contestant in the far-right beauty pageant "Miss Auschwitz") of the National Support Detachment.

                                               Alex Yerbury

One of the greatest sources of confusion surrounding Robinson’s project is his claim to oppose antisemitism and his supposed support for Israel. For more than twenty years, Robinson has presented himself as a defender of Jews against Islam, invoking Israel's right to defend itself against jihadist opposition and framing his own street politics as part of that struggle.

Robinson’s alignment with Israel and Zionism can be best understood as a strategic adaptation to the historical defeats of British fascism. The 'new' approach responds to the question of how do you mobilise an authoritarian political campaign where openly Nazi symbolism and thought, including promoting antisemitic conspiracies  are heavily contested. In short, he has denied his inner antisemitic convictions by obscuring it under a shroud of supposed "Zionism" that is, in itself fundamentally baseless and only used  as an agent to attack Muslims.

If you think this is too harsh, remember this is a nan who remains an undischarged bankrupt, but according to Hope not Hate through lies and subterfuge today has access to over £3 million worth of funds.

2. Nigel Farage

                                                      Nigel Farage

While it would be wrong to accuse Nigel Farage of having links to the far right, he is no stranger to suggestions of him expressing antisemitic comments. For example:

Antisemitic Abuse: Multiple contemporaries have alleged Farage used antisemitic slurs, sang Nazi-themed songs, and made hateful comments, including stating "Hitler was right" and "Hitler should have gassed you all" to Jewish students.

Witness Accounts: Over 30 former classmates and teachers have come forward with accounts of racist or antisemitic behaviour by Farage, including accusations he led a group that harassed Jewish students.

Social Media: In a tweeted video message, Farage said the UK faced “cultural Marxism”, a term originating in a conspiracy theory based on a supposed plot against national governments, which is closely linked to the far right and antisemitism.

Mainstream media:  In a recent opinion piece for the Newsweek website, Farage talked about “unelected globalists shaping the public’s lives based on secret recommendations from the big banks”. Goldman Sachs was the only bank he mentioned by name, echoing another common theme from far-right antisemitism

Add to this his writing in a separate Newsweek column, Farage said Black Lives Matter was made up of radical socialists trying to destroy nationalism, “oftentimes funded by globalists”, another term linked to such ideas.

In response, the Community Security Trust, a charity that works for the safety of Jewish people in the UK, said in a statement: “This is not the first time that Nigel Farage has used language that evokes antisemitic conspiracy codewords ...". 

Andrew Percy the Conservative MP argued: “These conspiracy theories have real world and dangerous consequences and are without question antisemitic,” he said. “So now he is being put on notice. Farage needs to cut it out before he causes further harm by providing further fuel to racist antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories.”

Other commentators include Catherine McKinnell the Labour MP who stated: “Talk of shadow cabals, Soros conspiracies and other nonsense has repeatedly been proven to find its roots in anti-Jewish racism. His choice of language, which echoes some of that circulating amongst the far-right online, is worrying and getting worse.”.

So when Farage says he supports the right of Israel to exist I am inclined to ask why. Is it because of a genuine belief that Israel has a right to exist and is the ancestral home of the Jewish people, or is it because he wants a United Kingdom that is both Judenrein and Judenfrei.

3. Elements of the Reform Party

Despite recently establishing the Jewish Reform Group there is substantial evidence of deep-rooted antisemitism within the party. More importantly there appears to be little heart amongst the political elite to tackle the issue and indeed, it is not beyond fantasy that some may endorse it.

• A Reform activist who had been campaigning ahead of the Gorton and Denton by-election was suspended over racist and antisemitic comments he made on social media.
• Another Reform candidate, Tony Mack, a psychotherapist and former black cab driver whose campaign literature promised to fix “woke ideology” and “discrimination against the people of Britain"  shared images of a well-known mural featuring antisemitic tropes. The mural depicts hook-nosed financiers counting money and playing a Monopoly-style board game on the backs of naked figures. The images of the mural shared by Mack was captioned: “If the people stand, the game is over.” When Mack posted the image on Twitter, he added the words: “Get up, stand up.” He also shared the image on Tiktok, writing that Reform was the only way to save Britain from the “globalist agenda”, 
• Or take Gary Farmer, chair of Brighton and Hove Reform Party who posted depictions of the Jewish Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband as a vampire (the version of Ed Miliband as Nosferatu was quickly deleted after posting 
• What about two parliamentary candidates who previously shared on social media material defending Adolf Hitler, denying the Holocaust, promoting conspiracy theories about the Rothschild family and Jewish financier George Soros, denial of antisemitism, and comparisons of the state of Israel with Nazi Germany.
• Or the Tameside Campaign manager include one in which he stated he "would never touch a Jewish woman", and another that appeared to downplay the number of Jews murdered in the Holocaust. The latter was in response to a post by former UFC fighter Jake Shields, which claimed that the Holocaust’s death toll is "made up".

I could easily cite many more, but I will stop now for the sake of some kind of brevity.

Political comment

While I am no supporter of Nigel Farage, I think there are some problems accusing him of being an antisemite. In part this is because some of his actions go back to his school days. Now, if we are to accuse Mr Farage of wrongdoing because he sang old Nazi songs then, by that standard, we would also have to accuse Prince Harry, the Duke of Suffolk because he wore a Nazi uniform to a friend's fancy dress party back in 2005. Was the incident antisemitic? Or was it simply a tasteless and grossly inappropriate act by an immature 20 year old student? However, Farage's youthful outbursts must be contextualised alongside some of his later comments and writings. Taken as a whole it does lead to grave questions that need to be answered and, to date these have not been. With this in mind I feel the Jewish community needs to be extremely cautious before taking him under their wing.

Similarly with the Reform Party. While I acknowledge there are many genuine people in the party who support the Jewish community and are fully committed to Israel and its right to exist, I do feel there is extensive evidence to support the belief that antisemitism is endemic within the party and again, while this remains unresolved there is little reason to trust them. Just as Labour, Green and to a lesser extent Conservative parties have an unresolved problem with antisemitism, so too does Reform, perhaps more so.

The case of Tommy Robinson is much clearer. With a 20 year history of association and engagement with the far right across Europe and a blatant disregard for demands from Jewish community groups it is clear Robinson is only out to satisfy his own ends. His Zionism is non-existent and is only used to create further division between Jews and  Muslims. He is very far from a true friend and should be avoided at all costs