Part 1
Antisemitism is a form of racism and, unfortunately, an increasing evil. It is usually associated with those on the extreme right of the political spectrum but should always be opposed wherever it is found. It has been wrongly used to silence legitimate criticism of Israeli govt racist policies and/or of some Israelis’ racist behaviour. This wrongful use has often been used against individuals and organisations with a long and honourable history of anti-racism. Without going into the original definition of ‘semite’, there is a commonly accepted and simple definition of antisemitism which is ‘hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against Jewish individuals, Jewish communities or Jewish organisations.’
For centuries, many Jewish people lived peaceably in Palestine. When Theodor Herzl, the founder of Political Zionism, wanted to hold the First Zionist Congress in 1897 some Jewish people rose up in protest and accused the authorities of anti-Semitism. Why? Because the Zionist proposition that Jews formed a separate nation from other Germans meant that they were therefore aliens.
Of course, Jewish people should feel safe (indeed celebrated!) wherever they live but Zionist racism MUST be resisted and doing so is not antisemitic despite what the Board of Deputies (BoD) or anyone else asserts. In fact, the BoD have no right to claim to speak for the British “Jewish Community”, especially given that Charedi Jews (approx 20% of the British Jewish population) do not recognise their authority. The BoD also can’t claim to represent the 50% of all British Jews who happen to be secular either.
We all need to be aware of the centuries of dreadful antisemitism endured by a wide variety of Jewish communities which culminated in the utter inhumanity of the holocaust. However, it is unacceptable that Palestinians should be persecuted for European racism.

No doubt Prof Miller's colleagues will be open-mouthed, as we all are when we hear of long-standing anti-racists being suspended or expelled because of criticism of the Israeli State or Zionism. His students too. The bureaucrats involved in the actions may have little concern for the welfare of the Labour Party and those it claims to represent. We know from the infamous report that at the heart of the Party people were working for Corbyn's defeat in 2017. As far as the Zionist interest goes, Labour Zionism (a confused doctrine which misses the point that the core belief of socialism is equality for all peoples) may wish for a Starmer government, but a Tory administration is surely more in tune. Can't the leadership see that in the long run this purge will damage the Party? The dismay felt by those who see family, friends, colleagues they know to be anti-racists suspended or expelled is bound to spread. Finally, when the dust settles, the documents are released and the full truth is exposed, the Party will be shown to have complied with a factitious campaign of denigration by outside bodies and to have punished its own people. Further, when Starmer says he accepts the existence of the State of Israel, doesn't he understand Israel is not a thing but a relationship, like any State. Its defining relationship is with the Palestinians who lived on the land it appropriated. By saying what he does, is he condoning that relationship? No State enjoys an abstract right to exist. Every State is accepted by the international order because it exists and functions, but no one thinks that accepting the State of China means we shouldn't criticise its policies towards Hong Kong. By "acceptance" does Starmer imply Israel is exempt from criticism? It seems so, as every member who engages in criticism is suspended or expelled. Trump is trying to turn Palestine into the South Africa of the 21st century. What does Starmer have to say? So far, nothing. Will Labour be complicit?

Netanyahu tells Trump what to do in the Middle East, the Board of Deputies tells Starmer what to do in the UK. Unfortunately or fortunately I am not a British Labour Party Member but here goes: Israel is a racist, apartheid state that has ethnically cleansed Palestine for the last 72 years and continues to do so to this day. We are all Palestinians.