Many who watched Faiza Shaheen’s Newsnight interview on Wednesday were angry. As Shaheen, a Muslim woman and the former Labour candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green, explained, she had been informed of her deselection via email. According to media reports, her social media activity was part of the justification for not allowing her to stand. Shaheen had “liked” a tweet of a Jon Stewart skit, which lampooned public discourse on Israel (and where the wording of the post alluded to antisemitic tropes in the context of an “Israel lobby”). Another post accused Labour of being institutionally Islamophobic.
This is a spurious basis on which to deselect a candidate, certainly one who is a committed party activist, elected by her Constituency Labour Party and a new mother, who had resumed canvassing six weeks after a c-section. Alongside the dismal treatment of Hackney MP Diane Abbott—who had to endure days of speculation before Keir Starmer finally confirmed that she would be allowed to stand—it’s hard not to conclude that, despite commitments to address anti-black racism and Islamophobia within the party, Labour has failed to understand the nature of the problem.
The callous nature of Shaheen’s deselection is particularly confronting. Citing antisemitism as a central part of the party’s objection to her candidacy, rather than showing care and compassion for Jews at a time of rising prejudice against them, Labour is instead sowing division. It is perhaps predictable that the issue of antisemitism would rear its head in this election, given Labour’s difficult track record. It also seems predictable, given the electoral challenge that Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza poses for the party.
But this saga also shows the limits of zero-sum approaches to addressing antisemitism and racism, which can be manipulated in the service of factional politicking. We need an approach to addressing racism, including antisemitism, that recognises these prejudices as sets of beliefs and behaviours that interconnect, and which must be tackled together. In Judaism, we place great importance on the concept of Teshuva—repentance. When MPs are punished or deselected as Shaheen has been, or even after making full apologies for their errors, we send the message that only those deemed useful to a broader electoral strategy should be afforded due process.
Labour’s leadership might claim to be fighting antisemitism, but its actions endorse a false antagonism between the rights and safety of Jewish people and the rights and safety of other minorities. And at a time of rising antisemitism, these mishandlings only add to scepticism over whether anti-Jewish prejudice even exists. This is particularly dangerous when such views and behaviour are only becoming more prevalent. When accusations of antisemitism are used to scapegoat others to win factional battles, it makes all of us less safe. And when the victims are women of colour it directly harms the fight against discrimination that Labour claims to be committed to.
The idea that liking a tweet can be tantamount to a racist attack is more than nasty politics. It sets a dangerous and irresponsible precedent, placing far more too much of the onus on social media activity (or, in Shaheen’s case, an ill-judged or mistaken like while up at night breastfeeding her child) than how someone responds when confronted about their actions. Shaheen seems committed to building strong relationships across minority communities. In her Newsnight interview, she recalled meeting with a rabbi in her local community only the previous day.
When the bar for exclusion falls so low, it can be mercilessly politicised. Indeed, many MPs across the spectrum remain candidates for political office despite evidence that they have espoused racism and other bigotries. This includes MPs who have been accused of antisemitism, such as Barry Sheerman, who remained a Labour member, and parliamentary representative, despite having tweeted about two Jewish businessmen who missed out on peerages: “Apparently there has been a run on silver shekels.” Sheerman apologised and deleted that tweet. Labour also dragged its feet in suspending former Rochdale candidate and fellow Starmer ally, Azhar Ali, after he made comments about Israel allowing the 7th October attacks to happen. The party relinquished after public pressure. These double standards erode faith in politics.
In this first week of the 2024 election, an electorate desperate for change has been shown deep disrespect. With the world’s increasingly authoritarian drift, against the backdrop of a resurgent Trump and ascendant European far-right, the use of what look like “divide and rule” tactics by purportedly progressive politicians are all the more worrying. After fourteen years of Tory misery it makes all of us less secure, Jews and non-Jews alike. Labour’s behaviour towards Abbott and Shaheen doesn’t just damage the party—it hurts our democracy.
This article has been updated to clarify the exact wording of a post liked by Shaheen, and to amend that Barry Sheerman is not running as a candidate in this election
