Shlomo's Thoughts

I am activist called Shlomo Gareth Anker. Born in London but lived many years in Israel & Germany. I am a member of the Labour Party. i joined in it 1999 but left in 2001. At the time I felt due to my Left-Wing ideas that I was not welcome. I rejoined in 2015 after Jeremy Corbyn decided to stand as leader. I write sometimes for the Morning Star and sometimes for Jewish magazine called J-Voice. You can contact me via: ShlomoAnker@gmail.com or Twitter: @Hapoel4 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shlomo.anker Israel's Left on the March (Morning Star article) In response to the violence in October in Israel, I wrote this article reporting on how the Left in Israel reacted in opposing the government. Read More Labour Friends of Israel warm to Corbyn (Morning Star Article) After i attended the events of the Pro-Israel lobby at the Labour Party conference, I reported on how its supporters have changed in their views to Corbyn. Read More Is George Osborne the only Tory doing Cocaine? Video blog about Tory culture. Generally analysing the mentality of the Conservative Party, specific those who are the elites of the party.   Corbyn Win Would Be Good For Everyone, Including Jewish People (Morning Star Article) I was invited by the Morning Star to write from a Jewish perspective about Jeremy Corbyn when he was standing to be leader of the Labour Party in September. Read More Is Jeremy Corbyn a Zionist? Video blog i made mocking how the Right-Wing hinted that Jeremy Corbyn was Anti-Semitic due to his Pro-Palestinian and Left-Wing views.   Why Jeremy Corbyn is good for Jews! Blog post i wrote in August 2015 that was widely shared on twitter so support Jeremy Corbyn. I posted to defend Corbyn during a week where the media were attacking him for his Pro-Palestinian activism and making up stories about links he had to anti-Semitic people and holocaust deniers. Read More

A Corbyn Win Would Be Good For Everyone, Including Jewish People

MorningStar invited me to write for them. 

Click Here to go to the article.

You can contact me via

shlomoanker@gmail.com

Is Jeremy Corbyn a Zionist?

Questions Corbyn must answer (1) Is Corbyn a Mossad Agent? (2) Is his real name Jeremy Goldstein? (3) What are his links to Goldman Sachs? (4) Does he store large amounts of Gold in his Swiss Bank Acconuts? Questions answered on my video.

Why Jeremy Corbyn is good for Jews!

by Shlomo Gareth Anker (Twitter: Hapoel Orient) . We know Jeremy Corbyn has protested against Israel. Some of us may hate him for this, some might love him for it. Lets look at the details. Israel & Palestine Corbyn is not always right but he is not a supporter of Hamas or Hezbollah and he is a true champion of peace. Or to put it in other words, he is not George Galloway. Nevertheless, Jeremy Corbyn does support Palestinians and heavily attacks what the Israeli government has done. But does that mean he hates Jews? I would say no, and in fact I would say that this makes him a friend of Israel. WHAT!!!! I think Corbyn is a friend of Israel!! Well, yes, he is a friend of Israel, in fact he is one of Israel’s best friends. Let me explain with an analogy: Let’s say I am drunk. I am drunk and I want to drive. I am so drunk that I start getting agitated, swearing at my friends and start hurting people. What would a good friend do? Would a good friend of mine tell me how wonderful I am and even give me the keys to my car? NO!!! a good friend is one who would criticise me. The American Government, and pro-Israel allies in the Labour & Tory parties, are bad friends of Israel. Israel’s government is drunk with a nasty right-wing government that has included two far right parties (HaBayit HaYehudi & Yisraeli Beitanu). So by telling Israel how wonderful they are and giving them support, they are actually hurting Israel. While we have such a nasty government in Jerusalem, we need to criticise the bad things they are doing. This is why Corbyn is a good friend of Israel- But that does not mean I agree with everything Corbyn says. He ignores that Jewish people are extra-sensitive and his rhetoric disregards that. Jews have suffered more than anyone and most of us have grandparents who suffered horrible injustice in Germany and even in Arab countries. Corbyn and the Left are not supporters of Hamas & Hezbollah but they are weak in attacking the Anti-Semitic ideas in Hamas’ constitution and the threats by Hezbollah against Israel. But Corbyn is at fault not because he is a bad person but due to lack of knowledge. This is the problem of the Left in the UK. They love to act like they are experts on Israel, especially if they have had a two-week trip to the West Bank, but actually most do not really what Zionism is yet love to shout the word Zionist all the time. However, their heart is in the right place, even if they are annoying. Economics We as Jews have a bit of an Israel obsession. Although to be fair, Muslims have a Palestine obsession. Due to this we forget the major issues that threaten all of us. These issues are about Money, Economics and Austerity. I am not going to write about why Austerity is bad, but if you have time I would recommend to go to YouTube and take a look at my fellow Jews, Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz’s thoughts on Austerity. I will just give one short example. Among North London Middle Class Jews, we are going through an epidemic of over-work, stress and high level of death via Heart Attacks. Far too many people are working over 50 hours a week and often have little money left to properly save. This is directly related to the Conservative Party agenda that goes back to the 1980s where the goal of life is to sacrifice all to be financially "successful" and other forms of success like, spirituality or friendship are seen as irrelevant. If we are going to improve the lives of all Jews, we need to support the socialist ideas of Jeremy Corbyn and start to work towards a more socialist country.

by Shlomo Gareth Anker The upcoming Labour leadership race will include a series of attacks against Jeremy Corbyn from Right Wingers in the media and from Pro-Israel activists (due to his his views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict). They will insult him personally with adjectives like "hate" or "violent" & nouns like "anti-Semite" or "terrorist." I write this article to point out the contradictions in these attacks.

Disagreements with Jeremy There are some things I disagree with Jeremy on. But let me be clear. These are disagreements among allies, and our common goal is the same, justice. 1 or 2 states: I disagree on Jeremy about the One State Solution. I support two states. Personally i believe two states is a good temporary measure for about 20 to 30 years until the situation calms. While I think he is wrong, the biggest opponent to Two States is Bibi Netanyahu & the Israeli Government. Hamas: I also disagree with Jeremy on his rhetoric. He should be more critical of Hamas in his speeches. Some find it impossible to fully criticize Hamas. This is a mistake but i can understand this position. My pro-Israel friends use quite manipulative tactics & this creates a really tricky situation and the Left often use these manipulative tactics too. While this is an error, at the very worst he is the same as "Left-Israelis" who refuse to fully condemn the IDF. Lebanon: The left like to spend a bit too much time attacking what Israel has done in Lebanon and ignoring what Lebanese have done to each other. The main responsibility of Sabra & Shatia is not with Israel but with the Lebanese people who committed it. Israel must be condemned for its criminal behaviour in supporting these massacres but I would prefer Jeremy to have been more critical of Lebanese while still saying that Israel committed crimes too.

Agreements with Jeremy I am sorry offend my Israeli family and friends but most of what Jeremy says is correct. Gaza: Israel has committed massacres in Gaza. Israel also refuses to give human rights to the West Bank. The Palestinian areas are not a democracy but run by the Israeli State without its Arab inhabitants having rights such as: a fair trial, right to vote and so on. Occupation: Jeremy has for decades opposed the occupation and the crimes of the Israeli Military. He has rightfully defended our fellow humans (known as Palestinians) and this is in line with his opposition to Apartheid in South Africa. . The Palestinian areas are not a democracy but run by the Israeli State without its inhabitants having rights such as: a fair trial, right to vote and so on. Big Issues: Israel is important but its only one issue. The major issues are austerity, climate change and so on. The biggest threat to Jewish people does not come Gazans but comes from the poverty that austerity will create and changes to environment that climate change will create. Jewish minority in UK: , Jeremy and the Left have for decades defended Jews from the Far Right. In the 1970s Jeremy was involved in protecting Jews from the Neo-Nazis (unlike mainstream politicians from both the Centre and the the Right who just ignored them). The fact is that the Pro-Jewish rhetoric from Conservatives and New Labour politicians has no real Pro-Jewish soul. Rather its pure opportunism. Its only non-Jews like Jeremy Corbyn who we can trust to defend us if a Far-Right arises again.

Summary While i may have some disagreements with Jeremy on some issues relating to Israel, his heart is in the right place and i just think he has not spent enough time in Israel to understand the full picture. But of course, I also make plenty of mistakes too and i will continue to make mistakes. None of us are perfect and his errors are not due to any hatred but just normal mistakes all good-intentioned people make.