Tony Greenstein

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Tony Greenstein is a British left-wing activist and writer. An anti-fascist and former squatter, he was a founder member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and stood for parliament as a representative of the Alliance for Green Socialism. In 2018, he was expelled from the Labour Party for "harassment" and "abusive language", over allegations of antisemitism.[1] Greenstein is opposed to Zionism which he believes is a racist and supremacist ideology.

Early life[edit]

Greenstein grew up in Liverpool. He was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family and his father was Rabbi Solomon Greenstein, who opposed Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists at the Battle of Cable Street in 1936.[2][3] He moved to Brighton to study Maths and Chemistry at Brighton Polytechnic and was elected vice-president of the student union. In 1974, he became involved in housing activism alongside Steve Bassam and squatted in derelict hotels before negotiating a licence to live at Lansdowne Place.[4]

In 1980, he was one of the founders of the Brighton Campaign Against Youth Unemployment and he was also involved with anti-fascist campaigns.[4] Greenstein actively opposed the far-right National Front and neo-nazi British Movement in Brighton during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, as a member of the Brighton & Hove Anti-Fascist Committee and Anti Fascist Action. In more recent years he has been involved in campaigning against far-right groups such as the British National Party, English Defence League and March for England (MfE) in the city.[5][6]

Career[edit]

In 2013, Greenstein was secretary of the Brighton and Hove Unemployed Workers Centre, a community centre in Hollingdean.[7] He was a founder member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and in the 1980s, he ran the Labour Movement Campaign for Palestine.[8][9] In 2005, he stood unsuccessfully for parliament in the Brighton Pavilion constituency for the Alliance for Green Socialism, getting 188 votes.[10]

Greenstein was barred from joining the Labour Party in 2015 and then joined after the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader.[11] He was suspended in 2016 regarding accusations of antisemitism and then expelled in February 2018 after a review by Labour's National Constitutional Committee.[12] In 2019, Greenstein sued the Campaign Against Antisemitism for libel over its claim that he was a "notorious antisemite".[13] The High Court dismissed the claim in 2020.[14] Greenstein had previously co-founded Labour Against the Witchhunt and told a Jewish Voice for Labour meeting during the 2018 Labour Party Conference that charges of antisemitism in the UK Labour Party were designed to destabilise Corbyn.[15]

In December 2021 Greenstein accepted a two-year restraining order in return for the Crown Prosecution Service dropping two charges of harassment against the Labour party’s disputes team. The restraint order prevented him from further contacting the disputes team.[16][17]

In September 2023 Greenstein was given a 9 month prison sentence, suspended for two years, for his part in a Palestine Action attack on the factory of Elbit, an Israeli arms company, at Shenstone near Walsall. He was convicted, with three others, of intent to cause criminal damage.[18][19]

Selected works[edit]

  • The Fight Against Fascism in Brighton & the South Coast Brighton: Brighton History Workshop. 2011. ISBN 9780993127809
  • Zionism: Antisemitism’s twin in Jewish garb
  • Zionism During the Holocaust London: New Generation Publishing. 2022. ISBN 9781803693040

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Labour Activist Tony Greenstein Expelled from Party over Antisemitism". 18 February 2018.
  2. ^ Tony Greenstein, The Fight Against Fascism in Brighton & the South Coast, Brighton History Workshop, p.4, 2011.
  3. ^ https://tonygreenstein.com/2015/06/the-death-of-my-father-rabbi-solomon/ The Death of my Father Rabbi Solomon Greenstein, Tony Greenstein, 1 December 2011.
  4. ^ a b Greenstein, Tony. "40 years on: Memories of student protests, squatting, and street politics". Brighton & Hove Independent. Archived from the original on 6 December 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  5. ^ Tony Greenstein, The Fight Against Fascism in Brighton & the South Coast
  6. ^ Finn Scott-Delany, Brighton Argus, (22 April 2014), Politics of the far-right never welcome in city https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/11163330.politics-of-the-far-right-never-welcome-in-city/
  7. ^ Garner, Bill (24 March 2013). "The Big Interview: Tony Greenstein". The Argus. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  8. ^ Rosen, Armin (20 February 2018). "Another Labour Party Leader Expelled for Anti-Semitism". Tablet Magazine. Archived from the original on 12 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  9. ^ Rich, Dave (6 September 2016). The Left's Jewish Problem: Jeremy Corbyn, Israel and Anti-Semitism. Biteback Publishing. p. 101. ISBN 978-1-78590-151-5. Archived from the original on 12 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  10. ^ "Result: Brighton Pavilion". BBC News. 6 May 2005. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  11. ^ Spiro, Zachary (2 April 2016). "Labour welcomes back blogger who compares Israelis to Nazis". The Times. Archived from the original on 24 May 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  12. ^ Forrester, Kate (18 February 2018). "Labour Activist Tony Greenstein Expelled From Party Over Antisemitism". HuffPost UK. Archived from the original on 20 February 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  13. ^ Rocker, Simon (15 February 2019). "Definition of antisemitism under the spotlight in anti-Zionist campaigner's libel battle against charity". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  14. ^ Frot, Mathilde (6 November 2020). "Tony Greenstein's 'notorious antisemite' libel claim dismissed by court". The Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  15. ^ Smith, Mikey (24 September 2018). "Labour anti-Semitism is 'witch hunt' to topple Corbyn, expelled activist claims". Mirror. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  16. ^ "Tony Greenstein 'handed restraining order'". The Jewish Chronicle. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  17. ^ https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2021/12/02/expelled-labour-member-given-restraining-order-preventing-contact-with-partys-complaints-team/
  18. ^ "International News Letter - September 2023". Midwifery. 124: 103777. September 2023. doi:10.1016/j.midw.2023.103777. ISSN 0266-6138. S2CID 260360910.
  19. ^ "Greenstein escapes prison despite being found guilty of plotting to damage Israeli firm's factory". Jewish News. 6 September 2023.

External links[edit]

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