Greens accused of ‘deep denial about left antisemitism’ after expelled councillor delivers training
Jo Bird, thrown out of Labour for support of a group downplaying antisemitism, delivers talk to fellow councillors
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
The Green Party has been accused of displaying “a deep denial about the left antisemitism crisis” after enlisting the councillor Jo Bird to deliver a talk on combating Jew hate.
The Wirral councillor, who was expelled from Labour after speaking at an event organised by a group who regularly denied antisemitism allegations in the party, was given the task of speaking at the Association of Green Councillors event last weekend.
She addressed the audience on Understanding and Combating Antisemitism and on Dealing With Accusations of Antisemitism.
The Jewish Labour Movement was among those to condemn the Greens’ use of Bird to conduct antisemitism training sessions.
A spokesperson told Jewish News: “This truly beggars belief. The idea that the Greens would use someone who was expelled from the Labour Party for antisemitism training shows what deep, deep denial they are in about the left antisemitism crisis in their Party. This isn’t how so-called progressives should behave towards minority communities.”
The campaigner against antisemitism Steve Cooke also posted on X: “Here are Green councillors showing they can do comedy too with Jo Bird leading a conference session on ‘understanding antisemitism’. ”
Cooke added: “Note the subtitle of her presentation.” It was subtitled Dealing With Accusations of Antisemitism.
Bird joined the Greens after she was ousted from Labour in November 2021, having previously repeatedly make jokes about “Jew process” in speeches and spoken in support of an activist who clashed with Jewish former MP Ruth Smeeth, now Baroness Anderson, at the launch of a critical report on antisemitism under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
In one of her speeches Bird, who is Jewish, claimed that there was a “privileging of racism against Jews, over and above – as more worthy of resources than other forms of racism”.
In a move that infuriated many in the community, the Greens announced they had appointed Bird as co-secretary of Jewish Greens, which describes itself as the “first port of call within the Party for educational purposes and Jews and Judaism.”
Concerns about the failure of the Greens leadership to tackle antisemitism among its membership were heightened in the run-up to the general election.
Jewish News has contacted the Greens for comment.
A spokesperson said:”The training was developed in collaboration with our Jewish Greens group. As a prominent and experienced Jewish councillor, Jo Bird is considered by the Association of Green Councillors as ideal to deliver such training.
“We have complete confidence in Jewish Greens and those Jewish councillors who developed and delivered this training programme at our conference.”
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