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Revision as of 21:04, 30 July 2018 view sourceיניב הורון (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users7,309 edits Undid revision 852690217 by Bangalamania (talk) yes, because the people who support her are also mentioned in the article. Leave or remove BOTH. Regarding sources, reliability is always in context. Per WP:BIASED, partisan sources are reliable to describe the POV opinions of individuals, as long as they are attributed.Tag: Undo← Previous edit Latest revision as of 06:23, 21 December 2024 view source Smasongarrison (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, New page reviewers, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers721,965 edits Copying from Category:Jewish American anti-Zionists to Category:American anti-Zionists Diffusing per WP:DIFFUSE and/or WP:ALLINCLUDED using Cat-a-lot 
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{{short description|20th and 21st-century British socialist and writer (born 1954)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{pp|reason=Persistent ]|small=yes}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox person {{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = | honorific_prefix =
| name = Jackie Walker | name = Jackie Walker
| honorific_suffix = | honorific_suffix =
| image = JackieWalker.jpg | image =
| image_size = 220px | image_size =
| alt = | alt =
| caption = | caption =
| native_name = | birth_name = Jacqueline Walker
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1954|4|10}}
| native_name_lang =
| birth_place = {{Nowrap|], Manhattan, New York City,}} United States
| birth_name = Jacqueline Walker
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1954}}
| birth_place = United States
| death_date = | death_date =
| death_place = | death_place =
| death_cause = | death_cause =
| resting_place = | resting_place =
| nationality =
| residence = ], Kent, England
| nationality = British
| other_names = | other_names =
| citizenship = | citizenship = British-American
| education = | education =
| alma_mater = ] | alma_mater = ]
| occupation = Teacher, writer, ] activist, ] | occupation = {{Nowrap|Teacher, writer, ] activist,}} ]
| years_active = 1981–present | years_active = 1981–present
| employer = | employer =
Line 29: Line 29:
| agent = | agent =
| known_for = | known_for =
| notable_works = | notable_works = '']'', '']''
| style = | style =
| influences =
| influenced =
| home_town = ], London, England
| salary =
| net_worth =
| height = | height =
| weight =
| television = | television =
| title = Former Vice-Chair of ] | title = Vice-Chair of ]
| term = | term = {{Nowrap|September 2015 – October 2016}}
| predecessor = | predecessor =
| successor = | successor = Cecile Wright
| party = ] {{small|(1981–present; suspended 2016)}} | party = None
| otherparty = ] (1981–2019; suspended 2016; expelled 2019)
| movement = | movement =
| opponents = | opponents =
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| partner = Graham Bash | partner = Graham Bash
| children = 3 | children = 3
| parents = Jack Cohen (father)<br/>Dorothy Brown (mother) | parents = Jack Cohen (father)<br />Dorothy Brown (mother)
| relatives = | relatives =
| callsign = | callsign =
| awards = | awards =
| module = | module =
| website = {{URL|jackiewalker.org/}} | website =
| footnotes = | footnotes =
| box_width =
}} }}


'''Jacqueline Walker''' (born 1954) is a ] ] activist, writer and the former Vice-Chair of ]. She is the author of her family memoir ''Pilgrim State'', and writer and performer of the one-woman show '']''. '''Jacqueline Walker''' (born 10 April 1954) is a British political activist and writer. She has been a teacher and anti-racism trainer. She is the author of a family memoir, '']'', and the co-writer and performer of a one-woman show, '']''. She held the roles of Vice-Chair of ] ] and Vice-Chair of ] before being suspended and ultimately expelled from the party for misconduct.


==Background== ==Background==
Walker is of mixed ].<ref name="algemeiner">{{cite news |last=Kerstein|first=Benjamin|url=https://www.algemeiner.com/2017/08/06/far-left-activist-jackie-walker-gets-standing-ovation-for-antisemitic-play/|title=Far-Left Activist Jackie Walker Gets Standing Ovation for Antisemitic Play|work=]|date=6 August 2017|accessdate=1 July 2018}}</ref> Her father was a ] and that she was born of a Jamaican mother of ]. Walker's late Jewish communist father,<ref name="thejc2">{{cite news |last=Levitt|first=Lee|url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/jackie-walker-in-edinburgh-1.442461|title=Jackie Walker in Edinburgh: cheers and a standing ovation|work=]|date=6 August 2017|accessdate=1 July 2018}}</ref> Jack Cohen,<ref name="morningstaronline">{{cite news |last=Hyland|first=Bernadette|url=https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/pointed-polemic-from-suspended-labour-activist|title=Theatre Review Pointed polemic from suspended Labour activist|publisher=]|date=25 January 2017|accessdate=1 July 2018}}</ref> was a jeweller<ref name="haaretz">{{cite news |last=Peled|first=Daniella|url=https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/the-london-play-framing-jews-as-the-revamped-kkk-1.5455655|title=Why I Found a London Play Framing Jews as a KKK-style Lynch Mob Strangely Touching |work=]|date=5 October 2017|accessdate=1 July 2018}}</ref> and member of ]<ref name="thejc2"/> who arrived as a refugee in New York, around 1918<ref name="thejc2"/> after his family escaped from ].<ref name="islingtontribune">{{cite news |last=Gulliver|first=John|url=http://www.islingtontribune.com/article/jackie-we-must-be-free-to-speak|title=Jackie Walker, the ghost, says we must be free to speak|location=Derry|work=]|date=7 November 2017|accessdate=1 July 2018}}</ref> Her late mother,<ref name="thejc2"/> Dorothy Brown,<ref name="morningstaronline"/> was born in Jamaica in 1915<ref name="guardian2">{{cite news |last=Arnold|first=Sue|url=https://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/nov/15/pilgrim-state-jacqueline-walker-review|title=Pilgrim State|work=]|date=14 November 2008|accessdate=1 July 2018}}</ref> and a black civil rights activist, who, Walker said, the CIA had "in their sights" in the 1950s.<ref name="thejc2"/> Walker's mother had four children by four different men and suffered from recurring mental illness.<ref name="guardian2"/> Her mother is descended from ] who came to the West Indies during the days of ],<ref name="thejc2"/> one of whom married a slave<ref name="haaretz">{{cite news |last=Peled|first=Daniella|url=https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/the-london-play-framing-jews-as-the-revamped-kkk-1.5455655|title=Why I Found a London Play Framing Jews as a KKK-style Lynch Mob Strangely Touching |work=]|date=5 October 2017|accessdate=1 July 2018}}</ref> who converted after marriage to a Jewish man.<ref name="thejc2"/> In the United States, her parents were involved in the ] in the 1950s.<ref name="morningstaronline"/> Walker has described her family background in both her family memoir, ''Pilgrim State'', and her play, ''The Lynching'' as being of mixed ] and African descent.<ref name="algemeiner">{{cite news |last=Kerstein|first=Benjamin|url=https://www.algemeiner.com/2017/08/06/far-left-activist-jackie-walker-gets-standing-ovation-for-antisemitic-play/|title=Far-Left Activist Jackie Walker Gets Standing Ovation for Antisemitic Play|work=]|date=6 August 2017|access-date=1 July 2018}}</ref> According to Walker, her mother, Dorothy Brown, was a ] and ]<ref name="camdennewjournal">{{cite news|url=http://archive.camdennewjournal.com/gulliver-jackie-walker|title=Who's behind the momentous sacking of Jackie Walker?|location=Camden|work=]|date=7 October 2016|access-date=9 November 2018|archive-date=9 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109153421/http://archive.camdennewjournal.com/gulliver-jackie-walker|url-status=dead}}</ref> who was descended partly from a ] who came to the ] during the days of ], and a female slave who converted to ] on marriage.<ref name="thejc2">{{cite news |last=Levitt|first=Lee|url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/jackie-walker-in-edinburgh-1.442461|title=Jackie Walker in Edinburgh: cheers and a standing ovation|work=]|date=6 August 2017|access-date=1 July 2018}}</ref> Born in ], Jamaica, in 1915, she won a scholarship to study medicine in the United States, where she married and had a daughter, giving up her studies. In 1949, she was committed temporarily to a mental institution, where was on occasion held in isolation, placed in a straitjacket and subjected to ], by her husband, who was seeking to end the relationship. Her eldest daughter was put into care and was ultimately fostered while her second child was returned to her on her release. Later, her mother attempted to retrieve her elder daughter but without success.<ref name="guardian2">{{cite news |last=Arnold|first=Sue|url=https://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/nov/15/pilgrim-state-jacqueline-walker-review|title=Pilgrim State|work=]|date=14 November 2008|access-date=1 July 2018}}</ref><ref name="guardian1">{{cite news |last=Carpenter|first=Louise|url=https://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/apr/13/women.mentalhealth|title=Who are you calling a bad mother?|work=The Guardian|date=13 April 2008|access-date=1 July 2018}}</ref> Released, and active in the ], she met Walker's ] father, Jack Cohen, whose family fled ] around 1918 and came to New York, where he became a jeweller.<ref name="newstatesman">{{cite news |last=Rampen|first=Julia|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2017/07/former-momentum-vice-chair-jackie-walker-plans-one-woman-edinburgh-fringe|title=Former Momentum vice-chair Jackie Walker plans one-woman Edinburgh Fringe show|work=]|date=17 July 2017|access-date=1 July 2018}}</ref><ref name="morningstaronline1">{{cite news |last=Hyland|first=Bernadette|url=https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/pointed-polemic-from-suspended-labour-activist|title=Theatre Review Pointed polemic from suspended Labour activist|newspaper=]|date=25 January 2017|access-date=1 July 2018}}</ref><ref name="islingtontribune">{{cite news |last=Gulliver|first=John|url=http://www.islingtontribune.com/article/jackie-we-must-be-free-to-speak|title=Jackie Walker, the ghost, says we must be free to speak|location=Derry|work=]|date=7 November 2017|access-date=1 July 2018}}</ref><ref name="haaretz">{{cite news |last=Peled|first=Daniella|url=https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/the-london-play-framing-jews-as-the-revamped-kkk-1.5455655|title=Why I Found a London Play Framing Jews as a KKK-style Lynch Mob Strangely Touching |work=]|date=5 October 2017|access-date=1 July 2018}}</ref>


Walker was born in ], ], New York City in 1954. In 1956, her mother, with Walker and her step brother, were deported to Jamaica, which Walker attributes to ].<ref name="morningstaronline1"/> There, racial discrimination barred her mother from many jobs, and she had to leave her children with relatives for months while she travelled looking for work.<ref name="guardian1"/> In 1959, Walker's mother, with her children, moved to London.<ref name="morningstaronline1"/> Her mother suffered from periods of severe depression since her 30s, as well as physical illness in later life. Family life was characterised by abject poverty, cramped, squalid and chaotic living conditions and continual racist attacks, despite her mother's best efforts: as a result, Walker and her step brothers spent time in care homes or with foster families. She was the only black child in her primary school and suffered from racial bullying both at school and when in care. When Walker was 11, she witnessed the sudden death of her mother at the age of 50, after which Walker lived in care homes and was then permanently fostered.<ref name="guardian1"/><ref name="haaretz"/>
Walker was born in the U.S. in 1954 and two years later ] led to her mother being deported back to Jamaica with her children. Her father was married to someone else by this time.<ref name="morningstaronline"/> After Walker's mother was committed and subjected to ],<ref name="guardian1">{{cite news |last=Carpenter|first=Louise|url=https://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/apr/13/women.mentalhealth|title=Who are you calling a bad mother?|work=]|date=13 April 2008|accessdate=1 July 2018}}</ref> subsequently, in 1959, Walker and her family moved to<ref name="haaretz"/> post-] London. Walker's mother's depression returned, which resulted in squalid living conditions and her children periodically being taken into care.<ref name="guardian1"/> When Walker was 11 years old, her mother collapsed and died leaving Walker and her siblings in the state care system.<ref name="haaretz"/> Walker spent most of her adolescence in care, in homes and with a foster family.<ref name="guardian1"/>


==Other work== ==Career==
Walker was in the ] but thought that as a black person she would get few roles so instead, she decided to train to be a teacher.<ref name="guardian1"/> Walker went to university and trained<ref name="haaretz"/> to become a teacher.<ref name="morningstaronline"/> In her first year, she married, had a baby, and returned to ] when her baby was six weeks old.<ref name="guardian1"/> She has also been and anti-racist trainer and charity worker<ref name="guardian1"/> with a long record of anti-racist activism and a long history as a political activist.<ref name="theguardian1">{{cite news |last=Harris|first=John|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/apr/16/momentum-labour-party-jeremy-corbyn-politics-john-harris|title=Inside Momentum: ‘The idea that we’re all rulebook-thumping Trotskyites is silly’|work=]|date=16 April 2016|accessdate=1 July 2018}}</ref> Walker was in the ] but, as she thought that as a black person she would get few roles, went instead to ] and trained to become a teacher.<ref name="guardian1"/><ref name="morningstaronline1"/><ref name="haaretz"/> In her first year, she married and had a baby, returning to her studies when her baby was six weeks old.<ref name="guardian1"/> She worked as a teacher at a pupil referral unit for emotionally and behaviourally disturbed young people.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Harris|first=John|url=http://timeout-admin-node1.candrholdings.com/books/features/8937/interview-jacqueline-walker.html|title=Interview: Jacqueline Walker|location=Hong Kong|magazine=]|date=16 April 2016|access-date=1 August 2018|archive-date=1 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801034443/http://timeout-admin-node1.candrholdings.com/books/features/8937/interview-jacqueline-walker.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>


Walker completed an ], in which she examined the development of identity in the work of ] writers. Having completed two ] writing courses, she was awarded an ] grant to complete her family memoir '']'',<ref name="timeout">{{cite news|last=Harris|first=John|url=http://timeout-admin-node1.candrholdings.com/books/features/8937/interview-jacqueline-walker.html|title=Interview: Jacqueline Walker|location=Hong Kong|work=Time Out|date=16 April 2016|access-date=1 August 2018|archive-date=1 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801034443/http://timeout-admin-node1.candrholdings.com/books/features/8937/interview-jacqueline-walker.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="blakefriedmann">{{cite web|url=http://www.blakefriedmann.co.uk/jacqueline-walker/|title=author Jacqueline Walker|publisher=Blake Friedmann|access-date=1 August 2018|archive-date=1 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801034502/http://blakefriedmann.co.uk/jacqueline-walker/|url-status=dead}}</ref> published by ] in April 2006. It was placed on the reading list of the social worker training course at ], where Walker gave bi-weekly lectures and was a member of the committee for social work training.<ref name="guardian1"/>
In April 2008, Walker's family memoir ''Pilgrim State'' was published, which was placed on the reading list of the social worker training course at ]. Walker gave lectures at the university twice a week for the course. She was then on their committee for social work training.<ref name="guardian1"/><ref name="guardian1"/> Walker staged a one-woman show, '']'',<ref name="morningstaronline">{{cite news |last=Hyland|first=Bernadette|url=https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/pointed-polemic-from-suspended-labour-activist|title=Theatre Review Pointed polemic from suspended Labour activist|publisher=]|date=25 January 2017|accessdate=1 July 2018}}</ref><ref name="newstatesman">{{cite news |last=Rampen|first=Julia|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2017/07/former-momentum-vice-chair-jackie-walker-plans-one-woman-edinburgh-fringe|title=Former Momentum vice-chair Jackie Walker plans one-woman Edinburgh Fringe show|work=]|date=17 July 2017|accessdate=1 July 2018}}</ref> which premiered at the ] in August 2017.<ref name="thejc2"/>

She has been an anti-racist trainer and charity worker and has a long record of anti-racist activism and as a political activist.<ref name="guardian1"/><ref name="theguardian1">{{cite news |last=Harris|first=John|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/apr/16/momentum-labour-party-jeremy-corbyn-politics-john-harris|title=Inside Momentum: 'The idea that we're all rulebook-thumping Trotskyites is silly'|work=The Guardian|date=16 April 2016|access-date=1 July 2018}}</ref>
She has contributed to educational materials and written training manuals on anti-racism.


==Labour Party== ==Labour Party==
In 1981, Walker joined the ].<ref name="haaretz"/> Walker was Vice-Chair of ] ]. She was a leading member of a campaign in South Thanet, Kent, to defeat the UKIP leader ] in the ].<ref name="independent1">{{cite news |last=Mortimer|first=Caroline|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/anti-semitism-row-momentum-organiser-jackie-walker-readmitted-to-labour-party-following-racism-a7053966.html|title=Anti-Semitism row: Momentum organiser Jackie Walker readmitted to Labour party following racism allegations|work=]|date=28 May 2016|accessdate=1 July 2018}}</ref> Walker joined the ] in 1981.<ref name="haaretz"/> She was elected Vice-Chair of ] Constituency Labour Party and played a leading role in the campaign there to prevent the election of the UKIP leader ] in the ].<ref name="independent1">{{cite news |last=Mortimer|first=Caroline|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/anti-semitism-row-momentum-organiser-jackie-walker-readmitted-to-labour-party-following-racism-a7053966.html|title=Anti-Semitism row: Momentum organiser Jackie Walker readmitted to Labour party following racism allegations|work=]|date=28 May 2016|access-date=1 July 2018}}</ref> She was elected to ]'s Steering Committee, becoming its vice-chair in September 2015 and is a member of ] (JVL).<ref name="opendemocracy">{{cite news |last=Greenstein|first=Tony|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/tony-greenstein/lynching-of-jackie-walker|title=The lynching of Jackie Walker|publisher=]|date=3 January 2017|access-date=2 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.beautifuldays.org/final-announcement-the-hives-more/|title=Final Announcement: The Hives & More|access-date=2 March 2019}}</ref> She was expelled from Labour for "prejudicial and grossly detrimental behaviour against the party" on 27 March 2019.<ref name="Labour Expels Jackie Walker">{{cite news |title=Labour Expels Jackie Walker |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/mar/27/labour-expels-jackie-walker-for-leaked-antisemitism-comments |access-date=27 March 2019 |newspaper=The Guardian |last=Elgot |first=Jessica}}</ref> Walker retained her JVL membership, however.


===First investigation===
She was elected to ]'s Steering Committee and, in September 2015, became its vice-chair.<ref name="opendemocracy">{{cite news |last=Greenstein|first=Tony|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/tony-greenstein/lynching-of-jackie-walker|title=The lynching of Jackie Walker|publisher=]|date=3 January 2017|accessdate=2 June 2018}}</ref> She is a founding member of ].
In Walker's Facebook account, a private discussion from February 2016 was recorded in which a friend of Walker had raised the question of 'the debt' owed to the Jews because of the Holocaust. In the discussion, Walker had responded:


{{blockquote|Oh yes – and I hope you feel the same towards the African holocaust? My ancestors were involved in both – on all sides as I'm sure you know, millions more Africans were killed in the African holocaust and their oppression continues today on a global scale in a way it doesn't for Jews... and many Jews (my ancestors too) were the chief financiers of the sugar and slave trade which is of course why there were so many early synagogues in the Caribbean. So who are victims and what does it mean? We are victims and perpetrators to some extent through choice. And having been a victim does not give you a right to be a perpetrator.<ref name="jfjfp"/>}}
===Slave trade Facebook posts===
In May 2016, the Israel Advocacy Movement accessed Walker's private Facebook account. There, they found a discussion in which a pro-Israel friend of Walker's had raised the question of 'the debt' owed to the Jews because of the Holocaust. Walker then said:


Her private comments were "uncovered" by the Israel Advocacy Movement<ref name="Dysch">{{cite news|url= https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/labour-suspends-momentum-supporter-who-claimed-jews-caused-an-african-holocaust-1.56449|title= Labour suspends Momentum supporter who claimed Jews caused 'an African holocaust'|last=Dysch|first=Marcus|work=The Jewish Chronicle|date=4 May 2016|access-date=26 February 2019}}</ref> which, it says, aims "to counter British hostility to Israel."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.israeladvocacy.net/about/|title=About|publisher=Israel Advocacy Movement|access-date=26 February 2016}}</ref> '']'' published her comments on 4 May 2016 and notified the Labour Party about them.<ref name="Dysch"/> The Labour Party suspended her, pending investigation, on the same day that ''The Jewish Chronicle'' published its article.<ref name="jfjfp"/> The Chair of Momentum, ], addressing the criticism of Walker, referred to "a 'lynch mob' whose interest in combatting racism is highly selective".<ref name="leftfutures">{{cite web |url=http://www.leftfutures.org/2016/05/a-frenzied-witch-hunt-is-not-the-way-to-combat-antisemitism-or-any-form-of-racism/|title=A frenzied witch-hunt is not the way to combat antisemitism or any form of racism|publisher=Left Futures|date=9 May 2016|access-date=2 June 2018}}</ref> The investigation and accompanying suspension concluded after a few weeks with the decision that not to proceed with disciplinary action.<ref name="independent1" />
{{quotation|Oh yes – and I hope you feel the same towards the African holocaust? My ancestors were involved in both – on all sides as I'm sure you know, millions more Africans were killed in the African holocaust and their oppression continues today on a global scale in a way it doesn't for Jews… and many Jews (my ancestors too) were the chief financiers of the sugar and slave trade which is of course why there were so many early synagogues in the Caribbean. So who are victims and what does it mean? We are victims and perpetrators to some extent through choice. And having been a victim does not give you a right to be a perpetrator.<ref>Richard Kuper, , ''Jews for Justice for Palestine Blog'' (5 September 2016)</ref>}}

The Israel Advocacy Movement judged this comment to be anti-Semitic. They then contacted the media and the Labour Party leadership who immediately suspended Walker. In an article entitled 'A frenzied witch-hunt is not the way to combat antisemitism or any form of racism', the chair of Momentum, ], described the media campaign against Walker as 'a "lynch mob" whose interest in combatting racism is highly selective'.<ref name="leftfutures">{{cite web |url=http://www.leftfutures.org/2016/05/a-frenzied-witch-hunt-is-not-the-way-to-combat-antisemitism-or-any-form-of-racism/|title=A frenzied witch-hunt is not the way to combat antisemitism or any form of racism|publisher=Left Futures|date=9 May 2016|accessdate=2 June 2018}}</ref> After an internal investigation, Walker's membership of the Labour Party was reinstated.<ref>Dave Rich, ''The Left's Jewish Problem: Jeremy Corbyn, Israel and Anti-Semitism'' (Biteback Publishing, 2016)</ref>


In response to her critics, Walker said: In response to her critics, Walker said:
{{quotation|Yes, I wrote 'many Jews (my ancestors too) were the chief financiers of the sugar and slave trade'. These words, taken out of context in the way the media did, of course do not reflect my position. I was writing to someone who knew the context of my comments. Had he felt the need to pick me up on what I had written I would have rephrased – perhaps to 'Jews (my ancestors too) were among those who financed the sugar and slave trade and at the particular time/in the particular area I'm talking about they played an important part.' … has never been that Jews played a disproportionate role in the Atlantic Slave Trade, merely that, as historians such as Arnold Wiznitzer noted, at a certain economic point, in specific regions where my ancestors lived, Jews played a dominant role 'as financiers of the sugar industry, as brokers and exporters of sugar, and as suppliers of Negro slaves on credit.'<ref> citing: Arnold Wiznitzer in ''Jews in Colonial Brazil'', quoted in Jane Gerber, ed., ''The Jews in the Caribbean'' (The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2014), p51.</ref>}}


{{blockquote|Yes, I wrote 'many Jews (my ancestors too) were the chief financiers of the sugar and slave trade'. These words, taken out of context in the way the media did, of course do not reflect my position. I was writing to someone who knew the context of my comments. Had he felt the need to pick me up on what I had written I would have rephrased – perhaps to 'Jews (my ancestors too) were among those who financed the sugar and slave trade and at the particular time/in the particular area I'm talking about they played an important part.' ... has never been that Jews played a disproportionate role in the Atlantic Slave Trade, merely that, as historians such as Arnold Wiznitzer noted, at a certain economic point, in specific regions where my ancestors lived, Jews played a dominant role 'as financiers of the sugar industry, as brokers and exporters of sugar, and as suppliers of Negro slaves on credit.'<ref> citing: Arnold Wiznitzer in ''Jews in Colonial Brazil'', quoted in Jane Gerber, ed., ''The Jews in the Caribbean'' (The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2014), p51.</ref>}}
Dave Rich of the ] has argued that Walker's comments are reminiscent of the anti-Semitic views of the ]. Walker's response to this argument has been to say that 'the Nation of Islam is an antisemitic group which seeks to set Jewish and Black people against each other. Any examination of my work, my writing, my life, would make clear my opposition to this ideology.'<ref>Rich, ''The Left's Jewish Problem'' (2016), Conclusion</ref><ref name="jfjfp">{{cite web |last=Kuper|first=Richard|url=http://www.jfjfp.com/jackie-walker-responds-to-accusations-of-antisemitism/|title=Jackie Walker Responds to Accusations of Antisemitism|publisher=Labour against the witch-hunt|date=5 September 2016|accessdate=2 June 2018}}</ref>


] has argued that Walker's comments are reminiscent of the ]'s anti-Semitic ].<ref>Rich,''The Left's Jewish Problem'' (2016), Conclusion</ref> Walker's response has been that 'the Nation of Islam is an antisemitic group which seeks to set Jewish and Black people against each other. Any examination of my work, my writing, my life, would make clear my opposition to this ideology.'<ref name="jfjfp">{{cite web |last=Kuper|first=Richard|url=http://www.jfjfp.com/jackie-walker-responds-to-accusations-of-antisemitism/|title=Jackie Walker Responds to Accusations of Antisemitism|publisher=Labour against the witch-hunt|date=5 September 2016|access-date=2 June 2018}}</ref>
In May 2016, Walker was suspended from the Labour Party and reinstated about three weeks later.<ref name="opendemocracy"/>


===Second investigation===
===Holocaust Memorial Day at Labour Conference===
During the September 2016 ], Walker attended a meeting held by the pro-Israel ] (JLM). During the meeting she questioned the JLM's definition of anti-Semitism and appeared to question the high level of security at Jewish schools. She also said: 'Wouldn't it be wonderful if Holocaust Day was open to all peoples who've experienced holocaust.'<ref name="theguardian2">{{cite news |last=Elgot|first=Jessica|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/sep/28/momentum-vice-chair-jackie-walker-pressure-resign-antisemitism-row-jewish-labour-movement|title=Momentum vice-chair under pressure to resign over antisemitism row|work=]|date=28 September 2016|accessdate=2 June 2018}}</ref> During the September 2016 ], Walker attended a training session on antisemitism for party members held by the ] (JLM).<ref name="theguardian2">{{cite news |last=Elgot|first=Jessica|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/sep/28/momentum-vice-chair-jackie-walker-pressure-resign-antisemitism-row-jewish-labour-movement|title=Momentum vice-chair under pressure to resign over antisemitism row|work=The Guardian|date=28 September 2016|access-date=2 June 2018}}</ref> Her remarks at the meeting led to her second investigation by the party.


Jeremy Newmark, the chair of the JLM, said after the meeting that Walker had acted "to denigrate security provision at Jewish schools" when, at the meeting, she said "I was a bit concerned by your suggestion that the Jewish community is under such threat that it has to use security in all its buildings. I have a grandson, he is a year old. There is security in his nursery and every school has security now. It's not because I’m frightened or his parents are frightened that he is going to be attacked." After the meeting, she said "I did not raise a question on security in Jewish schools. The trainer raised this issue, and I asked for clarification, in particular, as all London primary schools, to my knowledge have security and I did not understand the particular point the trainer was making. Having been a victim of racism, I would never play down the very real fears the Jewish community have, especially in light of recent attacks in France."<ref name="theguardian2" />
Later, during a ] interview, she asked why ] only concerns genocides committed since the 1940s, thereby excluding 'the African holocaust' during the slave trade.<ref>.</ref>


In the session, there was a discussion on the definition of antisemitism set out by the JLM, which included examples relating to Israel and which has been the subject of debate within the Labour Party. Walker said, in relation to the discussion, and speaking as an anti-racism trainer, "I still haven't heard a definition of antisemitism I can work with". Jeremy Newmark said that "I am appalled that somebody…would come to a training session designed to help party activists address antisemitism and use the occasion to challenge the legitimacy of the training itself".<ref name="theguardian2" />
Walker responded:
{{quotation|Having been a victim of racism, I would never play down the very real fears the Jewish community have, especially in light of recent attacks in France. In the session, a number of Jewish people, including me, asked for definitions of antisemitism. This is a subject of much debate in the Jewish community. I … utterly condemn antisemitism... I would never play down the significance of the Shoah. Working with many Jewish comrades, I continue to seek to bring greater awareness of other genocides, which are too often forgotten or minimised. If offence has been caused, it is the last thing I would want to do and I apologise.'<ref name="theguardian2"/>}}


At the event, Walker queried what she saw as the limited scope of ], saying: 'Wouldn't it be wonderful if Holocaust Memorial Day was open to all peoples who've experienced holocaust.' When others shouted that it did include other genocides, she responded "In practice, it’s not actually circulated and advertised as such."<ref name="theguardian2" />
In September 2016, Walker was removed as Vice-Chair of Momentum, although a committee said she was not deemed to have made anti-semitic comments.<ref name="opendemocracy"/> In October, the Momentum Steering Committee decided that although it "does not regard any of the comments she appears to have made, taken individually, to be antisemitic. However, the Committee does consider her remarks on Holocaust Memorial Day and on security of Jewish schools to be ill-informed, ill-judged and offensive. In such circumstances, the Committee feels that Jackie should have done more to explain herself to mitigate the upset caused." The committee then removed Walker from the post of vice-chair while stating that "Jackie should not be expelled from the Labour party."<ref name="independent2">{{cite news |last=Cowburn|first=Ashley|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/momentum-vice-chair-jackie-walker-removed-after-holocaust-comments-a7343226.html|title=Momentum vice-chair Jackie Walker removed from position over Holocaust comments|work=]|date=3 October 2016|accessdate=1 July 2018}}</ref><ref>, (3 October 2016)</ref>
Later, in an interview, she asked why Holocaust Memorial Day only concerns genocides committed since the 1940s, thereby excluding 'the African holocaust' during the slave trade.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://twitter.com/channel4news/status/783356543752216577?lang=en-gb | title=Momentum have dismissed vice-chair, Jackie Walker, following her comments on anti-Semitism and Holocaust Memorial Day | via=Twitter | publisher=Channel 4 News | date=4 October 2016 | access-date=3 January 2019 }}</ref>
She has also said, following the meeting, "I would never play down the significance of the Shoah. Working with many Jewish comrades, I continue to seek to bring greater awareness of other genocides, which are too often forgotten or minimised. If offence has been caused, it is the last thing I would want to do and I apologise."<ref name="theguardian2" />


A number of prominent left-wing activists have defended Walker, including film director ], who said she should be allowed to play a significant role in the party,<ref name="thejc3">{{cite news |last=Harpin|first=Lee|url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/ken-loach-says-jackie-walker-should-have-significant-role-in-labour-1.444431|title=Ken Loach says Jackie Walker should have 'significant' role in Labour|work=The Jewish Chronicle|date=17 September 2017|access-date=2 June 2018}}</ref> and ] who said "I wholeheartedly support the right of anyone to criticise Israel without being branded antisemitic. That goes in particular for Jackie Walker."<ref name="thejc">{{cite news |last=Sugarman|first=Daniel|url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/jackie-walker-compares-her-labour-suspension-for-alleged-antisemitism-to-a-lynching-1.439987|title=Jackie Walker compares her Labour suspension for alleged antisemitism to a 'lynching'|work=The Jewish Chronicle|date=14 June 2017|access-date=1 July 2018}}</ref>
In early October 2016, Walker was suspended from the Labour Party again with Labour's ] referring her case to the party's National Constitutional Committee in March 2017.<ref name="opendemocracy"/>


Facing a threat of losing support from the ] trades union, Momentum removed Walker as vice-chair, while retaining her as a Steering Committee member, with the Committee stating that, although it "does not regard any of the comments she appears to have made, taken individually, to be antisemitic, ... the Committee does consider her remarks on Holocaust Memorial Day and on security of Jewish schools to be ill-informed, ill-judged and offensive. In such circumstances, the Committee feels that Jackie should have done more to explain herself to mitigate the upset caused."<ref>{{cite news|last=Stone|first=Jon|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jackie-walker-momentum-antisemitism-vice-chair-sacked-a7339261.html|title=Momentum set to sack vice-chair Jackie Walker after Holocaust Memorial Day comments|work=The Independent|date=30 September 2016|access-date=30 September 2016}}</ref> The Committee stated that "Jackie should not be expelled from the Labour party."<ref name="independent2">{{cite news |last=Cowburn|first=Ashley|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/momentum-vice-chair-jackie-walker-removed-after-holocaust-comments-a7343226.html|title=Momentum vice-chair Jackie Walker removed from position over Holocaust comments|work=]|date=3 October 2016|access-date=1 July 2018}}</ref><ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110161823/http://momentumpress.tumblr.com/post/151310000152/a-statement-from-momentums-steering-committee |date=10 November 2016 }}, (3 October 2016)</ref>
Critics of Walker include: ] (ex-UKIP leader), Jonathan Arkush (ex-President of the Board of Deputies), Jeremy Newmark (ex-chair of the Jewish Labour Movement) and ] (''Daily Mail'' columnist).<ref> cited in 'Party of Lost Causes', ''Weekly Worker'', No.1106, 12 May 2016; Jonathan Arkush, 'Sadly we still cannot trust Jeremy Corbyn over anti-Semitism', ''London Evening Standard'', 25 April 2018 ; 'Jewish Labour supporters considering legal action against party', ''The Jewish Chronicle'', 21 January 2018; Melanie Phillips, 'Autumn for Jew Bashing is beyond Satire', ''The Jerusalem Post'', 1 July 2018.</ref>


Later that month, Walker was suspended from the Labour Party pending investigation, for a second time, with Labour's ] referring her case to the party's National Constitutional Committee.<ref name="opendemocracy"/> After Walker's party disciplinary hearing in relation to the investigation on 26 March 2019, Walker was expelled from the party the next day.<ref name="Labour Expels Jackie Walker"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Sharon |first=Jeremy |date=28 March 2019 |title=Corbyn's UK Labour Party Expels Prominent Member over Antisemitism |url=https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/UK-Labour-Party-expels-prominent-member-over-antisemitism-584925 |newspaper=] |access-date=28 March 2019}}</ref>
A number of prominent left-wing activists have defended Walker, including film director ].<ref name="thejc3">{{cite news |last=Harpin|first=Lee|url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/ken-loach-says-jackie-walker-should-have-significant-role-in-labour-1.444431|title=Ken Loach says Jackie Walker should have ‘significant’ role in Labour|work=]|date=17 September 2017|accessdate=2 June 2018}}</ref> Several of Walker's defender are themselves Jewish, such as filmmaker and academic Haim Bresheeth, Israeli-born Marxist ],<ref name="theguardian">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/oct/04/jackie-walker-ruling-betrays-momentum-members|title= Jackie Walker ruling betrays Momentum members |work=]|date=4 October 2016|accessdate=1 July 2018}}</ref> and linguist and activist ]. Chomsky said: "I wholeheartedly support the right of anyone to criticise Israel without being branded antisemitic. That goes in particular for Jackie Walker."<ref name="thejc">{{cite news |last=Sugarman|first=Daniel|url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/jackie-walker-compares-her-labour-suspension-for-alleged-antisemitism-to-a-lynching-1.439987|title=Jackie Walker compares her Labour suspension for alleged antisemitism to a 'lynching'|work=]|date=14 June 2017|accessdate=1 July 2018}}</ref>

==Talk shows and films==
In March 2017, Glasgow Friends of Israel and Labour Against Antisemitism failed to prevent her speaking on '']: Free Speech And ]'' at ]. A similar event at ] was cancelled after the invitation to speak was withdrawn. Labour Against Anti-Semitism described her talk as "part of an increasing normalisation of anti-Semitic hate speech that has to be confronted and eliminated" and that it "threatens the safety of Jewish students" and therefore the university was "failing in its duty of care". Walker responded that there was a difference between being pro-Palestine and anti-Zionist, and anti-Semitic, and that she and her partner were Jewish.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/dundee/389750/controversial-momentum-figure-jackie-walker-to-address-dundee-university-audience-despite-anti-semitic-allegations/|title=Controversial Momentum figure Jackie Walker to address Dundee University audience despite anti-semitic allegations
|last=Sneddon|first=Ciaran|work=The Courier|date=19 March 2017|access-date=1 March 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/dundee/396453/jackie-walker-lecture-dundee-university-goes-ahead-despite-hate-speech-claims/|title=Jackie Walker lecture at Dundee University goes ahead despite "hate speech" claims
|last=Vidinova|first=Nadia|work=The Courier|date=30 March 2017|access-date=1 March 2019}}</ref>

Walker also performed in a one-woman show about her experience, '']'',<ref name="morningstaronline1"/> which she wrote in collaboration with Norman Thomas and premiered at the ] in August 2017.<ref name="thejc2"/> The ] wrote to ] to express their concern that the show was being mounted on council owned facilities. They informed the council of the allegations made against Walker and that these allegations had resulted in her suspension from the Labour Party and the loss of her vice-chair role with Momentum. Walker interpreted this as an attempt to prevent the show going ahead.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dysch|first=Marcus|url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/jackie-walker-claims-board-attempting-to-shut-down-show-1.442444|title=Jackie Walker claims Board of Deputies tried to shut down her Edinburgh show|newspaper=The Jewish Chronicle|date=4 August 2017|access-date=1 July 2018}}</ref><ref name="timesofisrael2">{{cite news |url=http://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/jackie-walker-accuses-board-trying-to-shut-down-fringe-show/|title=Jackie Walker accuses Jewish leaders of trying to shut down Fringe show|newspaper=]|date=4 August 2017|access-date=1 July 2018}}</ref><ref name="jpost">{{cite news |url=https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Controversial-Brit-says-Jewish-group-tried-to-shut-down-her-one-woman-show-501623|title=Controversial British activist says Jewish group tried to shut down her one-woman show|newspaper=]|date=4 August 2017|access-date=1 July 2018}}</ref><ref name="jta">{{cite news |url=https://www.jta.org/2017/08/04/news-opinion/world/controversial-british-activist-says-top-jewish-group-tried-to-shut-down-her-one-woman-show|title=Controversial British activist says top Jewish group tried to shut down her one-woman show|publisher=]|date=4 August 2017|access-date=1 July 2018}}</ref>

Walker was extensively interviewed in '']'', the 2017 TV series by ] about ] active in the United Kingdom.

In September 2018, the ] sponsored a premiere of the documentary film ''The Political Lynching of Jackie Walker'' which was to have been presented while the ] was being held nearby. The audience of 200 people had to be evacuated after a bomb threat.<ref name="liverpoolecho ">{{cite news |last1=Thomas|first1=Joe|last2=Kirkham|first2=Jenny|url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/film-screening-hosted-jewish-voices-15200721|title=Labour party conference highlights: The essential details of the event in Liverpool|location=Liverpool|work=]|date=25 September 2018|access-date=15 November 2018}}</ref><ref name="theguardian4">{{cite news |last=Rawlinson|first=Kevin|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/sep/25/jewish-event-at-labour-conference-abandoned-after-bomb-scare|title=Jewish event at Labour conference abandoned after bomb scare|work=The Guardian|date=25 September 2018|access-date=15 November 2018}}</ref> In a statement, Jewish Voice for Labour said the film "is an incisive and chilling exposé of attempts to silence critics of Israel, in particular those who support the socialist project of ] leader ]. It connects the global struggle against racism and the far right with the ]."<ref name="morningstaronline2">{{cite news |url=https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/jewish-voice-labour-film-screening-evacuated-after-bomb-threat|title=Jewish Voice for Labour film screening evacuated after bomb threat|newspaper=]|date=26 September 2018|access-date=15 November 2018}}</ref>

Another film, on the accusations of antisemitism against Walker and others following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party, entitled '']'', premiered in ] on 3 February 2019.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/whats-on/events/2019-02/3/witch-hunt-film-screening-15363/|title=Witch Hunt Film Screening|work=KentOnline|access-date=26 February 2019}}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In the same month, the Board of Deputies of British Jews complained to the Labour Party about ] MP, for booking a room to enable the showing of the film in Parliament. A Labour spokeswoman said of Williamson's action: "It's completely inappropriate to book a room for an event about an individual who is suspended from the party and subject to ongoing disciplinary procedures."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/mp-chris-williamson-accused-trolling-jewish-community-by-hosting-jackie-walker-film-parliament-1.480691|title=MP Chris Williamson accused of 'trolling Jewish community' by hosting Jackie Walker film in Parliament|last=Doherty|first=Rosa|work=The Jewish Chronicle|date=26 February 2019|access-date=26 February 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/26/labour-mp-chris-williamson-faces-criticism-over-film-about-antisemitism-in-the-party|title=Labour MP faces party censure over antisemitism film|last=Walker|first=Peter|work=The Guardian|date=26 February 2019|access-date=26 February 2019}}</ref> The screening was cancelled, which the film's promoters said was due to intimidation.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://amp.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/27/labour-mp-chris-williamson-party-too-apologetic-over-antisemitism-complaints|title=Corbyn set for clash with Watson over MP's antisemitism remarks|last=Mason|first=Rowena|work=The Guardian|date=27 February 2019|access-date=27 February 2019}}</ref>

==Activism and political views==
As a young woman, Walker was active in the ].<ref name="aljazeera"/>

She is a supporter of Palestinian rights, a critic of Israeli policy towards Palestinians, and a supporter of the ] (BDS) movement. She is also a member of ] and the ].<ref name="aljazeera">{{cite news |last=Walker|first=Jackie|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/01/opposition-jewish-state-legitimate-position-170114091600833.html|title=Opposition to a Jewish state is a legitimate position|publisher=Al Jazeera|date=14 January 2017|access-date=9 November 2018}}</ref>

Walker is a founding member of the Kent Anti-Racist Network and ].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/thanet/news/leading-labour-activist-suspended-over-95356/|title=Leading Labour activist Jacqueline Walker, of Thanet Momentum, suspended over comments about the Holocaust|last=Francis|first=Pauldate=4 May 2016|access-date=2 March 2019|work=Kent Online}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/jeremy-corbyn-backing-lawyer-severs-ties-with-group-that-calls-antisemitism-witch-hunt-1.470458|title=Jeremy Corbyn-backing lawyer severs ties with group that calls Labour antisemitism 'witch hunt'|last=Harper|first=Lee|date=3 October 2018|access-date=20 February 2019|newspaper=The Jewish Chronicle}}</ref> She has said that "Opposition to a Jewish state is, and remains, a legitimate, honourable political position and one that many, including many Jews, have stood by for decades".<ref name="aljazeera"/>

In February 2019, she was elected to the board of the ].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/leftwingers-appoint-jackie-walker-activist-suspended-over-antisemitism-claims-m0q3kpkh2|title=Leftwingers appoint Jackie Walker, activist suspended over antisemitism claims|last=Devlin|first=Kate|work=]|date=14 February 2019|access-date=28 February 2019}}</ref>

Walker supported ] during his period as leader of the Labour Party. She said Corbyn had opposed racism, war, injustice and oppression all his life and called his leadership "the greatest challenge to the established political order the UK has seen for some time". She said the mainstream media and the right of the Labour Party had weaponised anti-Semitism to attack Corbyn.<ref name="aljazeera"/>


==Personal life== ==Personal life==
Walker has both American and British citizenship.<ref name="timeout"/>{{dead link|date=August 2020}}
In 1997, she moved from ] back to ], London where she had lived with her mother to raise her three children on her own.<ref name=" theguardian1"/> In 2010, Walker moved from London to ],<ref name=" theguardian1"/> ]<ref name="opendemocracy"/> where she lives in with her partner, Graham Bash, who is editor of '']'' and is also Jewish.<ref name="thejc3"/>


When asked if she would describe herself as an anti-Zionist and not an anti-Semite, Walker said: "Yes. I certainly wouldn't call myself an anti-Semite as I am Jewish and my partner is Jewish."<ref name="bbc">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-37547873|title=Momentum vice-chair sacked after anti-Semitism row|publisher=BBC|date=3 October 2016|access-date=21 November 2018}}</ref> Walker was raised as a Catholic for part of her childhood.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l9gucDhdpnUC&q=church|title=Pilgrim State|author=Jackie Walker|date=September 2011|publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |isbn=9781444731811|access-date= 27 February 2019}}</ref>
Walker has three children born in the 1980s. She has two sons from her first marriage and a daughter from her second marriage. Walker has an estranged elder sister, and elder brother and younger sister.<ref name="guardian1"/>

She has an elder sister, an elder brother and a younger brother.<ref name="guardian1"/> She has three children.

In 2010, Walker moved from London to ],<ref name="theguardian1"/> ]<ref name="opendemocracy"/> where she lives with her partner, the editor of '']'', Graham Bash.<ref name="thejc3"/>

==See also==
*]
*]


==References== ==References==
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==External links== ==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
*{{Official website|https://www.jackiewalker.org/}}
*''''
*Oglesby, Kate. . ''Mancunian Matters''. 22 January 2018
*
*. '']''. 23 January 2018
*''''
*. ''Jews for Justice for Palestine Blog''. 5 September 2016)
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* – Video extract from 'Noam Chomsky – The Responsibility of Intellectuals' conference, UCL. February 2017
*
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Latest revision as of 06:23, 21 December 2024

20th and 21st-century British socialist and writer (born 1954)

Jackie Walker
BornJacqueline Walker
(1954-04-10) 10 April 1954 (age 70)
Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, United States
CitizenshipBritish-American
Alma materGoldsmiths College
Occupation(s)Teacher, writer, anti-racism activist, charity worker
Years active1981–present
Notable workPilgrim State, The Lynching
TitleVice-Chair of Momentum
TermSeptember 2015 – October 2016
SuccessorCecile Wright
Political partyNone
Other political
affiliations
Labour (1981–2019; suspended 2016; expelled 2019)
PartnerGraham Bash
Children3
Parent(s)Jack Cohen (father)
Dorothy Brown (mother)

Jacqueline Walker (born 10 April 1954) is a British political activist and writer. She has been a teacher and anti-racism trainer. She is the author of a family memoir, Pilgrim State, and the co-writer and performer of a one-woman show, The Lynching. She held the roles of Vice-Chair of South Thanet Constituency Labour Party and Vice-Chair of Momentum before being suspended and ultimately expelled from the party for misconduct.

Background

Walker has described her family background in both her family memoir, Pilgrim State, and her play, The Lynching as being of mixed Jewish and African descent. According to Walker, her mother, Dorothy Brown, was a black Jamaican and Sephardi Jew who was descended partly from a Portuguese Jew who came to the West Indies during the days of Christopher Columbus, and a female slave who converted to Judaism on marriage. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1915, she won a scholarship to study medicine in the United States, where she married and had a daughter, giving up her studies. In 1949, she was committed temporarily to a mental institution, where was on occasion held in isolation, placed in a straitjacket and subjected to ECT treatment, by her husband, who was seeking to end the relationship. Her eldest daughter was put into care and was ultimately fostered while her second child was returned to her on her release. Later, her mother attempted to retrieve her elder daughter but without success. Released, and active in the civil rights movement, she met Walker's Ashkenazi Jewish father, Jack Cohen, whose family fled anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire around 1918 and came to New York, where he became a jeweller.

Walker was born in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City in 1954. In 1956, her mother, with Walker and her step brother, were deported to Jamaica, which Walker attributes to McCarthyism. There, racial discrimination barred her mother from many jobs, and she had to leave her children with relatives for months while she travelled looking for work. In 1959, Walker's mother, with her children, moved to London. Her mother suffered from periods of severe depression since her 30s, as well as physical illness in later life. Family life was characterised by abject poverty, cramped, squalid and chaotic living conditions and continual racist attacks, despite her mother's best efforts: as a result, Walker and her step brothers spent time in care homes or with foster families. She was the only black child in her primary school and suffered from racial bullying both at school and when in care. When Walker was 11, she witnessed the sudden death of her mother at the age of 50, after which Walker lived in care homes and was then permanently fostered.

Career

Walker was in the National Youth Theatre but, as she thought that as a black person she would get few roles, went instead to Goldsmiths College and trained to become a teacher. In her first year, she married and had a baby, returning to her studies when her baby was six weeks old. She worked as a teacher at a pupil referral unit for emotionally and behaviourally disturbed young people.

Walker completed an M. Phil, in which she examined the development of identity in the work of Black British writers. Having completed two Arvon Foundation writing courses, she was awarded an Arts Council England grant to complete her family memoir Pilgrim State, published by Sceptre in April 2006. It was placed on the reading list of the social worker training course at Brunel University London, where Walker gave bi-weekly lectures and was a member of the committee for social work training.

She has been an anti-racist trainer and charity worker and has a long record of anti-racist activism and as a political activist. She has contributed to educational materials and written training manuals on anti-racism.

Labour Party

Walker joined the Labour Party in 1981. She was elected Vice-Chair of South Thanet Constituency Labour Party and played a leading role in the campaign there to prevent the election of the UKIP leader Nigel Farage in the 2015 general election. She was elected to Momentum's Steering Committee, becoming its vice-chair in September 2015 and is a member of Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL). She was expelled from Labour for "prejudicial and grossly detrimental behaviour against the party" on 27 March 2019. Walker retained her JVL membership, however.

First investigation

In Walker's Facebook account, a private discussion from February 2016 was recorded in which a friend of Walker had raised the question of 'the debt' owed to the Jews because of the Holocaust. In the discussion, Walker had responded:

Oh yes – and I hope you feel the same towards the African holocaust? My ancestors were involved in both – on all sides as I'm sure you know, millions more Africans were killed in the African holocaust and their oppression continues today on a global scale in a way it doesn't for Jews... and many Jews (my ancestors too) were the chief financiers of the sugar and slave trade which is of course why there were so many early synagogues in the Caribbean. So who are victims and what does it mean? We are victims and perpetrators to some extent through choice. And having been a victim does not give you a right to be a perpetrator.

Her private comments were "uncovered" by the Israel Advocacy Movement which, it says, aims "to counter British hostility to Israel." The Jewish Chronicle published her comments on 4 May 2016 and notified the Labour Party about them. The Labour Party suspended her, pending investigation, on the same day that The Jewish Chronicle published its article. The Chair of Momentum, Jon Lansman, addressing the criticism of Walker, referred to "a 'lynch mob' whose interest in combatting racism is highly selective". The investigation and accompanying suspension concluded after a few weeks with the decision that not to proceed with disciplinary action.

In response to her critics, Walker said:

Yes, I wrote 'many Jews (my ancestors too) were the chief financiers of the sugar and slave trade'. These words, taken out of context in the way the media did, of course do not reflect my position. I was writing to someone who knew the context of my comments. Had he felt the need to pick me up on what I had written I would have rephrased – perhaps to 'Jews (my ancestors too) were among those who financed the sugar and slave trade and at the particular time/in the particular area I'm talking about they played an important part.' ... has never been that Jews played a disproportionate role in the Atlantic Slave Trade, merely that, as historians such as Arnold Wiznitzer noted, at a certain economic point, in specific regions where my ancestors lived, Jews played a dominant role 'as financiers of the sugar industry, as brokers and exporters of sugar, and as suppliers of Negro slaves on credit.'

Dave Rich has argued that Walker's comments are reminiscent of the Nation of Islam's anti-Semitic views on the role of Jews in the slave trade. Walker's response has been that 'the Nation of Islam is an antisemitic group which seeks to set Jewish and Black people against each other. Any examination of my work, my writing, my life, would make clear my opposition to this ideology.'

Second investigation

During the September 2016 Labour Party Conference, Walker attended a training session on antisemitism for party members held by the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM). Her remarks at the meeting led to her second investigation by the party.

Jeremy Newmark, the chair of the JLM, said after the meeting that Walker had acted "to denigrate security provision at Jewish schools" when, at the meeting, she said "I was a bit concerned by your suggestion that the Jewish community is under such threat that it has to use security in all its buildings. I have a grandson, he is a year old. There is security in his nursery and every school has security now. It's not because I’m frightened or his parents are frightened that he is going to be attacked." After the meeting, she said "I did not raise a question on security in Jewish schools. The trainer raised this issue, and I asked for clarification, in particular, as all London primary schools, to my knowledge have security and I did not understand the particular point the trainer was making. Having been a victim of racism, I would never play down the very real fears the Jewish community have, especially in light of recent attacks in France."

In the session, there was a discussion on the definition of antisemitism set out by the JLM, which included examples relating to Israel and which has been the subject of debate within the Labour Party. Walker said, in relation to the discussion, and speaking as an anti-racism trainer, "I still haven't heard a definition of antisemitism I can work with". Jeremy Newmark said that "I am appalled that somebody…would come to a training session designed to help party activists address antisemitism and use the occasion to challenge the legitimacy of the training itself".

At the event, Walker queried what she saw as the limited scope of Holocaust Memorial Day, saying: 'Wouldn't it be wonderful if Holocaust Memorial Day was open to all peoples who've experienced holocaust.' When others shouted that it did include other genocides, she responded "In practice, it’s not actually circulated and advertised as such." Later, in an interview, she asked why Holocaust Memorial Day only concerns genocides committed since the 1940s, thereby excluding 'the African holocaust' during the slave trade. She has also said, following the meeting, "I would never play down the significance of the Shoah. Working with many Jewish comrades, I continue to seek to bring greater awareness of other genocides, which are too often forgotten or minimised. If offence has been caused, it is the last thing I would want to do and I apologise."

A number of prominent left-wing activists have defended Walker, including film director Ken Loach, who said she should be allowed to play a significant role in the party, and Noam Chomsky who said "I wholeheartedly support the right of anyone to criticise Israel without being branded antisemitic. That goes in particular for Jackie Walker."

Facing a threat of losing support from the TSSA trades union, Momentum removed Walker as vice-chair, while retaining her as a Steering Committee member, with the Committee stating that, although it "does not regard any of the comments she appears to have made, taken individually, to be antisemitic, ... the Committee does consider her remarks on Holocaust Memorial Day and on security of Jewish schools to be ill-informed, ill-judged and offensive. In such circumstances, the Committee feels that Jackie should have done more to explain herself to mitigate the upset caused." The Committee stated that "Jackie should not be expelled from the Labour party."

Later that month, Walker was suspended from the Labour Party pending investigation, for a second time, with Labour's National Executive Committee referring her case to the party's National Constitutional Committee. After Walker's party disciplinary hearing in relation to the investigation on 26 March 2019, Walker was expelled from the party the next day.

Talk shows and films

In March 2017, Glasgow Friends of Israel and Labour Against Antisemitism failed to prevent her speaking on Palestine: Free Speech And Israel's "Black Ops" at Dundee University. A similar event at Aberdeen University was cancelled after the invitation to speak was withdrawn. Labour Against Anti-Semitism described her talk as "part of an increasing normalisation of anti-Semitic hate speech that has to be confronted and eliminated" and that it "threatens the safety of Jewish students" and therefore the university was "failing in its duty of care". Walker responded that there was a difference between being pro-Palestine and anti-Zionist, and anti-Semitic, and that she and her partner were Jewish.

Walker also performed in a one-woman show about her experience, The Lynching, which she wrote in collaboration with Norman Thomas and premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2017. The Board of Deputies of British Jews wrote to Edinburgh Council to express their concern that the show was being mounted on council owned facilities. They informed the council of the allegations made against Walker and that these allegations had resulted in her suspension from the Labour Party and the loss of her vice-chair role with Momentum. Walker interpreted this as an attempt to prevent the show going ahead.

Walker was extensively interviewed in The Lobby, the 2017 TV series by Al Jazeera about some of the pro-Israel organisations and individuals active in the United Kingdom.

In September 2018, the Jewish Voice for Labour sponsored a premiere of the documentary film The Political Lynching of Jackie Walker which was to have been presented while the Labour Party Conference was being held nearby. The audience of 200 people had to be evacuated after a bomb threat. In a statement, Jewish Voice for Labour said the film "is an incisive and chilling exposé of attempts to silence critics of Israel, in particular those who support the socialist project of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. It connects the global struggle against racism and the far right with the Palestinian cause."

Another film, on the accusations of antisemitism against Walker and others following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party, entitled Witch Hunt, premiered in Broadstairs on 3 February 2019. In the same month, the Board of Deputies of British Jews complained to the Labour Party about Chris Williamson MP, for booking a room to enable the showing of the film in Parliament. A Labour spokeswoman said of Williamson's action: "It's completely inappropriate to book a room for an event about an individual who is suspended from the party and subject to ongoing disciplinary procedures." The screening was cancelled, which the film's promoters said was due to intimidation.

Activism and political views

As a young woman, Walker was active in the anti-apartheid movement.

She is a supporter of Palestinian rights, a critic of Israeli policy towards Palestinians, and a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. She is also a member of Jews for Justice for Palestinians and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Walker is a founding member of the Kent Anti-Racist Network and Labour Against the Witchhunt. She has said that "Opposition to a Jewish state is, and remains, a legitimate, honourable political position and one that many, including many Jews, have stood by for decades".

In February 2019, she was elected to the board of the Labour Representation Committee.

Walker supported Jeremy Corbyn during his period as leader of the Labour Party. She said Corbyn had opposed racism, war, injustice and oppression all his life and called his leadership "the greatest challenge to the established political order the UK has seen for some time". She said the mainstream media and the right of the Labour Party had weaponised anti-Semitism to attack Corbyn.

Personal life

Walker has both American and British citizenship.

When asked if she would describe herself as an anti-Zionist and not an anti-Semite, Walker said: "Yes. I certainly wouldn't call myself an anti-Semite as I am Jewish and my partner is Jewish." Walker was raised as a Catholic for part of her childhood.

She has an elder sister, an elder brother and a younger brother. She has three children.

In 2010, Walker moved from London to Broadstairs, Kent where she lives with her partner, the editor of Labour Briefing, Graham Bash.

See also

References

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  2. "Who's behind the momentous sacking of Jackie Walker?". Camden New Journal. Camden. 7 October 2016. Archived from the original on 9 November 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  3. ^ Levitt, Lee (6 August 2017). "Jackie Walker in Edinburgh: cheers and a standing ovation". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  4. Arnold, Sue (14 November 2008). "Pilgrim State". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  5. ^ Carpenter, Louise (13 April 2008). "Who are you calling a bad mother?". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
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  8. Gulliver, John (7 November 2017). "Jackie Walker, the ghost, says we must be free to speak". The Islington Tribune. Derry. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
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  46. Francis, Pauldate=4 May 2016. "Leading Labour activist Jacqueline Walker, of Thanet Momentum, suspended over comments about the Holocaust". Kent Online. Retrieved 2 March 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  47. Harper, Lee (3 October 2018). "Jeremy Corbyn-backing lawyer severs ties with group that calls Labour antisemitism 'witch hunt'". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
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  50. Jackie Walker (September 2011). Pilgrim State. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9781444731811. Retrieved 27 February 2019.

External links

Party political offices
New title Vice-Chair of Momentum
2015–2016
Succeeded byCecile Wright
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