Have Labour come to an agreement with the Greens in Sheffield?

A lot has happened in Sheffield today, but it’s still not clear if peace has broken out in Sheffield Town Hall. It seems that Labour Councillors now have to consult with their NEC bosses to get their agreement that working with the Greens can continue.

I attended and spoke at a rally outside the Town Hall at 1pm. First we heard that the Full Council Meeting had been delayed an hour as negotiations were still continuing between Labour and the Greens.

Jonny from Sheffield Jews Against Israeli Apartheid spoke first, explaining why Zionism is Racism.

This was followed by Peter from Palestine Voices, who carefully explained why it is wrong to conflate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism, the mistake made by the Prime Minister and the leader of Sheffield Council.

Hilary then spoke about how Palestinians in Sheffield have experienced Zionism.

Tadhamon Singers performed a new song, not yet named, but I think we can call it “Don’t conflate Zionism with Judaism.”

Annie spoke about the government’s new proposals on anti-semitism in schools, who will now have to use the highly discredited IHRA definition. Her speech was rudely interupted by a woman waving an Israeli flag, but Annie just kept going.

I will talk about my speech in a later post— I don’t think anyone filmed it.

Leader of the Council, Cllr Fran Belbin, started proceedings in the chamber with this announcement.

But very few answers were forthcoming on the Labour position on Zionism is Racism.

The following post has appeared this evening, indicating that what was said in the Council chamber still needs the approval of Labour’s NEC.

What is very clear to me is that the Labour Party must stop their conflation of anti-semitism and anti-Zionism. They are very different things, and as the singers suggest, conflating them is itself anti-semitic. I hope for the future of Sheffield, the NEC will see sense and give their blessing to the future cooperation between Labour and the Greens. If they don’t, the City faces a very uncertain time.