Pete Newbon’s widow says he lied to her about attacking Rosen, leaving LAAS

Pete Newbon was a Northumbria University lecturer and  a director of notorious right-wing, pro-Israel smear group ‘Labour against Antisemitism’ (LAAS). During Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party, Newbon became infamous after he posted an image of Corbyn reading to children that had been doctored to make it appear that he was reading an infamous antisemitic text, instead of popular Jewish author Michael Rosen’s ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ children’s book.

Notoriously, Pete Newbon tried to sue Rosen for describing Newbon’s posting of the doctored image as an antisemitic thing to do. Newbon in turn, was sued — along with two associates — by James Wilson for endangering Wilson and his family by falsely portraying him as a danger to children. Wilson ultimately won hefty damages in his lawsuit

Newbon died by suicide before either case concluded. His right-wing supporters have since attempted to make him into some kind of Zionist ‘saint’, naming an ‘award’ after him — won since by some of the most appalling figures in the Israel smear industry — and trying to blame his death on left-wingers who were outraged by his abuse of Rosen’s text. Those same supporters targeted Rosen himself particularly, despite a coroner’s inquest that never mentioned him once.

In 2024, Skwawkbox revealed that an ‘award’ set up by his supporters to honour Newbon accidentally exposed his record as a serial troll who was on a final warning from Northumbria University because of his appalling online activity. Newbon’s widow Rachel Hewitt then further holed his reputation, writing first that Newbon had been ‘secretly pursuing’ court cases that put their family at risk. She later wrote how he had abused her and that she had felt her children were at risk if left alone with him.

Pete Newbon exposed in new short video

Now, Hewitt has published a short but moving and compelling video that further exposes what Newbon was like — and again it blows apart the false narrative that the UK Israel lobby has tried to build around him.

The 66-second video consists of fragments of thought and memory of her experience before and after Newbon’s death. Hewitt’s voice is heard in fragments that, though broken, make it clear that Newbon lied to her. Lied that he had dropped his vindictive and unfounded case against Rosen, lied about leaving LAAS, appears to have lied about or refused treatment for his mental health — and lied about leaving Twitter, where he caused so much harm to himself and others.

The video is reproduced below with subtitles, to aid comprehension for those less familiar or with hearing difficulties. The original is available to view here.

LAAS and its main actors have continued to target Michael Rosen for being a Jew who opposes Israel’s genocide and apartheid. Some have also been found to have smeared their other victim, James Wilson — and to have discussed their attempts to use ‘lawfare’ to extract large amounts of money from him and to “bring him down” for supporting former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Now Pete Newbon — the LAAS archetype — has been further exposed. He tried to destroy people on Twitter with libels and false accusations, but when two of his victims pushed back, he lied to his wife about his actions and their consequences. Yet the Israel lobby and its ‘usual suspects’ treat him as a martyr and hero ‘soldier.

Featured image via the Canary