CORRECTION: Keir Starmer unmasked

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17 July 2020

Dear readers,

We have made a correction to this video entitled Keir Starmer Unmasked, first published on 26 June 2020. You can now watch the updated version.

Specifically, in the original video, Kerry-Anne Mendoza says: “…Israeli occupation forces have for a long time been training US police forces in the kind of tactics that led to George Floyd being killed, namely the knee on the neck. This is well-established fact.”

We were alerted by a reader to the possibility that this may be understood as a claim that the knee on the neck technique, specifically, was taught to the officers involved. In fact, that is not the intended message and we apologise for the confusion – the video has been edited accordingly.

We thought it would also be helpful to lay out exactly what we do know, from evidence, about the relationship between Israeli forces and US police. 

We know that: 

Read on...

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  • A number of US police forces have been trained by Israeli forces since at least 1997. The NYPD has even opened a branch within an Israeli police force.
  • The Minneapolis police have participated in training delivered by Israeli forces.
  • Israeli forces use the knee on the neck technique and at least one of the organisations delivering this type of training does teach it (and they also refer to their curriculum as following that of the Israeli security forces and special units).
  • The website ‘IsraellyCool’ makes a veiled admission that the training would have included such restraint techniques, saying “Clearly, George Floyd was no terrorist, and nothing any police officer learned in such a training session should have been used in the way it was.”

We don’t know: 

  •         If the officers involved with George Floyd’s death either attended the training sessions or were trained by others who did.
  •         If the training delivered to Minneapolis police, or any other force, included the knee on the neck technique.

Ultimately, we must look at the many and varied human rights violations by the state of Israel and ask why the USA and its state police forces are willing to support it. Furthermore, we must question the fact that they are using practices just as egregious. Sadly, we needn’t be surprised that a tragedy such as the death of George Floyd has occurred under these circumstances.

Yours, in solidarity,

The Canary team

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  • Show Comments
    1. Left wing Labour members may as well throw their hard earned subs on the fire.
      At least they’ll get a little warmth for their money.
      I see an Exodus from The Promised Land very soon, as all the London left MP’s will never give up their safe seats for the chance of freedom.
      To broadly paraphrase Malcolm X.
      Why fight to sit along side the Rights on the bus, when you can fight to own your own bus without fear of being driven down a cul-de-sac.

    2. Never thought I would see a video like this here. Rings true. I would never consider myself hard left but my disappointment at the new direction of the Labour party is growing daily.

    3. Excellent report.
      The Old Labour Party is going the way of the Tories. Dysfuntional.
      Time for a new party to salvage some of the 500,000 members who voted for Corbyn’s dream, and a different way into the fut

    4. Very good analysis and prescription. Let’s think for a moment: Long-Bailey was sacked under the anti-Semitism rubric. By implication, Starmer is saying Amnesty International is anti-Semitic. That’s a claim which requires some evidence. We know the allegations about anti-Semitism in the Labour Party are factitious, the public doesn’t. The claim is linked to a suggestion that Jews in the UK are under threat. In the public mind, that has taken hold. Maybe a good idea to shed some light on the status of UK Jewry. According to the Jewish Virtual Library there are 291,000 Jews in the UK, 0.43% of the population. There are 5 Jewish MPs, 2.5% of the population. Pretty good representation. Jews are 80% more likely to have higher qualifications than the average. Not bad. They are 40% less likely to have no qualifications. 60% of Jewish children are educated in Jewish schools, most of them funded by the taxpayer. Pretty good. 30.5% of the Jewish workforce is self-employed compared to 14.2% of the general population. In 2010 the average hourly income for Jewish employees was estimated at £15.44 per hour, above the living wage. There are 454 synagogues in the UK. The level of intermarriage in 26%, according to the Institute for Jewish Policy Research in 2016. Intermarriage is a good measure of prejudice: the higher the rate the lower the prejudice. 26% isn’t bad. It suggests there is little anti-Jewish prejudice. Prior to the 2015 General Election ( ie before any Corbyn effect) 69% of Jews intended to vote Tory and 22% Labour, in keeping with the growing middle-class profile of UK Jewry. None of this is consonant with serious discrimination against Jewry. On the contrary, it indicates UK Jewry is flourishing. That’s a good thing. We should celebrate it, but regret that as they flourish they vote Tory. The level of anti-Semitism in the UK is clearly very low and impedes Jewish life hardly at all. Funnily enough, that is also true in the Labour Party, as all the evidence shows. Evidence on the one hand, hysteria on the other. Starmer is on the side of hysteria. Anti-Semitism is not a serious problem either in the UK or the Labour Party; democracy is. Starmer sides with the business-State-media complex against the common people. In 2017 I stood on a beach with 10,000 people cheering and chanting for Corbyn. That will never happen for Starmer. Like Blair, he will rely on the media and the rich. As ever, democracy must be traduced; the “rascal multitude” as it was dubbed by the early capitalists, must be kept down. For a brief four years, the common people had a chance to rise, but normality has asserted itself. The left must kick up a hell of a fuss on behalf of the “rascal multitude”. Walking away is no good, compliance is no good, waiting for Godot is no good. A determined fightback is indispensable.

      1. Great analysis and insight in this comment – (along side an enlightening video).
        This sentence that nicely sums up for me what Starmer is about:
        “Starmer sides with the business-State-media complex against the common people.”
        Its difficult to see what will become of the labour party, especially with what’s to come as a result of what some consider to be overly eager lock-downs. At a time when the economy has been trashed, a large wave of unemployment is about to hit, taxation set to increase for the foreseeable – what’s needed is a government and a labour party that puts the interests of the most vulnerable as their primary concern – not a government that uses the current crisis as an opportunity to reshape society with the aid of large corporate interests for profit and control.

    5. Dear Ms Mendoza ,
      Absolutely spot on , as an effectively disenfranchised OAP voting for Blair ONCE in 1997 and an enthusiastic supporter of Corbyn from 2015 onwards , I watched in horror as Keir Starmer and the metropolitan elite contrived a ruinous typical Blairite ‘triangularisation’ in the 2019 ‘Brexit’ election . Despite the Labour elite’s muddle and an unprecedented smear campaign in which they participated , Labour polled 32% in the 2019 election . After Blair, Brown , Milliband and a ‘betrayed’ Corbyn in 2017 and 2019 don’t the Labour Right Wing realise they are staring down the barrel of oblivion like their European social democratic counterparts ?
      Sound the bugle Ms Mendoza and I’ll do what an old man can ,
      Derek

        1. Yes. And.
          Sold off the NHS.
          Forced PFI’s on the taxpayer.
          Deregulated the banks leading to The Crash. Which Joe Public are still paying for.
          Killed a million Iraqis in an illegal war. Spawning ISIS in the ruinous vacuum he and Dubs left behind. Had David Kelly killed too no matter what they claim.
          Carried on Thatchers dismantling of State Education and The Unions.
          Brought in a slave “minimum” wage.
          I’m sure there’s more.
          Oh yes. And used his position to rake in millions. Especially as an “adviser” for a Kazakstani despot.
          But the media still love him.

            1. Yes please. That’ll be one and a half election victories. Better than nowt.

            1. “Amazing rant. And you did so without mentioning Israel or the Jews. Well done.”

              Again, this isn’t an argument, its pathetic. Contribute something, or take a hike.

    6. I joined the Labour Party to elect Jeremy Corbyn as leader. I left when the deplorable Margaret Hodge called him a “fucking anti-Semite and a racist.” I complained & asked for her membership to be revoked. I never got a reply. I wrote again, included my torn membership card & resigned.
      I got a response asking me to reconsider. I told them’ Hodge or me.’ I am not a member of the LP. All those who voted & joined for Corbyn should follow my example. The LP is finished. Blue Labour is not for the’ working person’ but really never was…………

    7. Spot on analysis as everyone says. What to do about it is your last question.
      I see the only thing possible to salvage the Labour Party is for everyone else who supported Long -Bailey to resign in support, and call for a new election of labour Leader .Let the war begin for the truth.
      Even the Guadian’s Jonathan Freeland is willingly ignorant of this fake antisemitic smear campaign.
      Its not even about left,right,centre politics any longer. Its about whether you think the truth is important enough to vote for.
      Either way one can’t leave all the 400,000 new labour members who are mostly young to fall under the grim reaper’s scythe who uses lies,
      Either that or create a New Party.
      Every new war is different , and in this war we find the enemy is within us.
      A war calling for a willingness to be ignorant. You’ll notice who is being sacked are the intelligent ones.
      This is what has to be undone.
      Well done Kerry-anne Mendoza in your reporting.

    8. Conspiracy theory:
      You have presented no evidence to back up Ms Peake’s claim, which she has now apologised for and which Amnesty International has disclaimed, that the chokehold which killed George Floyd was taught to US police officers by Israeli Secret Services as a series of seminars. You have presented no evidence for the content of the seminars, who was there, that there were ‘secret service’ agents present, that the chokehold was exclusive to Israel and didn’t pre-date such seminars, or that it couldn’t have come from any of the other forces the US police were know to have trained with. You have ‘joined the dots’. You have now stated Ms Peake’s claims were not suspicion, but “fact”.

      Antisemetic:
      Labour under Corbyn produced its own guidance ruling that conspiracies about Israel being responsible for things outside of their realm without objective evidence is antisemetic – and this was NOT part of the IHRA definition which some found controversial, but their own rules and choice of wording:
      “Today, some conspiracy theories substitute Israel or Zionists for Jews, presenting Israel as controlling the world’s media and finances. Others contain further antisemitic claims, such as Israeli responsibility for 9/11 or control of ISIS. These theories ascribe to Israel influence on world events far beyond any objective analysis.”
      https://labour.org.uk/no-place-for-antisemitism/

    9. Really! As we all know, Israeli anti-terrorism training is along the lines of showering the perp with rose petals until they fall into a swoon and renounce violence.

      Can there be any clearer sign of hating all Jews everywhere than by retweeting an article that covers much ground, and mentions one not particularly important claim regarding Israeli counter-insurgent training?

      There is barely a step, a minor chasm at most, between that and full-blown Mein Kampf, obviously.

      Great video, btw.

    10. Starmer never concealed his true colours with a mask. His decisions and actions in prior positions absolutely nailed his colours to the mast.
      To lose Corbyn’s compassion, dedication and determination to create a better society for all is a tragedy. To be left with Starmer’s pseudo Tory alternative is beyond tragedy.

      1. I see the latest poll has put Starmer ahead of Johnson as prefared prime minister. My God the Canary must be livid. It seems the more you attack and attempt to undermine him the more popular he becomes. Good job.

        1. Two sides of the same coin, you can choose tory party1 run by Johnson or tory party 2 run by Starmer … the mainstream will happily support Starmer and present him as an alternative whilst knowing that he’s effectively the same. If Starmer’s getting easy interviews on mainstream media within a couple of months of being the new leader and doing nothing – then you know its the same puppet master with the left hand up Starmer’s bottom and the right hand up Johnson’s.

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