Jewish lobby has insidious influence in UK politics, civil servants told

Mar 16, 2024 by Jill

by Matt Dathan, The Times:

Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, has ordered the suspension of a group that represents Muslim civil servants over the spreading of antisemitic tropes.

A series of meetings have been held by hundreds of civil servants discussing how to force the government to change its policy on the Israel-Gaza war and have featured numerous antisemitic tropes, The Times can disclose.

One official involved in the webinars allegedly told staff that the “Israel lobby” had an “insidious influence” on British politics, widely regarded as a common antisemitic trope.

He also shared anecdotes from a lecture given by Lowkey, a controversial anti-Zionist rapper, claiming the western media was covering up US and UK involvement in the war against Hamas.

The civil servant told fellow officials: “So we are in the belly of the beast in that respect.” The same official claimed the mainstream media was “biased” and “full of lies”.

The comments came during meetings of the Civil Service Muslim Network (CSMN), a cross-government umbrella network that represents and supports Muslim civil servants, although those attending do not have to be Muslim.

Read here (£)