Birmingham anti-racism activist Maz Saleem has called out writer Owen Jones for boycotting an anti-Trump demonstration
A Birmingham anti-racism campaigner has accused controversial Guardian journalist Owen Jones of “sectarianism” and hypocrisy after he refused to attend an anti-Trump demonstration, which has been co-organised by Muslim organisations.
Maz Saleem, who became an anti-hate and anti-Islamophobia activist after her father Mohammed Saleem was murdered by neo-Nazi Pavlo Lapshyn in Birmingham in 2013, has condemned Jones’ comments which suggest a demonstration taking place in London today has been organised by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP).
Following the inauguration of new US President Donald Trump last month and the implementation of his ‘Muslim ban’, several protest rallies have taken place across the UK, many called by Stand Up To Racism, Stop the War Coalition and the Muslim Association of Britain. These have been supported and attended by a wide range of organisations who stand in opposition to the policies of Trump.
A protest against President Donald Trump in Birmingham city centre (Photograph: Geoff Dexter)
Today, a similar mass demonstration is due to take place in central London, outside the US Embassy, with hundreds of thousands expected to attend.
The gathering has been called by Stop the War Coalition, Stand Up to Racism, the Muslim Association of Britain, MEND (Muslim Engagement and Development), the Muslim Council of Britain, CND, Friends of Al-Aqsa, The People’s Assembly Against Austerity and Help Refugees Worldwide.
However, writer Owen Jones yesterday publicly boycotted the demonstration, attributing his stance to the “leading role of the SWP in it”, describing the Socialist Workers Party as a “cult which covered up rape”.
I’m not taking part in tomorrow’s Trump demo because of the leading role of the SWP in it, a cult which covered up rape.
— Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) February 3, 2017
When told the SWP were not one of the key organisers of the event, Jones insisted Stand Up To Racism was a “front” for the left-wing political party.
Owen Jones has claimed Stand Up To Racism is a “front” for the Socialist Workers Party (Image: Twitter)
This claim contradicts the Stand Up to Racism website, which displays Labour MP Diane Abbott as its President and a committee which includes Talha Ahmed of the Muslim Council of Britain, Labour MP Kate Osamour, Rabbi Lee Wax and Labour MEP Claude Moraes.
Maz Saleem responded by describing his call as “outrageous” and “disgraceful”, writing:
“We should be working in solidarity with all regarding #NoMuslimBan yet you want to cause division.”
@OwenJones84 outrageous tweet we should be working in solidarity with all regarding #NoMuslimBan yet you want to cause division disgraceful
— Campaigner Maz (@CampaignerMaz) February 3, 2017
@OwenJones84 First demo organised by Muslims everybody should join in solidarity even little Owen Jones #NoMuslimBan #StandUptoTrump
— Campaigner Maz (@CampaignerMaz) February 3, 2017
She went on to post a photograph of Owen Jones speaking at a recent anti-Trump protest, in which Jones is surrounded by Stand Up to Racism and SWP placards.
Explaining the picture, Saleem wrote:
“Pic from Mond demo you were happy2use their PA and have a speaker #hypocritemuch stop divisive sectarianism foc #nomuslimban”
@OwenJones84 pic from mond demo you were happy2use their PA and have a speaker #hypocritemuch stop divisive sectarianism foc #nomuslimban pic.twitter.com/ew3WwXk9Bp
— Campaigner Maz (@CampaignerMaz) February 3, 2017
During the heated exchange, Saleem accused Jones of equally attacking the Stop the War Coalition, after he maintained he was only targeting Stand Up To Racism because of the rape allegations against SWP.
Saleem responded by posting a tweet in which Jones described the Stop the War Coalition’s anti-Trump ‘No Muslim Ban’ demonstration as “a sectarian Peoples [sic] front of Judea pro Brexit demo”. Jones reportedly later deleted the tweet.
Maz Saleem has accused Owen Jones of attacking both Stand Up To Racism and Stop the War Coalition (Image: Twitter)
Pressed on providing evidence to prove Stand Up to Racism is a front for the Socialist Workers Party, Jones simply reiterated “SUTR is a SWP front”.
Guardian journalist Owen Jones has claimed Stand Up to Racism is a front for the SWP (Image: Twitter)
Human rights campaigner Maz Saleem has described Owen Jones’ claims as “hypocritical” (Image: Twitter)
Writing online about Saturday’s planned demonstration, Saleem stated:
“Some of the UK’s most prominent Muslim organisations will stage a demonstration outside the US embassy on Saturday in protest at President Trump’s order blocking travel to the US from seven majority-Muslim countries.
“Thousands are expected to join the third protest against aspects of the Trump presidency to take place in London in a fortnight. One of the organisers hopes to see ‘unprecedented numbers’ of Muslims attend.
Maz Saleem, whose father Mohammed Saleem was murdered by a far-right terrorist in Birmingham, leading a Stand Up to Racism demonstration in ‘The Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais (Photograph: Adam Yosef)
“The Muslim Council of Britain, MEND, Friends of al-Aqsa and others will be joined by Stand Up to Racism, Stop the War and the People’s Assembly for a rally and march from the US embassy to Downing Street.”
Owen Jones himself has previously attended several Stand Up to Racism events, including the broad coalition’s annual UN Anti-Racism Day rallies and their first national conference.
Journalist Owen Jones has previously supported Stand Up to Racism (Image: SUTR)
Although a supporter of Stand Up to Racism since its inception in 2015, Jones last year pulled out of the organisation’s national conference, which was attended by Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, anti-war activist Salma Yaqoob, NUS President Malia Bouattia, Maurice Wren from the Refugee Council, Edie Friedman of the Jewish Council for Racial Equality, former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg and Black Lives Matter representatives.
Jones claimed at the time that he had boycotted the event because of SWP involvement, on advice from a number of women’s groups. It was claimed the presence of SWP activist Weyman Bennett on the Stand Up To Racism committee was problematic. Bennet has been accused of being “complicit in the SWP’s scandal over covering up rape and bullying those who were trying to expose allegations of sexual assualts [sic]“.
The rape and sexual misconduct allegations against the SWP were made public in 2013, but dated back to 2008.
Critics of Stand Up to Racism and Stop the War Coalition have expressed their support for Owen Jones (Image: Twitter)
A number of activists have described Owen Jones’ actions as divisive (Image: Twitter)
Despite the majority of the Stand Up To Racism committee not being members of the Socialist Workers Party, Owen Jones maintains the organisation is a front for SWP.
Steve Hart, who campaigned for Owen Smith in last year’s Labour leadership challenge, is the vice-chair of Stand Up to Racism. Responding to “SWP front” claims, he wrote:
“Stand Up to Racism is not an SWP front. It grew out of Unite Against Fascism, because some of us thought that we should clearly distinguish between the very specific battle against fascism and the growing campaign against racism.”
Responding to similar accusations last year, the Socialist Workers Party stated:
“It is important to put the record straight. It is particularly crucial because the greatest potential damage will not be to the SWP but to the wider movement against racism and austerity.
“We want to confirm that, as many other people have said, that the SUTR conference was not ‘an SWP event’. The SWP is only one of the many parts of SUTR, and certainly does not control it.”
They added, “The SWP takes women’s liberation, and the fight against all forms of oppression, very seriously. We condemn all instances of sexual violence, harassment or oppressive behaviour.
“In 2012 one allegation of rape and then later one of harassment were directed against a leading member (now former member) of our organisation. Because those involved making the complaints did not want to go to the police, the SWP tried to deal with the matter through its internal processes.
“It is not true that we forced those making accusations to come to a party disciplinary body. It was the accusers’ (wholly understandable) decision not to go to the police.
“We acknowledged that there were inadequacies and problems with the processes by which we dealt with these matters. We have sought to address them. A body independent of the party’s leadership heard submissions and looked at the procedures of other organisations. New—and better—processes were adopted. These statements are available on our website.
“We made mistakes and we have tried to learn from them. But whatever mistakes were made, they were not because the party or its leadership are sexist or trampled on the politics of women’s liberation or covered up injustice. We have been part of campaigns against sexism and sexual violence, for abortion rights and for equal pay since we were founded 50 years ago. We will continue to be part of them.”
A placard targets Donald Trump during the Birmingham emergency protest against the US President’s recent ‘Muslim ban’ (Photograph: Harvey McDonald)
Protests organised by anti-racism and Muslim groups are taking place across the UK today, including in London, Manchester, Luton and the West Midlands.
In Birmingham, a rally is taking place outside Waterstones in the city centre between 2pm-4pm.
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