MP John McDonnell urges probe into antisemitism charity over smearing of lecturer
Former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has urged the UK’s Charity Commission to investigate the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) after a London university apologised to a lecturer the CAA had accused of antisemitism.
In August 2023, Goldsmiths, University of London launched an investigation into Ray Campbell after receiving a complaint from the CAA about comments he had posted on social media.
The complaint, based on posts collected by GnasherJew, a pro-Israel monitoring group, accused Campbell of posting antisemitic content that targeted Jewish figures and drew comparisons between Israel and Nazis.
Campbell, an associate lecturer in theatre and performance at Goldsmiths and a teaching fellow at Royal Holloway, was suspended for five months during the investigation.
In February, Goldsmiths dismissed all allegations against Campbell and apologised, acknowledging that the five-month investigation caused him distress.
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In a letter to Britain's charity regulator on Thursday, seen by Middle East Eye, MP McDonnell referenced MEE's reporting on the case and said he was "very concerned".
The CAA is a UK-based charity that describes itself as combating antisemitism through advocacy, legal action and public awareness efforts.
'Expensive and extremely harmful'
It has faced controversy over allegations that it conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism, raising concerns about its impact on political debate regarding Palestinian rights.
McDonnell noted that the CAA based its allegations against Campbell on posts by GnasherJew, which he said was "anonymous" and has been "frequently condemned for its selective and inaccurate portrayal of 'antisemitism'".
"None of these allegations against Dr Campbell were found to be legitimate," he said, adding that "the process was long, expensive and extremely harmful to Dr Campbell personally and professionally".
He urged the Charity Commission "to investigate this action by the CAA".
'The process was long, expensive and extremely harmful to Dr Campbell'
- John McDonnell, MP
MEE has contacted the CAA for comment.
Ray Campbell told MEE that the activities of GnasherJew and the CAA "harm the fight against antisemitism and the fight against racism more generally".
He added: "Neither group works with anti-racist organisations and this is very revealing because it tells us that the nature of their work isn't to fight antisemitism; it's to smear the left and any critics of Israel, which it conflates with antisemitism."
In April 2020, Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL), a group of Labour Party members, filed a complaint with the Charity Commission against the CAA, accusing it of acting as a "highly politically partisan organisation which does not deserve charitable status".
In September 2021, the CAA described JVL as an "antisemitism-denial group" and a "sham Jewish representative organisation" - a characterisation JVL strongly condemned.
JVL submitted another complaint in April 2022 to the Charity Commission, which then said in January 2023 that it was "assessing concerns" about the CAA and that it had opened a regulatory compliance case against the organisation.
Last May, the Charity Commission closed the case, saying that JVL “has not demonstrated it has the required legal standing to make such an application”.
But in November, The Guardian reported that the regulator was assessing a statement made in September by the CAA in which it criticised the Labour government's decision to suspend 30 arms export licences to Israel as "obscene".
The review followed a complaint in October by McDonnell, who accused the CAA of engaging in "highly political and contentious public attacks on the government and individual government ministers".
JVL co-chair Jenny Manson told MEE that "the manner in which the CAA has maligned Ray Campbell" indicates that it is "continuing to misuse allegations of antisemitism in an attempt to shield Israel from criticism".
Manson added: "This is leading to inexcusable hardship and pain for the individuals targeted and too often to double standards applying to Israel's war crimes.
"This is disastrous, not only for Palestinians - where it's a matter of life and death - but for Jews, too, and for all humanity."
The CAA also drew public scrutiny earlier last year after it released footage in April that showed its chief, Gideon Falter, being told by a police officer at a pro-Palestinian protest that his "openly Jewish" appearance could antagonise demonstrators.
The incident led to widespread condemnation of the police officer, but a longer video released later showed the officer saying that Falter had walked into the middle of the march and was "looking to try and antagonise".
Lord Mann, the government's antisemitism tsar, said Falter's intention at the protest had been "quite explicit" and accused the CAA of "not playing it straight".
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