Pro Israel activist has invite withdrawn by Barnet and Enfield JLM branch
Jonathan Hoffman, a former co-vice-chair of the Zionist Federation, claims he is a victim of 'cancel culture'
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
The Barnet and Enfield branch of the Jewish Labour Movement has withdrawn an invitation to the Zionist activist, Jonathan Hoffman, to speak at its bi-monthly meeting at the end of February.
Members of the branch received an invitation to register for a web event with Mr Hoffman, a former co-vice-chair of the Zionist Federation. He was due to speak on “Whatever has happened to the ZF”, which, he says, has been taken over by left-wing groups.
But only days after the announcement of the meeting went out, Mr Hoffman was told by the Barnet and Enfield branch chair, Brian Harris, that “some people had objected”, and that therefore the meeting was not going ahead. People on the branch mailing list received an email saying that “due to unforeseen circumstances”, the meeting had been cancelled.
Mr Hoffman said he had been told that his invitation had become controversial and that it had been debated internally before the decision was taken to uninvite him.
A frequent demonstrator and activist against anti-Zionist speakers, Mr Hoffman rejected utterly what he called “an attempt at moral equivalence. I am not someone who invites hatred, there is no quid pro quo”, he said. In fact, he alleged, he had fallen victim to “cancel culture”.
He believed that he had attracted objections because of his role as an adviser to the on-line monitoring group Labour Against Antisemitism, which, he said, had had previous clashes with the Jewish Labour Movement.
Mr Harris did not make himself available for comment.
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