DTG:Ok, Robomatic. Maxine Peake may well have made an unfounded comment. The American police may not have learned the tactic from the Israeli secret service. But while whether they did or didn't is a conspiracy theory, how is it antisemitic? In fact, by saying it is antisemitic, you are tarring all Jews with the same brush as the nastier elements of the Israeli regime. There are millions of decent Jews around the world who are as appalled by some of the tactics of the Israeli government as you and I are. Are you really saying that by criticising the more extreme elements of that regime, she was criticising the Jewish people in general?

DTG: That was a well worded post. Thank you. What I'm saying is not that the words of Ms. Peake expressed as a valid opinion and point of departure for investigative journalism were antisemitic. They are not. They are not even antiZionist. But couched in the form of an 'aside' that is assumed to be true and then gets 'read into the record' in a politically relevant tweet (or retweet) develops its own context, particularly in the light of existing criticisms of Labour. (And I'm going to add personally that I've run into that kind of tactic in the work environment. It carries a weight out of proportion with its apparent innocuousness. The only effective way I've found to deal with it is to call it out). What I saw in the remark was an opportunity to link Israelis as allies of the worst of American policing efforts in the persecution of American black folk. When there is no evidence that any Israeli ever suggested kneeling on someone's neck for over eight minutes or invented this technique at all? This was where Ms. Griffith's point was best taken:"That's completely different from making a specific comment about a specific policy about a specific government." Ms. Long-Bailey was, I understand, given leave to recall her tweet before she was demoted (if that is the right word). This doesn't sound like a career ender, but a 'frank exchange of views'. At this point my feeble understanding of your politics rapidly loses grip. My understanding is that someone tried to murmur something underhanded under their breath, got called out for it, and a backbench scuffle ensued, and has gone underground again for the time being. (Same as happens here).