This is probably the most difficult blog I’ve written because it involves a disagreement between two people whom I consider to be friends as well as comrades, although I’ve met neither of them personally.

For the record, Chris Williamson and I generally think alike, we come to the same conclusions independently. There may be points on which we disagree, we have not yet been able to discuss them directly but he has encouraged my writing more than anyone.

I consulted Chris for a recent blog about Our Party and was admonished by someone, who had clearly misunderstood what I was saying, for referencing the deputy leader of a party led by George Galloway.

Several years ago, when Chris was still an MP but suspended from the Labour Party, I was running a chat group on Twitter that I had originally set up to support Jeremy Corbyn but repurposed to support Chris instead. Chris didn’t contribute directly to the group but, if I remember correctly, Nicola James did!

The kerfuffle arose from Chris’ response to Nicola’s criticism of something said by David Miller. I don’t want to go into the details of what was said, it’s too convoluted, but it can be condensed to a simple statement.

“Zionism” is being used as a blunt instrument in the same way as “antisemitism” and those who call Nicola a Zionist prove her point! I’ve actually had the same accusation made against me by someone who has followed me for years and aught to know that I’m no more a supporter of Zionism than he or Chris!

Socialists don’t have to agree about everything, we’ll have our differences of opinion like anyone else. We need to discuss our differences in a courteous manner even if we can’t reach Jeremy’s high standards. If we agreed about everything we’ld deserve to be called a cult, as we frequently have been. But bandying names like “Zionist” or “antisemite” instead of engaging in a discussion is playing into the hands of our enemies.

I want to make it clear that I’m not taking sides. My issue is not with anything that Chris or Nicola have said but those tweeting their knee jerk reaction to the conversation. It’s a pity that this debate has been conducted in public when they might have reached a better understanding by discussing it privately. What I am most concerned about is that a new left wing party is threatened with being undermined from within before it’s been launched.

I will reiterate, Nicola James is a socialist and is not, nor ever has been, a supporter of Zionism. I have invited both Nicola and Chris to comment but haven’t had a reply from either of them. I believe they’re both acting in good faith, which is why I don’t want to go into details of what was said, I’m more concerned with the repercussions.

I’m sure Jackie Walker is also acting in good faith when she objects to Corbyn’s refusal to state explicitly that he’s an anti-Zionist, but I don’t understand why the question needed to be asked when Jeremy’s reputation speaks for itself!

I don’t know if the question was asked with malintent but it’s resulted in dozens of incoherent posts on X which several comrades are working flat out to counter. The most absurd argument is that if Jeremy doesn’t state specifically that he’s an anti-Zionist then he must be a Zionist, despite all evidence to the contrary. It’s generally accepted that Zionism is a genocidal ideology, so anyone accusing Jeremy of being a Zionist is also accusing him of complicity in genocide – which is patently absurd 😠

So why won’t he just answer the question? Without professing to speak for him I can think of a couple of reasons:

• It would open him up to fresh accusations of antisemitism, but he’s been there before.
• It would elevate the situation in Gaza to the supreme issue for Our Party. Important as it is, it’s not the only one. There are plenty of other issues that need attention, I’m sure I don’t need to list them all.

I don’t intend to accuse everyone arguing along such lines of writing in bad faith but some undoubtedly are. There doesn’t need to be an organised conspiracy if you can sow discord among prospective members. You can plant a sapling but it will never grow into a tree if you poison the roots.