By Adam Moses
Campaign Against Antisemitism is filing a criminal complaint abroad against anti-Semitic rapper Wiley as he was not in the UK during his anti-Semitic rant during the summer.
The Metropolitan Police gives priority to police in the area where Wiley was at the time under Home Office rules. CAA has appointed lawyers to pursue justice abroad.
“At this stage we are able to confirm that the Metropolitan Police Service has closed its investigation due to jurisdictional issues and that we have instructed lawyers abroad to pursue this matter,” confirmed Stephen Silverman, CAA Director of Investigations and Enforcement.
“When anti-Semites incite hatred against Jews, we will pursue them, including across borders if necessary. We will provide further details at a later date.”
CAA, meantime, continue to liaise with Twitter, Facebook and Google to address anti-Semitism on their platforms. They are also working with the Cabinet Office’s Honours Forfeiture Committee to ensure Wiley’s MBE is revoked and music industry to remove Wiley’s accolades including an Inspiration Award from Ivors Academy in 2019.
The lobbyists have parliamentary petitions calling for racists to be stripped of honours and the government to bring forward an Online Harms Bill by the end of 2020. Legislation would be in place by July 2012.
Over 2,500 people have backed the stripping of honours petition. Over 3,000 people support online legislation.
Wiley had over 940,000 followers on social media when he was banned from Facebook and Twitter after posting a torrent of unrelenting despicable anti-Semitic posts last July.
Facebook, who own Instagram, acted 24 hours into a 48-hour Twitter boycott by users including politicians, broadcasters, entrepreneurs and community leaders.
Twitter eventually relented after intense pressure, including CAA projecting anti-Semitic tweets onto its London headquarters. Jewish organisations and its allies made clear their disgust at Wiley’s actions during an extraordinary few days.
Police investigated a plethora of posts on his Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Rantings saw Wiley liken Jews to the Ku Klax Klan, Jews cheated him, Jews controlled “the Law” and were “snakes”. Wiley recounted conspiracy theories that Jews were responsible for the slave trade. There were also claims about Israel “not being a Jewish country” and he targeted Jewish celebrities.
After Facebook banned the rapper, Jewish organisations slated the time it had taken and continued its calls for Twitter to apply a ban on Wiley for his anti-Semitic tirade.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said he echoed comments of Home Secretary Priti Patel that Wiley’s anti-Semitic posts were abhorrent.
Following anti-Semitic rantings, over 700 musicians, songwriters, producers, managers and publishers from music industry signed a letter condemning racism.
Heads of EMI, Universal Music UK, Warner Music UK and Sony Music UK participated.
TikTok eventually followed the stand by on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
In other CAA news, two Labour councillors in Cumbria, Tom Higgins of Egremont ward and Graham Calvin of Moor Row and Bigrigg ward, are reportedly being investigated over alleged online anti-Semitic posts.
Cllr Higgins reportedly had a Facebook account referring to Israel and its “co-conspirators in the USA”, Cllr Calvin reportedly made a comment about Jewish donors to the Labour Party.
A Labour spokesman said, “The Labour Party takes all complaints of anti-Semitism extremely seriously and they are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures.”
Meantime, the Supreme Court of Finland has protected a decision to ban a branch of the Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM).
The appeals court in Turku closed the group due to neo-Nazi associations in 2018.
CAA noted that NRM has supporters in Norway, Denmark and Iceland.
World Jewish Congress has called on the Swedish government to ban NRM.
Elsewhere, a French court has jailed Nazi sympathiser Herve Lalin, also known as Herve Ryssen, for 17 months over anti-Semitic posts between 2017 and 2020.
An eight-month term and 5,000 euros fine was handed out for passages from a book published in 2018, ‘Antisemitism without complex or taboo, Plea for freedom of expression’.
“Previous convictions had not dissuaded Lalin from committing new offenses, the court reportedly found.
In June 2018, a criminal court ruled a one-year term for anti-Semitic messages in a YouTube video entitled “Jews, incest and hysteria”.
Lalin was guilty of anti-Semitic posts on Twitter and Facebook
in 2017.
In related news, the Archdiocese of Edmonton has censured Father Tadeusz Rydzyk who is head of Poland’s Radio Maryja.
B’nai Brith Alberta informed the Archdiocese that Rydzyk was set to visit the area.
The radio station was reportedly sanctioned for the broadcast in 2016 after alleging United State senators were critical of the Polish government due to a Jewish background.
Abe Silverman, B’nai Brith Alberta spokesperson, reportedly thanked Archbishop Richard Smith and his diocese for taking a principled view. Silverman noted that it was a “very important step” to avoid some people as they are “divisive and racist”.
Andrew Erhkamp, Archdiocese spokesperson, confirmed there had been no more requests to invite Rydzyk. Future ones would be denied to parishes.
Rydzyk has a long history of allegedly expressing anti-Semitic content.
Poland’s Jewish community criticised prosecutors for not charging Rydzyk over alleged anti-Semitic comments a decade ago due to a lack of evidence.
Rydzyk reportedly said the country’s president was subservient to Jewish lobbyists. A recording of the remarks was eventually discovered.
A year later, Rydzyk reportedly attended a conference on climate change and renewable energy at the European parliament.
He was invited by Polish MEPs from the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR).
British MEP TImothy Kirkhope, ECR deputy chairman a member of Conservative Friends of Israel, condemned the move.
The Vatician, former solidarity leader Lech Walesa and Jewish organisations have criticised his extreme views.
