A Jewish campaign group says the council is refusing to investigate its complaint it was “censored” during a council meeting.
Jewish and Proud’s deputation to Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC) – a five-minute speech to councillors – was edited by officers before the meeting, and its presenter Susan Sheftz was interrupted when she insisted on reading out the group’s original wording.
The group submitted a formal complaint but was told by the council this would not be pursued because a “full explanation” had already been given.
However, Jewish and Proud say it has never been given any explanation, and believe this refers to a meeting with a different Jewish community group, the Sussex Jewish Representative Council (SJRP), which it was excluded from.
Meanwhile, a statement addressing events at the meeting which the council told the SJRP would be published on its website has still not materialised.
The original wording of Jewish and Proud’s deputation, about rising antisemitism, included criticism of Labour’s recognition of Palestine on the basis it legitimises Hamas, and an insistence that the war in Gaza is not genocide and that it is antisemitic to compare it to the Holocaust.
In her complaint, Mrs Sheftz said: “At the council meeting, the mayor interrupted me mid-speech and insisted I revert to the censored version (of the deputation).
“This occurred in a hostile environment, with a large anti-Israel protest outside the building for which no prior warning was given.”
An email exchange seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service shows the council’s monitoring officer had asked for about 300 words to be cut as the original wording would “polarise” the community at a sensitive time.
The meeting was scheduled at the end of the Jewish high holiday season, after ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, on the day of release for the last 20 living Israeli hostages following the October 7 attack.
The council’s email said: “In this case, the monitoring officer has taken into account the current significant concerns locally regarding community cohesion and community safety and has noted that there are different perspectives being shared by different groups at the council meeting.
“In order to enable the different perspectives to be aired and for your key asks to be put, the monitoring officer has advised the mayor that the shorter version of the deputation may be presented and not the original wording.
“This approach has been taken because your original wording contained statements which would likely polarise communities at this extremely sensitive time.”
In responding to Mrs Sheftz’s complaint after the meeting, the council said: “nothing further can be achieved via investigation through the council’s complaints procedure”.
By this time, the council had met with the Sussex Jewish Representative Council (SJRC) and discussed the events of the stormy council meeting.
The full council meeting was adjourned three times, first during the Jewish and Proud deputation and later during a Green Party motion asking for a report into which of the council’s pension investments may violate international law,
Jewish and Proud said: “They proposed a meeting without the people who wrote the deputation, who were most intimately involved. We were not answered.
“The day of the meeting we were told it was invited people only and we could not come. They would only have the people present who would not push back.”
A spokesperson for the SJRC, which is made up of delegates from 22 organisations and synagogues, said: “The SJRC had been in discussion with BHCC before the full council meeting, hoping that we could avoid the bigoted, disrespectful display we all witnessed that evening.
“We did not have a deputation to speak at the meeting because it fell on a Jewish High Holy Day. The insensitive timing of the meeting was also an issue we raised with the council.
“The meeting with the leader of the council and its CEO was, in fact, a postponed meeting to discuss the community impact of the terrorist attack in Manchester on Yom Kippur, which left two Jewish men dead.
“In the interim, the full council meeting took place and SJRC wrote to Jess Gibbons and Bella Sankey to express our outrage at what had taken place.
“When we finally met, it was to discuss a number of issues that had occurred, their impact on the local Jewish community and the safety and security of the community in the city in general.”
A council spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “There are times when, at the mayor’s discretion and following advice from the monitoring officer, people bringing deputations to full council may be asked to read out the exact wording of a deputation.
“The full council meeting in October was one such occasion and the individuals bringing the deputation were clearly informed of this in writing in advance of the meeting.”
A statement from the Green Party said the motion and speeches were evidence-based and reflected the views of respected international and Israeli human rights organisations, including B’Tselem, Amnesty International, and the United Nations Human Rights Council
Councillor Ollie Sykes who put forward the motion, said: “As a party, we have been clear that we stand firmly against hate in all forms.
“That includes the vile anti-Semitic abuse which was hurled at a Jewish Green Party member in the public gallery at Hove Town Hall during the October meeting of council.”
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