Tony Greenstein

Tony Greenstein is a British left-wing activist and writer. An anti-fascist and former squatter, he was a founder member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and stood for parliament as a representative of the Alliance for Green Socialism. In 2018, he was expelled from the Labour Party for "harassment" and "abusive language", over allegations of antisemitism.{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/labour-activist-tony-greenstein-expelled-from-party-over-antisemitism_uk_5a89ddf7e4b00bc49f4559ec|title = Labour Activist Tony Greenstein Expelled from Party over Antisemitism|date = 18 February 2018}} Greenstein is opposed to Zionism which he believes is a racist and supremacist ideology.

Early life

Greenstein grew up in Liverpool. He was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family and his father was Rabbi Solomon Greenstein, who opposed Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists at the Battle of Cable Street in 1936. Tony Greenstein, The Fight Against Fascism in Brighton & the South Coast, Brighton History Workshop, p.4, 2011.https://tonygreenstein.com/2015/06/the-death-of-my-father-rabbi-solomon/ The Death of my Father Rabbi Solomon Greenstein, Tony Greenstein, 1 December 2011. He moved to Brighton to study Maths and Chemistry at Brighton Polytechnic and was elected vice-president of the student union. In 1974, he became involved in housing activism alongside Steve Bassam and squatted in derelict hotels before negotiating a licence to live at Lansdowne Place.{{cite news |last1=Greenstein |first1=Tony |title=40 years on: Memories of student protests, squatting, and street politics |url=https://www.brightonandhoveindependent.co.uk/news/opinion/40-years-on-memories-of-student-protests-squatting-and-street-politics-1-7720202 |access-date=10 March 2021 |work=Brighton & Hove Independent|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206150227/https://www.brightonandhoveindependent.co.uk/news/opinion/40-years-on-memories-of-student-protests-squatting-and-street-politics-1-7720202 |archive-date=6 December 2019 }}

In 1980, he was one of the founders of the Brighton Campaign Against Youth Unemployment and he was also involved with anti-fascist campaigns. Greenstein actively opposed the far-right National Front and neo-nazi British Movement in Brighton during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, as a member of the Brighton & Hove Anti-Fascist Committee and Anti Fascist Action. In more recent years he has been involved in campaigning against far-right groups such as the British National Party, English Defence League and March for England (MfE) in the city. Tony Greenstein, The Fight Against Fascism in Brighton & the South Coast Finn Scott-Delany, Brighton Argus, (22 April 2014), Politics of the far-right never welcome in city https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/11163330.politics-of-the-far-right-never-welcome-in-city/

Career

In 2013, Greenstein was secretary of the Brighton and Hove Unemployed Workers Centre, a community centre in Hollingdean.{{cite news |last1=Garner |first1=Bill |title=The Big Interview: Tony Greenstein |url=https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10309187.the-big-interview-tony-greenstein/ |access-date=10 March 2021 |work=The Argus |date=24 March 2013 |language=en |archive-date=22 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922215415/https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10309187.the-big-interview-tony-greenstein/ |url-status=live }} He was a founder member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and in the 1980s, he ran the Labour Movement Campaign for Palestine.{{cite news |last1=Rosen |first1=Armin |title=Another Labour Party Leader Expelled for Anti-Semitism |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/another-labour-party-leader-expelled-for-anti-semitism |access-date=10 March 2021 |work=Tablet Magazine |date=20 February 2018 |language=en |archive-date=12 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210312115544/https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/another-labour-party-leader-expelled-for-anti-semitism |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last1=Rich |first1=Dave |title=The Left's Jewish Problem: Jeremy Corbyn, Israel and Anti-Semitism |date=6 September 2016 |publisher=Biteback Publishing |isbn=978-1-78590-151-5 |page=101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L07RDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT101 |language=en |access-date=10 March 2021 |archive-date=12 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210312115540/https://books.google.com/books?id=L07RDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT101 |url-status=live }} In 2005, he stood unsuccessfully for parliament in the Brighton Pavilion constituency for the Alliance for Green Socialism, getting 188 votes.{{cite news |title=Result: Brighton Pavilion |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/96.stm |date = 6 May 2005|access-date = 3 December 2021|work=BBC News}}

Greenstein was barred from joining the Labour Party in 2015 and then joined following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader.{{cite news |last1=Spiro |first1=Zachary |title=Labour welcomes back blogger who compares Israelis to Nazis |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/labour-welcomes-back-blogger-who-compares-israelis-to-nazis-r0r8b99zz |access-date=10 March 2021 |work=The Times |date=2 April 2016 |language=en |archive-date=24 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200524173316/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/labour-welcomes-back-blogger-who-compares-israelis-to-nazis-r0r8b99zz |url-status=live }} He was suspended in 2016 regarding accusations of antisemitism and then expelled in February 2018 after a review by Labour's National Constitutional Committee.{{cite news |last1=Forrester |first1=Kate |title=Labour Activist Tony Greenstein Expelled From Party Over Antisemitism |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/labour-activist-tony-greenstein-expelled-from-party-over-antisemitism_uk_5a89ddf7e4b00bc49f4559ec |access-date=10 March 2021 |work=HuffPost UK |date=18 February 2018 |language=en |archive-date=20 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220144028/https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/labour-activist-tony-greenstein-expelled-from-party-over-antisemitism_uk_5a89ddf7e4b00bc49f4559ec |url-status=live }} In 2019, Greenstein sued the Campaign Against Antisemitism for libel over its claim that he was a "notorious antisemite".{{cite news |last1=Rocker |first1=Simon |title=Definition of antisemitism under the spotlight in anti-Zionist campaigner's libel battle against charity |url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/definition-of-antisemitism-in-spotlight-in-anti-zionist-campaigner-s-libel-battle-with-charity-1.480123 |access-date=10 March 2021 |work=The Jewish Chronicle |date=15 February 2019}} The High Court dismissed the claim in 2020.{{cite news |last1=Frot |first1=Mathilde |title=Tony Greenstein's 'notorious antisemite' libel claim dismissed by court |url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/tony-greenstein-s-notorious-antisemite-libel-claim-dismissed-by-court-1.508362 |access-date=10 March 2021 |work=The Jewish Chronicle |date=6 November 2020 |archive-date=5 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205091702/https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/tony-greenstein-s-notorious-antisemite-libel-claim-dismissed-by-court-1.508362 |url-status=live }} Greenstein had previously co-founded Labour Against the Witchhunt and told a Jewish Voice for Labour meeting during the 2018 Labour Party Conference that charges of antisemitism in the UK Labour Party were designed to destabilise Corbyn.{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Mikey |title=Labour anti-Semitism is 'witch hunt' to topple Corbyn, expelled activist claims |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/anti-semitism-crisis-witch-hunt-13302802 |access-date=10 March 2021 |work=Mirror |date=24 September 2018 |language=en |archive-date=1 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201204054/https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/anti-semitism-crisis-witch-hunt-13302802 |url-status=live }}

In December 2021 Greenstein accepted a two-year restraining order in return for the Crown Prosecution Service dropping two charges of harassment against the Labour party's disputes team. The restraint order prevented him from further contacting the disputes team.{{Cite news |date=3 December 2021 |title=Tony Greenstein 'handed restraining order' |work=The Jewish Chronicle |url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/tony-greenstein-handed-restraining-order-1.523266 |access-date=3 December 2021}}{{cite web | url=https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2021/12/02/expelled-labour-member-given-restraining-order-preventing-contact-with-partys-complaints-team/ | title=Expelled Labour member given restraining order preventing contact with party's complaints team | date=2 December 2021 }}

In September 2023 Greenstein was given a 9 month prison sentence, suspended for two years, for his part in a Palestine Action attack on the factory of Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms company, at Shenstone near Walsall. He was convicted, with three others, of intent to cause criminal damage.{{Cite journal |date=September 2023 |title=International News Letter – September 2023 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2023.103777 |journal=Midwifery |volume=124 |pages=103777 |doi=10.1016/j.midw.2023.103777 |s2cid=260360910 |issn=0266-6138}}{{Cite news |date=6 September 2023 |title=Greenstein escapes prison despite being found guilty of plotting to damage Israeli firm's factory |work=Jewish News |url=https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/greenstein-escapes-prison-despite-being-found-guilty-of-plotting-to-damage-israeli-firms-factory/}}

In November 2024 Greenstein was charged with a terrorism offence under Section 12(1) of the terrorism act. Greenstein was accused of supporting the proscribed militant group Hamas in a tweet made on the 15th of November 2023.{{Cite web |date=2024-11-29 |title=Tony Greenstein charged with terrorism offence |url=https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2024/11/29/tony-greenstein-charged-with-terrorism-offence/ |access-date=2024-12-09 |website=Brighton and Hove News |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2024-12-02 |title=Prominent anti-Zionist Tony Greenstein charged in Britain under Terrorism Act |url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/12/02/hqwe-d02.html |access-date=2024-12-09 |website=World Socialist Web Site |language=en}}

Selected works

{{Cite book |last=Greenstein |first=Tony |title=The Fight Against Fascism in Brighton & the South Coast |publisher=Greenstein |year=2011 |isbn=9780993127809 |series=Brighton History Workshop |volume=1 |location=Brighton |type=pamphlet |oclc=943993662 |ref=none |author-mask=2}}
{{Cite book |last=Greenstein |first=Tony |title=Zionism: Antisemitism's twin in Jewish garb |type=pamphlet |ref=none |author-mask=2}}{{Cite web |title=Arabs, Jews, and Socialism: 3. Zionism and the Holocaust |url=https://www.workersliberty.org/story/2019-06-20/arabs-jews-and-socialism-3-zionism-and-holocaust |access-date=2024-07-13 |website=Workers' Liberty |language=en}}
{{Cite book |last=Greenstein |first=Tony |title=Zionism During the Holocaust |publisher=New Generation Publishing |year=2022 |isbn=9781803693040 |location=London |ref=none |author-mask=2}}