Stop Funding Hate campaign group accused of amplifying ‘anti-Semites'
Followers of Stop Funding Hate, which runs campaigns against the Right-wing media, have used its Facebook page to post slurs about Marks & Spencer (M&S) supporting 'Nazis' and 'genocide'.
Stop Funding Hate claims to challenge 'all forms of discrimination without exception', but MPs say it has failed to act when Jewish people are the target of hatred on its own social media account.
The group has been targeting Marks & Spencer for advertising on GB News.
Comments from third parties that have appeared on Stop Funding Hate's Facebook page in recent months have included 'M&S support Nazis', 'M&S are a company run by misogynistic fascists' and 'I refuse to shop at M&S because I object to my hard-earned money being used to support fascists'.
Marks & Spencer, founded by Michael Marks, a Jewish immigrant, has been a favourite target of anti-Israel protesters, who object to the brand selling Israeli-sourced goods.
Stop Funding Hate is encouraging people to sign a petition calling on M&S to stop advertising on GB News's radio station, which has been supported by people who have in the past used remarks such as 'Jew vermin' and other anti-Semitic hatred.
Stop Funding Hate is run by Richard Wilson, a Jeremy Corbyn supporter who aims to 'defund' Right-leaning media outlets by running social media campaigns against companies that advertise with them.
The campaign group has received £100,000 from a foundation that receives grants from the taxpayer, The Telegraph reported in January.
It regularly retweets posts on X from people who say they are backing the anti-M&S petition. Some of those signatories of the petition have in the past posted vile anti-Semitic slurs.
One of them has in the past described Israelis as 'Jew vermin' and said 'Israel is a Jewish terrorist state'.
Another person whose support for the M&S petition was shared by Stop Funding Hate has previously said that 'Zionists are blood-hungry pigs', while others have described Israelis as Nazis and accused them of genocide.
Another anti-Semitic slur post by someone whose support for the M&S petition has been retweeted by Stop Funding Hate says 'Jews run the world'.
Having joined the UK commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day, Stop Funding Hate stated: 'It's shocking that 75 years on, anti-Semitism is so widespread on social media. It's vital that we stand together in calling for more action.'
Jack Rankin, the Conservative MP for Windsor, said: 'Stop Funding Hate state that 'it's vital to speak out and oppose all forms of identity-based hate within our public discourse' while they themselves repeatedly platform and amplify vile anti-Semitic accounts across their own channels.'
Mr Windsor, who has worked with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum to ensure the safe return of Israeli hostages of the Oct 7 attacks, added: 'The organisation's supposed raison d'etre is to censor. They pore over news channels and social media accounts hourly, yet when Jews are the target, they can't even deal with the hate espoused by their own supporters.'
Richard Wilson, director of Stop Funding Hate, said: 'Stop Funding Hate has a proud record of opposing all forms of hate, including anti-Semitism.
'Most recently, we have been challenging GB News over its posting of a video on YouTube which aired dangerous anti-Semitic rhetoric, and we've been encouraging brands to exclude their advertising from the GB News YouTube channel in response to this.
'Stop Funding Hate would never knowingly amplify a social media account that was being used to spread hateful or otherwise problematic content.
'We will always take action to remove problematic comments posted on our Facebook page when we become aware of them.
'As with any organisation that has thousands of online interactions every year, there will sometimes be instances where an issue comes to light that we were previously unaware of.'
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