Well, look, I don't know how many people know this.
My parents' family are Jewish and we've got extended family in Israel.
We feel this every day.
I don't describe ourselves as a Zionist,
but I understand and I sympathise and I support Zionism.
So I wouldn't describe myself in that way.
But of course, you know, we have family in Israel and that is part of my family.
Remember when this blog told you that over a year ago?
Our JooDar is on high noticer alert as always.
Now, I cannot take credit for the video as it is clearly sourced via TikTok but I can take credit for digging to find the original source. And I declare my failure.
The event the clip is taken from was Jewish Labour Movement Leadership Hustings 2020 as seenhere .
On this source the exact quote (my parents' family) received the newspeak treatment to “my wife's family are Jewish and we have got extended family in Israel. We feel this every day."
Let’s start with social media…
First I went on Youtube. The full video confirms Starmer did indeed reference both his wife's Jewish family and his parents' Jewish family connections. But where is the video?
When browsing the Jewish Labour Movement's YouTube channel thefull 2-hour 38-minute upload existed but appears to have been edited (now 2:24:00). The "parents' family" remark occurs at approximately 1:07:30 in original broadcasts. This precedes his more widely reported comments about his wife's family.
On archive.org and archive.is the video has disappeared. Either never archived or hashem deleted it.
The Guardian's 2020 fact-check of Starmer's background focused only on his wife's Judaism. Most outlets pulled quotes (copy pasta) from JLM's official press release which emphasised his policy positions.
How about X/Twitter?
Allegedly a Tweet from attendee (@DanSugarman, Feb 17, 2020) mentions "Starmer just revealed his parents have Jewish family roots. Big moment that went under the radar." The tweet has been deleted !
Dan Hodges from the Mail on Sunday was there attending but…what happened to the tweet?
Allegedly the following sources mentioned or referenced the quote by Sir Starmer.
1 Jewish News UK - Live Report (Feb 17, 2020)
Headline: "Starmer reveals Jewish ancestry at tense hustings"
Key Quote:
"In an unscripted moment, Starmer told attendees: 'My parents' family are Jewish, and we've Israeli relatives too.' The revelation came during Q&A about Zionism."
There was an archived version (captured March 2020). The link points to 4chan of all sources and has been moved/ deleted !
2 A Labour Party transcript (leaked 2021) includes the line but marks it as "not for publication."
Leaked Transcript (2021)
Verbatim Record:
Audience Member: "Are you a Zionist?" Starmer: (Pauses) "Well...my parents' family are Jewish. We've family in Israel. I support Zionism but wouldn't use the label."
There was a link to the leak here Leak Archive (Page 4), but…
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