THOUSANDS of people are calling on Rebecca Long Bailey to oppose the 10 pledges advocated by the Board of Deputies of British Jews (BoD) over fears that they seek to censor criticism of Israel.

By the time the Star went to print more than 3,500 people had signed an open letter declaring the BoD’s intervention to be “an outrageous political interference by an organisation that is overtly hostile to today’s Labour Party and everything it stands for.”

Among the initial signatories are a number of Labour councillors, four senior members of Jewish Voice for Labour, Jewish comedian Alexei Sayle, pro-Palestine journalist Asa Winstanley and Israeli expert on the Middle East Professor Moshe Machover.