Hard-left Corbynite who was once forced to apologize for an anti-Semitic slur is tipped to become a union leader
A far-left Corbynite who was once forced to apologize for an anti-Semitic remark is being tipped to become leader of the National Education Union, the Mail can reveal.
Daniel Kebede, a trade unionist and former school teacher, is campaigning to take over the leadership of the largest education union.
A self-proclaimed ‘anti-racist’, he once had to say sorry for using an anti-Semitic phrase while defending the disgraced former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn online.
Mr Kebede, 35, claimed those close to Mr Corbyn’s demise paid ’30 shekels of silver’ for book deals – the price for which Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ in the Bible.
Comrades: trade unionist Daniel Kebede, left, and RMT chief Mick Lynch
Daniel Kebede, a trade unionist and former school teacher, is campaigning to take over the leadership of the largest education union
The phrase was used by the Nazis to suggest that the Jews were traitors and responsible for Christ’s death.
Posing in ‘absolute solidarity’ with Mick Lynch, he spoke of his ‘privilege’ to see the RMT baron ‘running around the media’ while causing millions of misery with strikes.
His anti-Semitic remark and eagerness to strike were criticized last night by MPs who said Mr Kebede was another ‘idiot left-hander’ within the ranks of the union. Former education minister Sir John Hayes said: ‘The last thing we want is for teachers, who for the most part do such a great job, to have their interests represented through a Bolshevik.’
Jonathan Gullis said Kebede was only pushing his own ‘political agenda’.
Mr Kebede was once forced to say sorry for using an anti-Semitic phrase while defending disgraced former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn online
His elevation from deputy general secretary to general secretary would see him become the top Corbynite in the NEU – despite the union claiming no political affiliation.
Mr Kebede told the Mail he has learned from his anti-Semitic mistake: ‘I didn’t know at the time that this could be read as anti-Semitic. As soon as I learned this I deleted it and my apologies remain on my Twitter feed.”
Nominated by 101 union districts, Mr Kebede will run against Niamh Sweeney, a sixth form teacher and Labor councilor in Cambridge.
The election runs from February 6 to March 31. The winner will take over in September for a term of five years.