Hugh Jaeger
| Hugh Jaeger Companies House Facebook LinkedIn (Climate change, activist) | |
|---|---|
| File:Hugh Jaeger.jpeg | |
| Born | March 1964 |
| Alma mater | King's College (London) |
Hugh Jaeger is a British climate change activist who campaigns for those forms of public transport that reduce climate change. Based in Oxford but supporting proposals throughout the UK, Jaeger represents:
- Railfuture Thames Valley Branch;
- Bus Users UK Oxford Group;
- British Motorcyclists' Federation Oxfordshire; and,
- Friends of Oxford Canal Terminal.
He has spoken out strongly against Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, and condemns the IHRA definition of antisemitism for conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism.[1]
Own words
Climate change may become irreversible and uncontainable unless carbon emissions are greatly reduced within the next few years. Transport produces 25% of UK carbon emissions and road vehicles produce 90% of that. The UK must make enough rail, tram, bus, inland waterway and coastal shipping investments now to deliver huge modal shift away from cars, lorries and aviation within those few years.
Limiting climate change is so urgent that any transport investments that won't contribute significantly to emissions reduction, or that will take more than a decade to start contributing, are a waste of capital and must be set aside. That includes most recent and current road projects and most proposals to expand airports or build new ones. It also includes HS2, which is manifestly the wrong way to design and build a high speed rail system and hence is the wrong way to improve and expand Britain's rail network.[2]
Israel critic
On 3 August 2021, the Jewish Chronicle reported:
The Campaign Against Antisemitism, an anti-racism group, has reported a charity director to the Charity Commission after revealing posts in which he wrote that “terrorists founded Israel” and branded Zionism “evil”.
The GnasherJew Twitter account, a group of four anonymous racism hunters, said it was “astonished” that Hugh Jaeger was a director and trustee of a charity.
However Mr Jaeger, who sits on the board of Bus Users UK, a charity which aims to make transport more “accessible and inclusive”, accused the Twitter group of running a “smear” campaign against him.[3]
“Hugh Jaeger is not antisemitic”
Three days later, the CAA reported:
The Director of a charity has been suspended and reported to the Charity Commission after allegations of antisemitism have surfaced.
Bus Users UK, a charity that works to ensure transport is more inclusive and accessible, lists Hugh Jaeger as a Trustee, Director, and “Chair of Bus Users Oxford and an active campaigner for bus services” on its website. However, yesterday they took the decision to suspend him after a history of inflammatory tweets were revealed.
In a 2019 post, Mr Jaeger reportedly wrote that “In 1948 Zionists copied the Nazis to liquidate several villages” and also shared an inflammatory cartoon along with the caption: “Pic of an Israeli Magav border police thug sums up why Zionism is evil & why Palestinians must resist.”
According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism.
In another post, Mr Jaeger allegedly condemned “racist Israel”, while in different one, he said that it was founded by “State terrorists who massacre, steal land, apply apartheid, murder children and commit war crimes have ruled Israel ever since.” He also defended the controversial Labour candidate Lisa Forbes, despite her deeply problematic social media activity.
In a blog post from December 2019, Mr Jaeger reportedly wrote that “No one has proved that antisemitism is any more common in Labour than it is in UK society as a whole.”
Taking action on Mr Jaeger’s surfaced tweets, Bus Users UK wrote from their Twitter account: “Hugh Jaeger has been asked to step back from his duties as a trustee of Bus Users while the Board considers his position. Bus Users is not a political organisation and is not aligned to any political viewpoint. We are a charity campaigning for accessible transport for everyone.”
Mr Jaeger was also reported to the Charity Commission by the GnasherJew Twitter account.
Larry Sanders, the former Green Party spokesperson on Health and Social Care and brother to former Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, drew criticism for tweeting: “Hugh Jaeger is not antisemitic.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism has long called for tougher regulations on social media sites and that social networks proactively search for and remove hate speech from their platforms. We also continue to make representations to the Government on this matter.[4]