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Gerry Gable (born 27 January 1937) is a British political activist. He was a long-serving editor of the anti-fascist ''
Searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...
'' magazine.


Background

The son of a
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
woman and an
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
father, Gable grew up in post-war east London identifying as Jewish. 1999 Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council article on Gable As a youth, Gable was a member of the
Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX (name of country) originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of YC ...
and the
Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...
, and worked as a runner on the Communist Party's ''
Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, attempts were m ...
'' newspaper, leaving after a year to become a Communist Party
trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
organiser. He stood unsuccessfully for the Communist Party in 1962 at Northfield Ward,
Stamford Hill Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about 5.5 miles north-east of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a sub-district of Hackney, the major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the l ...
,
North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...
. He left the Communist Party because of their anti-Israel policy and because "first and foremost
e has E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plura ...
always been a Jewish trade unionist". Joined by other Jews and anti-fascists, many ex-servicemen and members of the (Spanish) International Brigades, the militant anti-fascist organisation
62 Group The 62 Group, originally the 62 Committee, was a militant broad-based coalition of anti-fascists in London, headed by Harry Bidney. Based on the earlier 43 Group, it was formed in 1962 largely in response to the resurgence of fascism in Britain ...
was formed to confront fascists organising on the streets. Gable organised intelligence for the 62 Group on fascists, including using infiltrators to help build a defence policy for the community against fascist attacks. This led to the formation of the anti-fascist magazine ''Searchlight'' in the mid-1960s, along with
Reg Freeson Reginald Yarnitz Freeson (24 February 1926 – 9 October 2006) was a British Labour politician. He was a Member of Parliament for 23 years, from 1964 to 1987, for Willesden East and later Brent East, with 14 years on the front bench. He be ...
,
Joan Lestor Joan Lestor, Baroness Lestor of Eccles (13 November 1931 – 27 March 1998) was a British Labour politician. Early life Lestor was educated at Blaenavon Secondary School, Monmouth; William Morris High School, Walthamstow and the University of ...
,
Maurice Ludmer Maurice Ludmer (1926–1981) was a British anti-fascist activist and journalist. His father was a Salford hairdresser and mother a teacher of Hebrew. His family moved to Birmingham in 1939. As a young man he was interested in sport and joined the ...
and others. Gable and Ludmer remained active in Searchlight Associates and re-launched the magazine in 1975.


1963 burglary of David Irving's flat

By November 1963,
David Irving David John Cawdell Irving (born 24 March 1938) is an English author and Holocaust denier who has written on the military and political history of World War II, with a focus on Nazi Germany. His works include ''The Destruction of Dresden'' (19 ...
was in England when he called the
London Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
with suspicions he had been the victim of a burglary by three men who had gained access to his Hornsey flat in London claiming to be
General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...
(GPO) telephone engineers. Gable was convicted in January 1964, along with Manny Carpel. They were fined £20 each, with Gable being fined an additional £5 for the theft of a GPO pass.


BBC libel litigation

In 1984, Gerry Gable was commissioned by the BBC to produce research for a
BBC Panorama ''Panorama'' is a British BBC Television current affairs documentary programme. First broadcast in 1953, it is the world's longest-running television news magazine programme. ''Panorama'' has been presented by many well-known BBC presenters, ...
programme "
Maggie's Militant Tendency This article outlines, in chronological order, the various controversies surrounding or involving the BBC. Early years 1926 General Strike In 1926, the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) called a General Strike to prevent wage r ...
". The episode was to focus on a claim of right-wing extremism in the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
. Gable claimed that his research drew upon the information previously published in ''Searchlight''. The claims by Gable that two Conservative Party figures, Neil Hamilton and
Gerald Howarth Sir James Gerald Douglas Howarth (born 12 September 1947) is a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aldershot from 1997 until 2017, having been the MP for Cannock and Burntwood from 1983 to 1992. He wa ...
, were secret extremist Nazi supporters was met with libel action against the BBC. The programme had alleged (not admitted as evidence in court) that Hamilton gave a Nazi salute in Berlin while 'messing around' on a Parliamentary visit in August 1983. ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' reported that "Writing for the ''Sunday Times'' after the collapse of the case, he admitted he did give a little salute with two fingers to his nose to give the impression of a toothbrush moustache. "Somebody on the trip clearly did not share our sense of humour," he wrote." The BBC later capitulated and paid the pair's legal costs. Hamilton and Howarth were awarded £20,000 each and in a subsequent edition of ''Panorama'', the BBC made an unreserved apology to both. In 1989, ''
Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...
'' magazine falsely claimed that Reginald Gulliver-Buckingham, a member of the military police, had plotted to abduct and murder Gable. The High Court ordered that substantial damages be paid due to the libellous claims.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gable, Gerry Living people 1937 births British communists Jewish socialists Communist Party of Great Britain members British Jews Jewish activists Panorama (British TV programme) British people convicted of burglary British magazine founders