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Antisemitism in the UK Labour Party has been the subject of public controversy,[1][2][3] prompting Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to establish the Chakrabarti Inquiry in 2016. A number of party activists and one senior figure, have either been expelled or suspended after allegations of antisemitism. While Labour Party investigations concluded that some had brought the party into disrepute, others were subsequently reinstated after disciplinary measures.
Corbyn himself was the subject of controversy after questioning why an allegedly antisemitic mural was being removed (he told the artist it was the fate of a work by Diego Rivera) and being a member of three Facebook groups in which antisemitic content was posted. NEC member Christine Shawcroft resigned after it emerged she had opposed the suspension of a Labour council candidate who was accused of Holocaust denial.[4]
In 2015, 2016 and 2017, the Campaign Against Antisemitism commissioned YouGov to carry out a survey into British attitudes towards Jews which found that Labour Party supporters were less likely to hold antisemitic views than supporters of the Conservative Party or the UK Independence Party (UKIP), and Liberal Democrats supporters were the least likely to hold antisemitic views. 32% of Labour supporters endorsed at least one antisemitic attitude, compared to 30% of Liberal Democrat supporters, 39% of UKIP supporters, and 40% of Conservative supporters.[5] Further analysis of the survey data revealed that among Labour Party supporters, the level of antisemitic prejudice had declined between 2015 and 2017.[6]
According to a poll[which?] of British Jewish adults carried out in 2017 a majority of British Jews believed that the Labour Party was too tolerant of antisemitism. Of those surveyed for their opinion, 83% (in 2016 this was 87%) stated that racist sentiments were not adequately challenged by Labour members of parliament, members of the party, or Labour Party supporters.[7] A poll by The Jewish Chronicle of the Jewish population when asked to rank the degree of "antisemitism among the political party's members and elected representatives" between 1 (low) to 5 (high), Jews ranked Labour at 3.94, compared with 3.64 for UKIP, 2.7 for Liberal Democrates, and 1.96 for Conservatives.[8]
History
Keir Hardie, the founder of the Labour Party has been found to have expressed views that would be considered antisemitic by today's standards. In 1891, he is recorded as asserting that imperialist wars were being planned to suit the interests of "hook-nosed Rothschilds".[9] Despite the views of Labour members like Hardie, British Jews have traditionally supported the labour movement and party, the Jewish Labour Movement, the UK arm of Poale Zion, supported the Labour Party, affiliating to the party in 1920. The Labour Party had a historical affinity for Israel both because the labour movement was part of a broad, political left that historically supported national movements, and because it felt an affinity for Labor Zionism, which was the dominant movement within pre-state political Zionism, and the political identity of the founding government of Israel in 1948 and Israeli government until the election of Menachem Begin in 1977.[1][3]
1980s; proposed origin of antisemitic attitudes
Although antisemitic attitudes were rare in the Party in the 1980s,[1][3] in his 2016 book, The Left's Jewish Problem: Jeremy Corbyn, Israel and Anti‑Semitism, Dave Rich attributes what he believes to be the origin of antisemitism in the Labour Party to attitudes towards Jews and Israel that began to develop among young British political activists in the early 1970s. At that time, a coalition that included Peter Hain (later a Labour MP) and Louis Eakes of the Young Liberals section of the Liberal Party "pioneered" the reframing of the Zionist movement as an imperialist project imposing apartheid on an indigenous people.[10][11][12]
James R. Vaughn traces the origin of antisemitism within the party to the creation of the Labour Middle East Council in 1969 by Christopher Mayhew, laying a foundation of radical anti-Zionism that enabled the later growth of antisemitism within the Labour Party.[13] Mayhew joined the Liberal Party in 1974 but,[14] according to Vaughn, his rhetoric from the 1960s onwards, "blurred the boundaries between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism".[15] According to Rich, Mayhew founded the Council in order to change the "pro-Israel" position of the Labour Party.[16] Mayhew was one of the 15 Labour MP's who voted with the Conservatives in favour of imposing an arms embargo on Israel.[17]
Dave Rich credits the British Anti-Zionist Organization (BAZO), established in 1975 to focus on university students, with "show(ing) how a highly ideological anti-Zionism can.... incubate anti-Semitic campaigns".[18] BAZO distributed anti-Semitic leaflets and argued that Zionists encourage antisemitism to benefit Israel, and that Zionists collaborated with the [Nazi regime during the second World War.[18] According to the Labour MP Richard Burden, who was a member of the BAZO Executive in the 1970s,[18] BAZO was funded by the government of Iraq.[19] BAZO was banned by the National Union of Students by the early 1980s for distributing antisemitic material.[19] Burden and George Galloway, then a Labour Party member, both first visited the Middle East on a 1977 tour sponsored by BAZO.[19] Galloway credits the BAZO trip with igniting his enduring support for the Palestinians.[19]
According to June Edmunds, University Lecturer in Sociology of the University of Sussex, the party's leadership shifted to an anti-Israel attitude in the early 1980s, though the membership did not.[17] Noting that "fringe" Palestinian groups began operating at Labour Party annual national conferences in the 1970s, Edmunds credits the shift to fading memories of the plight of Jews in the 1940s, together with agitation for party change by Arab and socialist groups.[17] Paul Kelemen, in his 2012 book, The British Left and Zionism: History of a Divorce, explores the question of whether it was antisemitism, perhaps in new a form, that caused the Labour Party to move away from its historic support for Israel in the 1980s, and concludes that Labour's shift to support for the Palestinian cause was purely political.[20]
The Labour Committee on Palestine was formed in June 1982 to challenge the Labour Middle East Council, which supported a two-state solution, and to oppose the "Zionist state as racist, exclusivist, expansionist and a direct agency of imperialism." Labour politicians Ken Livingstone of the Greater London Council and Ted Knight of the Lambeth London Borough Council were early supporters; the chair was former BAZO activist Tony Greenstein.[21] The new Committee backed a resolution at the party 1982 Party national conference to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people", which passed at conference, "embarrassing" the Party leadership.[22] Knight and Livingstone established the Labour Herald newspaper with funding by the PLO[21] and, in 1982, the Herald was accused by The Jewish Socialist Group of publishing a "blatantly anti-Semitic" book review. No apology was made.[23]
2015
On 14 August 2015, as Jeremy Corbyn emerged as a front-runner for the position of Party Leader in tthe Labour Party leadership election, The Jewish Chronicle devoted its "front page to seven questions regarding Corbyn's record on antisemitism" headlined: "The key questions Jeremy Corbyn must answer".[24][25][26][27] The questions raised were about Corbyn's endorsements of individuals known for promoting antisemitic ideas; his relationship with Islamist organisations Hezbollah and Hamas, organisations that Corbyn called "friends" (although he has stated he disagrees with their views);[28] and about his failure to object to many antisemitic banners and posters that "dominate" the London Quds Day rallies supported by the organisation, Stop the War Coalition of which Corbyn was national chair form 2011–2015.[29]
MP Diane Abbott defended Corbyn by calling his critics part of a "Westminster elite" afraid of Corbyn's anti-austerity agenda.[30] MP Alan Johnson, a supporter of Palestinian statehood, published a "letter" criticising Corbyn's support for Hamas and Hezbollah, Stephen Sizer and Raed Salah, all alleged with antisemitic statements and policies.[31] Dozens of activists, including Laurence Dreyfus, Selma James, Miriam Margolyes, Ilan Pappé, Michael Rosen and Avi Shlaim were signatories to a letter criticising The Jewish Chronicle's reporting of Corbyn's association with alleged antisemites.[32]
2016 inquiries
On 29 April 2016, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn launched an internal inquiry following the publication of comments made by Naz Shah and Ken Livingstone, for comments that were considered antisemitic, both of whom were suspended pending investigation. The report was criticised by many[by whom?] and described as a 'whitewash',[33][34] and as a "whitewash for peerage scandal"[35][36][37]Shami Chakrabarti led the inquiry and joined the Labour Party on the same day she was appointed to chair the investigation.[38] The inquiry had two deputy chairs: Jan Royall, who was at the time holding an investigation into antisemitism at Oxford University Labour Club, and Director of the Pears Institute for the Study of AntisemitismDavid Feldman, whom Chakrabarti had to defend due to his being a signatory to Independent Jewish Voices, which has claimed that some of the allegations of antisemitism within Labour were "baseless and disingenuous".[38]
Livingstone was suspended for a year after a hearing over three days by the National Constitutional Committee, for breaching rule 2.1.8.[39] Shah was reinstated[40] after accepting a number of conditions (such as apologising for bringing the party into disrepute and to carry out engagement with the Jewish community).[41]
British author Howard Jacobson called the Chakrabarti Inquiry "a brief and shoddy shuffling of superficies" that "spoke to very few of the people charging the party with anti-Semitism and understood even fewer of their arguments."[42] Jacobson also suggested that Corbyn nominating Chakrabarti for a peerage was shown contempt for those who had raised issues over antisemitism in the party.[43]
Following allegations of antisemitism from the Oxford University Labour Club, an inquiry was launched by Labour Students, chaired by Jan Royall.[44] The party's National Executive Committee accepted the report in May 2016. Some of the report was published, but the full report was deemed confidential until Royall leaked it.[45] The report found that whilst there was a "cultural problem" in which "behaviour and language that would once have been intolerable is now tolerated" leading to some anti-Semitic behaviour towards Jewish students there was also "no evidence the club is itself institutionally anti-Semitic".[46]
In 2016, the Home Affairs Select Committee held an inquiry into antisemitism in the United Kingdom. The committee found "no reliable, empirical evidence to support the notion that there is a higher prevalence of antisemitic attitudes within the Labour party than any other political party". However, it was critical of Corbyn's response to antisemitic incidents against Labour MPs. The committee described the Chakrabarti inquiry as "ultimately compromised".[47] The report also found that "the failure of the Labour Party to deal consistently and effectively with anti-Semitic incidents in recent years risks lending force to allegations that elements of the Labour movement are institutionally anti-Semitic".[48]
In May 2016, American political scientist Norman Finkelstein (whose map "Solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict – relocate Israel to United States" was shared by MP Naz Shah leading to claims she was antisemitic) described the controversy as "obscene", adding that he posted the map because he found it funny, claiming that such "jokes are commonplace in the US". Continuing, referring to those on the right of the Labour Party using this as a way of undermining Corbyn, "What are they doing? Don't they have any respect for the dead? ... ... All these desiccated Labour apparatchiks, dragging the Nazi holocaust through the mud for the sake of their petty jostling for power and position. Have they no shame?"[49]
2017
Reported events
In April 2017, Ken Livingstone's suspension was extended for a further 12 months after a disciplinary panel of the Labour Party upheld three charges of breaching party rules against him. Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour party ordered a new inquiry into Livingstone's conduct, which did not take place during the next 10 months.[50] In March 2018, Livingstone's suspension was extended indefinitely pending the outcome of an inquiry.[51] In May 2018, Livingstone announced that he is resigning from the party.[52]
In November 2017, a Labour Party member was suspended following the posting of what Labour councillor Adam Langleben called antisemitic comments. The party member was suspended after Langleben reposted the material, saying that Labour had failed to take action prior to publication.[53][54]
In another incident, a Labour council candidate was removed from the Labour candidate list in Bradford after making antisemitic remarks such as "teachers are brainwashing us and our children into thinking the bad guy was Hitler" and "What have the Jews done good in this world?"[55][56]
In December 2017, a Brighton and Hove Labour housing campaigner was suspended after posting a "spoof" Hanukkah video featuring three dancing Orthodox Jews with the faces of local councilors superimposed on Facebook. The campaigner denied allegations of anti-semitism, stating that he condemned "all forms of racism" and stated that the posts were meant to be "a bit of fun, not racist".[57][58]
Election
During the 2017 general election campaign Jeremy Newmark, the chairman of the Jewish Labour Movement, said that "Jeremy Corbyn appears to have failed to understand the nature of contemporary anti-Semitism in the same way that it's understood by most of its target group". Labour MP Wes Streeting also criticised the party's record on antisemitism, saying "I don't think many Jewish voters in my constituency have been very impressed with the way the Labour party as a whole have responded". Corbyn has in the past said that the party will not tolerate anti-Semitism in any form.[59] Streeting also said he did not believe Corbyn was antisemitic.[60]
In the Epilogue[61] to his book Contemporary Left Antisemitism (2017), written after the 8 June 2017 general election, sociologist David Hirsh alleges Corbyn's "antisemitic... politics...[62] did not seem to be an issue" with voters, with the possible exception of four constituencies with significant Jewish populations,[63] and discusses the impact of the near win by a Labour Party, he says, is led by man who has a "decades-long association with antisemitic politics"[64] who has "for his whole career, embraced or tolerated certain kinds of antisemitic... politics,"[62] and "long been connected to antisemitic ways of thinking and antisemitic movements".[65]
Conference
During the 2017 Labour Party national conference, new rules were introduced to combat antisemitism or other "conduct prejudicial to the Party" by members. Some party activists made the accusation that Labour was policing "thought crime" and claimed that the rule was "an attempt to stifle criticism of Israel". 98% of members supported the change to the Labour Party Rule Book.[66] Deputy leader Tom Watson promised there would be an investigation into how the party provided a platform at a conference fringe event to Israeli author and activist Miko Peled, who was criticised for saying that the Holocaust should be open to debate, saying "This is about free speech, the freedom to criticise and to discuss every issue, whether it's the Holocaust: yes or no, Palestine, the liberation, the whole spectrum."[67][68][69] Watson responded that "it is nothing to do with the official Labour party conference. And if there was Holocaust denial there, these people have no right to be in the Labour party, and if they are they should be expelled".[70] Delegates at the fringe event demanded that the Jewish Labour Movement be expelled from the party over their support for the state of Israel.[71]
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism was formally accepted by the Labour Party at the 2017 conference. Jewish Voice for Labour saw this as "attempts to widen the definition of antisemitism beyond its meaning of hostility towards, or discrimination against, Jews as Jews".[72][73] Jewish Voice for Labour's information officer, Jonathan Rosenhead sees this definition as being intentionally "vague" allowing for "the protection of Israel" via "a side door" and thus "encouraging the presumption that criticism of Israel is likely to be antisemitic".[73][74] The organisation sees the change to the Labour Party Rule Book as an "anti-democratic restriction on political debate".[75] In May 2018, Jewish Voice for Labour along with members of Free Speech on Israel produced a definition of antisemitism as "Antisemitism is a form of racism: hatred, hostility, discrimination or prejudice against Jews because they are Jews. It may be manifested in violence; denial of rights; direct, indirect or institutional discrimination; prejudice-based behaviour; or verbal or written statements. Such manifestations draw on stereotypes – characteristics which all Jews are presumed to share."[76]
Public perceptions
According to a poll[which?] of 1,864 British Jewish adults carried out in 2017 a majority of British Jews believed that the Labour Party was too tolerant of antisemitism. Of those surveyed for their opinion, 83% (in 2016 this was 87%) stated that racist sentiments were not adequately challenged by Labour members of parliament, members of the party, or Labour Party supporters. The poll was held for the group Campaign Against Antisemitism (who said of the poll "It is important to note that there is no evidence that parties' supporters favour a soft approach to antisemitism. The failure to deal robustly with antisemitism is more likely to be a result of a failure to recognize and understand the many guises of modern antisemitism."),[7] and followed increasing criticism of Corbyn's attempts to fight anti-Jewish sentiment within the party.[77] A poll by The Jewish Chronicle prior to the 2017 election found that just 13% of Jews intended to vote for Labour, and that when asked to rank the degree of "antisemitism among the political party's members and elected representatives" between 1 (low) to 5 (high), Jews ranked Labour at 3.94, compared with 3.64 for UKIP, 2.7 for Liberal Democrates, and 1.96 for Conservatives.[8]
According to journalist Stephan Daisley, the Labour Party had previously been quick to take a stance against groups where racism, sexism, and homophobia had been tolerated. However, according to Daisley, antisemitism is now routine within the party, and that by its own definition, the party is now "institutionally anti-Semitic".[78]
Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Gerald Kaufman[79] have attended events of "Deir Yassin Remembered", founded by Holocaust denier Paul Eisen.[80][81] However, Corbyn has said that this had taken place before Eisen had made his views known. In 2012, Corbyn praised Raed Salah, leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, who had been found guilty of using the antisemitic trope of the blood libel in a speech in 2007.[82] In Freedland's view, while under Corbyn the Labour party is increasing its membership, it is attracting those on the left who would previously have rejected the party, or would not have been accepted by it.[81] A party spokesman said, "Jeremy has consistently spoken out against all forms of antisemitism and condemned Holocaust denial as vile and wrong." Corbyn said had he known of Eisen's Holocaust denial, he would have had nothing to do with the group.[83]
In November 2017, leading British authors Howard Jacobson, Simon Schama, and Simon Sebag Montefiore condemned Labour's failure to address anti-semitism in a letter to The Times saying "We are alarmed that during the past few years, constructive criticism of Israeli governments has morphed into something closer to antisemitism under the cloak of so-called anti-Zionism", further stating "Although anti-Zionists claim innocence of any antisemitic intent, anti-Zionism frequently borrows the libels of classical Jew-hating," and adding "Accusations of international Jewish conspiracy and control of the media have resurfaced to support false equations of Zionism with colonialism and imperialism, and the promotion of vicious, fictitious parallels with genocide and Nazism".[84][85]
In December 2017, senior Israeli minister Gilad Erdan said that "We recognise and we see that there are antisemitic views in many of the leadership of the current Labour party". A Labour Party spokesperson said in response "Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party campaign against and condemn all forms of antisemitism and the Labour party conference recently adopted new tough rules on antisemitism."[86]
In a December 2017 Jewish Labour Movement Chanukah party, after Jeremy Corbyn said that the Labour party has "zero tolerance" for antisemitism within the party, Corbyn was heckled by a crowd member who shouted "Corbyn, you're a liar", and "What about Ken?". She was subsequently ejected from the event.[87][88]
2018
Facebook groups about Palestine containing antisemitic content
In March 2018, a dossier was published by David Collier exposing the actions of Labour Party members, including Corbyn, some of his office staff and MPs, who all belonged to a private Facebook group where antisemitic tropes and comments were freely made.[89] Corbyn left the group at some point in 2015.[90] Soon after the dossier was published the Labour Party made a statement saying that a full investigation will be undertaken and appropriate action will be taken against any Labour member found to be involved.[91]
Corbyn's office issued a statement not denying his involvement in the group but saying that he had no knowledge of what was being discussed in the group.[89] There was no suggestion that Mr Corbyn was aware of any extremism on the Forum. Collier writing: "There is no suggestion Jeremy Corbyn shares the views of many inside the group, what this provides is evidence he knows he is a member".[92] The dossier shows Corbyn responding to and commenting on various posts including those that contravene the guidelines set by the Chakrabarti Report. He left the group after becoming Labour leader in 2015.[91] According to the HuffPost he was enrolled by someone else in 2014 and had only made a small number of posts.[93] A fortnight later, Corbyn's membership of a second Facebook group 'History of Palestine', which featured antisemitic comments, became known. He then left the group to which he had been added around 2014. Corbyn's spokesman said "he was added to this group without his knowledge".[94] Later in March, it was reported that Corbyn was a member of a third group containing antisemitic content. Corbyn left the group following the reports and a spokesman said that he was not an active member.[95][96]
Corbyn and an allegedly antisemitic mural
Later in March 2018, a spokesman for the Labour leader admitted Corbyn had posted a comment on Facebook in 2012 questioning the removal of a mural which was condemned as having antisemitic tropes.[97] The mural, painted on private property in the East End of London, had been the subject of complaints from residents and was removed by the local authority.[98]
Labour MP Luciana Berger tweeted about the issue in March 2018 asking Corbyn why he defended the mural.[99] Corbyn's spokesman issued a statement later in the day: "Jeremy was responding to concerns about the removal of public art on grounds of freedom of speech. However, the mural was offensive, used antisemitic imagery, which has no place in our society, and it is right that it was removed".[97][99] Berger said the response was "wholly inadequate".[100] In his own statement, Corbyn said: "I sincerely regret that I did not look more closely at the image I was commenting on, the contents of which are deeply disturbing and antisemitic," he said. "The defence of free speech cannot be used as a justification for the promotion of antisemitism in any form. That is a view I've always held."[101][102] Karen Pollock of the Holocaust Educational Trust said: "If as he says, Mr Corbyn is against all forms of racism, why does his stance on anti-Semitism always fall short?"[103]
The coverage over the mural was followed by an open letter from the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council stating that Corbyn was "repeatedly found alongside people with blatantly anti-Semitic views", concluding that Corbyn "cannot seriously contemplate anti-Semitism, because he is so ideologically fixed within a far-left worldview that is instinctively hostile to mainstream Jewish communities".[104] Following the open letter's publication, hundreds of protesters outside Parliament chanted 'enough is enough', alleging that Corbyn had sided with antisemites 'again and again'.[105]
Jewish Voice for Labour organised a smaller counter-demonstration.[106] The organisation said in a statement that it was "appalled" by the Board of Deputies' letter. "They do not represent us or the great majority of Jews in the party who share Jeremy Corbyn's vision for social justice and fairness. Jeremy's consistent commitment to anti-racism is all the more needed now."[107] Jewish Voice for Labour's Chair Jenny Manson defended Corbyn on Daily Politics, saying he had taken "enormously strong action" to deal with the issue in his party.[108]
Resignation of Christine Shawcroft
In late March, Christine Shawcroft the recently appointed[109] head of the Labour Party's disputes panel resigned from the panel after it emerged she had opposed the suspension of a Peterborough council candidate who was accused of Holocaust denial. In the leaked email, Shawcroft said she was "concerned" to hear about the suspension of Alan Bull for "a Facebook post taken completely out of context and alleged to show anti-Semitism". However, she later said that she had not seen the "abhorrent" Facebook post which led to his suspension.[110] Subsequently, a group of 39 Labour politicians, both MPs and peers in an open letter called on Corbyn to suspend her from Labour's National Executive Committee.[111] Two days later on 1 April she resigned from the committee.[112]
List of MPs and peers who signed the open letter to Jeremy Corbyn calling for Christine Shawcroft's resignation[113]
Pro-Corbyn Facebook groups containing antisemitic content
At the beginning of April 2018, The Sunday Times reported that it had uncovered over 2,000 examples of antisemitic, racist, violent threats and abusive content in non-public Corbyn-supporting Facebook groups, including frequent attacks on Jews and Holocaust denying material.[114][115] The 20 largest pro-Corbyn Facebook groups, which have a combined membership of over 400,000, were reported to have as members 12 senior staff who work for Corbyn and shadow chancellor John McDonnell.[116] The messages repeatedly targeted Labour MP Luciana Berger and Jonathan Arkush, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.[117][115] A Labour Party spokesperson said the groups "are not officially connected to the party in any way". However, Labour MPs urged Corbyn to instruct his supporters to shut down abusive groups.[118][119] Subsequently, Corbyn deleted his own personal Facebook account that he had set up before becoming Labour leader although his official page remained.[120]
A group of cross party peers have asked the Metropolitan Police to investigate the groups for inciting violence. The letter was drafted by honorary president of the Conservative Friends of Israel, Lord Polak.[121]
Jewdas Passover event
In April, Corbyn attended a "third night" Passover Seder celebration held by the Jewdas group. The group has suggested that allegations of anti-Semitism within Labour are a political plot aimed at discrediting the party as well as tweeting that Israel is "a steaming pile of sewage which needs to be properly disposed of".[122][123] Corbyn was criticised by leading figures of the established Jewish community for attending the event.[124][123] The president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Jonathan Arkush, said: "If Jeremy Corbyn goes to their event, how can we take his stated commitment to be an ally against anti-Semitism seriously?"[125] A number of Labour MP's criticised his decision to attend, John Woodcock tweeting "This is deliberately baiting the mainstream Jewish community".[126]
Actor and comedian David Schneider pointed out that "the same people who had been shouting that if Corbyn was serious about tackling anti-Semitism, he had to get out there and meet Jews were suddenly shouting: 'Hold on! Not those Jews!'"[127] Schneider tweeted "'Boo! Corbyn needs to get out and meet some Jews!' (Corbyn spends Passover with some Jews at Jewdas) 'Boo! Not those Jews!'".[128]David Baddiel said that "They are just Jews who disagree with other Jews. Which means: Jews ... To make out that it's somehow antisemitic for him to spend Seder with them just because they're far left is balls".[128]
Other incidents and suspensions
In April 2018, Roy Smart was suspended from the party and dropped as a local council candidate for the St James' ward on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council in the May 2018 local elections, after it was discovered that in 2015 he had shared posts on social media which urged followers to "question the Holocaust" and linking to a "Holocaust deprogramming course" website.[129] He had also shared several conspiracy theories, including that the "Rothschilds Jewish mafia" was being behind the September 11 attacks, that "Jewish money" was running the British government.[130][131]
In the same month, Rossendale Councillor Pam Bromley was suspended over alleged antisemitic posts on Facebook dating back to April 2016, though she denies being anti-semitic,[132][133] saying that "The allegation that I am anti-Semitic, based on a tiny sample of Facebook posts taken out of context and dating back up to 12 months, is absolutely ridiculous." She added that she welcomed the investigation.[134] In May 2016, two fellow councillors had been suspended but reinstated following an investigation that cleared them.[135]
Israeli Labour party cut ties with Corbyn
In April 2018, the Israeli Labor Party headed by Avi Gabbay announced it would cut ties with Corbyn and his office due to their handling of antisemitism, but still retain ties with the UK Labour Party as a whole. In a letter to Corbyn, Gabbay wrote "my responsibility to acknowledge the hostility that you have shown to the Jewish community and the antisemitic statements and actions you have allowed".[136]
Meeting with the Jewish Leadership Council and the Board of Deputies
In April 2018, Corbyn met with Jewish community leaders to discuss antisemitism in the Labour Party. Following the meeting, the Jewish Leadership Council and the Board of Deputies issued a statement saying "We are disappointed that Mr Corbyn's proposals fell short of the minimum level of action which our letter suggested. In particular, they did not agree in the meeting with our proposals that there should be a fixed timetable to deal with antisemitism cases; that they should expedite the long-standing cases involving Ken Livingstone and Jackie Walker; that no MP should share a platform with somebody expelled or suspended for antisemitism; that they adopt the full International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism with all its examples and clauses; that there should be transparent oversight of their disciplinary process."[137][138] Corbyn described the meeting as "positive and constructive" and re-iterated that he was "absolutely committed" to rooting out antisemitism in the Labour Party.[139]
Alleged causes
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Attracting Muslim voters
According to Baroness Deech "Too many Labour politicians cravenly adopted the anti-Semitic tropes and anti-Israel demonization they think will get them British Muslim votes, rather than standing up to the prejudice that exists in the community".[140] Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld said that while not all of the most extreme anti-Semitic slurs were made by Muslim representatives of Labour, they represent a disproportionately large proportion of anti-Semitic perpetrators. According to Gerstenfeld, Labour's anti-Semitic issues "demonstrate what happens when a party bends over backward to attract Muslim voters".[141]
Rebuttals
In September 2017, Len McCluskey said that the antisemitism row was nothing more than an attempt to undermine Corbyn by his political opponents saying "No, I've never recognised that. I believe it was mood music that was created by people who were trying to undermine Jeremy Corbyn". He stated that in 47 years as a Labour member he had never heard any antisemitic language at any meeting he had attended. Adding "Unfortunately at the time there were lots of people playing games, everybody wanted to create this image that Jeremy Corbyn's leadership had become misogynist, had become racist, had become anti-Semitic and it was wrong".[142]
In August 2015, 47 prominent Jewish activists signed an open letter criticising the Jewish Chronicle for what they viewed as the newspaper's "character assassination" of Corbyn. They wrote "Your assertion that your attack on Jeremy Corbyn is supported by ‘the vast majority of British Jews' is without foundation. We do not accept that you speak on behalf of progressive Jews in this country. You speak only for Jews who support Israel, right or wrong." They continued, "There is something deeply unpleasant and dishonest about your McCarthyiteguilt by association technique. Jeremy Corbyn's parliamentary record over 32 years has consistently opposed all racism including antisemitism." Signatories to the letter included, Laurence Dreyfus, Selma James, Miriam Margolyes, Ilan Pappé, Michael Rosen and Avi Shlaim.[32]
A number of left-wing Jewish groups have disputed the antisemitism claims. These include Jewish Voice for Labour,[143][144]Jews for Justice for Palestinians[145] and the Jewish Socialists' Group;[146] all of whom have said that accusations of antisemitism against the Labour Party have a twofold purpose: firstly to conflate antisemitism with criticism of Israel in order to deter such criticism and secondly to undermine the Labour leadership since Corbyn was elected leader in 2015.[147]
In April 2016, the Jewish Socialists' Group released a statement which expressed the view that anti-semitism accusations were being 'weaponized' in order to "attack the Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour party with claims that Labour has a "problem" of antisemitism". It continued to say "A very small number of such cases seem to be real instances of antisemitism. Others represent genuine criticism of Israeli policy and support for Palestinian rights but expressed in clumsy and ambiguous language, which may unknowingly cross a line into antisemitism. Further cases are simply forthright expressions of support for Palestinian rights, which condemn Israeli government policy and aspects of Zionist ideology, and have nothing whatsoever to do with antisemitism." The statement summarised "The Jewish Socialists' Group sees the current fearmongering about antisemitism in the Labour Party for what it is – a conscious and concerted effort by right-wing political forces to undermine the growing support among Jews and non-Jews alike for the Labour Party leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, and a measure of the desperation of his opponents."[148]
In the same month, Richard Kuper, spokesperson for the group Jews for Justice for Palestinians, expressed the view that while "there is some antisemitism in and around the Labour party – as there is in the wider society in Britain", "there is clearly also a coordinated, willed and malign campaign to exaggerate the nature and extent of antisemitism as a stick to beat the Labour party."[149]
In December 2017, Momentum founder Jon Lansman said that he believed that antisemitism in the Conservative Party is as widespread as in the Labour party. According to Lansman, antisemitism in Labour falls into three categories: petty xenophobic remarks, old school blood libel type antisemitism, and antisemitism that arises from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to Lansman, the latter cause, Israeli-Palestinian conflict related antisemitism, is the main source of antisemitism in the Labour party.[150]
In March 2018, Joseph Finlay the former Deputy Editor of Jewish Quarterly magazine, and co-founder of a number of grassroots Jewish organisations, wrote a post in the Jewish News defending Corbyn, describing him as "one of the leading anti-racists in parliament" he went on to state; "Antisemitism is always beyond the pale. Labour, now a party of over half a million members, has a small minority of antisemites in its ranks, and it suspends then whenever it discovers them. I expect nothing less from an anti-racist party and an anti-racist leader." He went on "There are many threats to Jews – and we are right to be vigilant. These threats come primarily from resurgent nationalism, anti-immigrant sentiment and a Brexit narrative that seeks to restore Britain to a mythical age of ethnic purity. The idea that Britain's leading anti-racist politician is the key problem the Jewish community faces is an absurdity, a distraction, and a massive error."[151]
In April 2018, over 40 senior academics wrote an open letter to The Guardian condemning what they viewed as an anti-Corbyn bias in media coverage of the antisemitism debate, they suggested that "Dominant sections of the media have framed the story in such a way as to suggest that antisemitism is a problem mostly to do with Labour and that Corbyn is personally responsible for failing to deal with it. The coverage has relied on a handful of sources such as the Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council and well-known political opponents of Corbyn himself." They went on "It is not "whataboutery" to suggest that the debate on antisemitism has been framed in such a way as to mystify the real sources of anti-Jewish bigotry and instead to weaponise it against a single political figure just ahead of important elections. We condemn antisemitism wherever it exists. We also condemn journalism that so blatantly lacks context, perspective and a meaningful range of voices in its determination to condemn Jeremy Corbyn." The academics included Lynne Segal, Annabelle Sreberny, Beverley Skeggs, Gary Hall, Neve Gordon, Margaret Gallagher, Maria Chatzichristodoulou, Jill Daniels and Ruth Catlow.[152] Jane Dipple, one of the signatories to the letter, is now being investigated for sharing antisemitic posts on social media.[153]
In May 2018, Stephen Sedley, a former appeal court judge, wrote in London Review of Books: "...it is a long way from here to the suggestion that the Labour Party is institutionally or culturally anti-Semitic, a charge to which the Chakrabarti report gave no sustenance. According to the parliamentary Home Affairs Committee, such evidence as there is locates the source of about three-quarters of all anti-Semitic incidents on the far right of the political spectrum, while a YouGov survey last year indicated a marked reduction since 2015 in the number of Labour voters prepared to endorse given anti-Semitic propositions. It also indicated that, Lib Dems apart, other parties had a markedly higher proportion of voters prepared to endorse these propositions."[154]
Survey evidence
Campaign Against Antisemitism survey
In 2015, 2016 and 2017, the Campaign Against Antisemitism commissioned the polling firm YouGov to carry out a survey into the British population's attitudes towards Jews.[5]
The survey found that supporters of the Labour Party were less likely to hold antisemitic views than supporters of the Conservative Party or the UK Independence Party (UKIP), and supporters of the Liberal Democrats were the least likely to hold antisemitic views. 32% of Labour supporters endorsed at least one antisemitic attitude, compared to 30% of Liberal Democrat supporters, 39% of UKIP supporters, and 40% of Conservative supporters.[5]
Further analysis of the survey data revealed that among Labour Party supporters, the level of antisemitic prejudice had declined between 2015 and 2017.[6]
Institute for Jewish Policy Research survey
A major study into contemporary antisemitism in Britain was published by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) in September 2017. The study found that those on the political left were no more likely than average to hold antisemitic attitudes, but were more likely than average to hold anti-Israel attitudes, especially those on the far-left.
The study stated that in general "levels of antisemitism in Great Britain are among the lowest in the world." However, it noted that among British adults a "relatively small group of about 5% of the general population can justifiably be described as antisemites: people who hold a wide range of negative attitudes towards Jews." while a larger group comprising about 30% of the population agreed with at least one antisemitic attitude. However, the study noted that this "does not mean that 30% of the population of Great Britain is antisemitic. A majority of people who agreed with just one negative statement about Jews in this survey also agreed with one or more positive statements about Jews, suggesting that the existence of one antisemitic or stereotypical belief in a person’s thinking need not indicate a broader, deeper prejudice towards Jews."[155]
When discussing the link between political views and antisemitism, the study found that "Levels of antisemitism among those on the left-wing of the political spectrum, including the far-left, are indistinguishable from those found in the general population. Yet, all parts of those on the left of the political spectrum – including the 'slightly left-of-centre,' the 'fairly left-wing' and the 'very left-wing' – exhibit higher levels of anti Israelism than average. The most antisemitic group on the political spectrum consists of those who identify as very right-wing: the presence of antisemitic attitudes in this group is 2 to 4 times higher compared to the general population."[155]
Later it went on: "When it comes to antisemitism, the very right-wing lead: 52% (46–58%) in this group hold at least one antisemitic attitude, in contrast to 30% in the general population; and 13% (10–17%) of the very right-wing hold 5–8 antisemitic attitudes, in contrast to 3.6% in the general population. Among those who identify as fairly right-wing or slightly right-of-centre, the maximal diffusion of antisemitic attitudes (the percentage of people with at least one attitude) is slightly elevated but not the stronger forms of antisemitism. The very left-wing is indistinguishable from the general population and from the political centre in this regard. In general, it should be said that, with the exception of the very right-wing, there is little differentiation across the political spectrum in relation to the prevalence of antisemitic attitudes. However, in relation to anti-Israel attitudes, the very left-wing lead: 78% (75–82%) in this group endorse at least one anti-Israel attitude, in contrast to 56% in the general population, and 23% (19–26%) hold 6–9 attitudes, in contrast to 9% in the general population. Elevated levels of anti-Israel attitudes are also observed in other groups on the political left: the fairly left-wing and those slightly left-of-centre. The lowest level of anti-Israel attitudes is observed in the political centre and among those who are slightly right-of-centre or fairly right-wing." The report however found that "....anti-Israel attitudes are not, as a general rule, antisemitic; but the stronger a person's anti-Israel views, the more likely they are to hold antisemitic attitudes. A majority of those who hold anti-Israel attitudes do not espouse any antisemitic attitudes, but a significant minority of those who hold anti-Israel attitudes hold them alongside antisemitic attitudes. Therefore, antisemitism and anti-Israel attitudes exist both separately and together"[156]
^Pollard, Stephen (8 March 2018). "My Jeremy Corbyn dilemma". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 23 March 2018. And over the past couple of years, we have exposed numerous Corbynite antisemites. The truth is that we could have such a story almost weekly.
^ abcJune Edmunds ; The Evolution of British Labour Party Policy on Israel from 1967 to the Intifada, Twentieth Century British History, Volume 11, Issue 1, 1 January 2000, Pages 23–41, https://doi.org/10.1093/tcbh/11.1.23
^Kolpinskaya, Ekatarina (September 2014). "The British Left and Zionism: History of a Divorce (book review)". Political Studies. 13 (3). doi:10.1111/1478-9302.12067_101.
^Fisher, Lucy (22 March 2018). "Jeremy Corbyn in another pro‑Palestine Facebook group linked to antisemitism". The Times. Retrieved 24 March 2018. The Labour leader belonged to 'History of Palestine', on which other people posted anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, according to the Guido Fawkes website. He is said to have been added to the group in 2014 and quit it yesterday after media reports about his membership. Mr Corbyn is not thought to have posted any comments himself.(subscription required)
^Kerbaj, Richard; Pogrund, Gabriel; Ungoed‑Thomas, Jon; Shipman, Tim (1 April 2018). "Exposed: Jeremy Corbyn's hate factory". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2 April 2018. (subscription required)
Rich, Dave (2016). The Left's Jewish Problem: Jeremy Corbyn, Israel and Anti-Semitism. Biteback. ISBN978-1785901201. ((cite book)): Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Alan Johnson, Antisemitic anti-Zionism: the root of Labour's crisis; A submission to the Labour Party inquiry into antisemitism and other forms of racism, June 2016.[1]
Lesley Klaff, K (2016). Jeremy Corbyn: Why the British Labour Party is no longer a safe place for Jews. International Relations and Diplomacy, 4 (7), 427–433, 2016.[2]
Tony Kushner, Antisemitism in Britain: Continuity and the Absence of a Resurgence?, pp. 253–276 [3] Chapter in Antisemitism Before and Since the Holocaust: Altered Contexts and Recent Perspectives, McElligott, Anthony, Herf, Jeffrey Herf, Palgrame MacMillan, IBSN: 978-3-319-48866-0, 2017.
Colin Schindler, From Zionist to Corbynist: The Evolution of Britain’s Labour Left,Jewish Quarterly, Volume 63, 2016 – Issue 2, [4]
A. Sivanandan, Liz Fekete, Jenny Bourne, Submission from the IRR to the Labour Party Inquiry into anti-Semitism and other forms of racism, including Islamophobia, Race & Class, 30 September 2016 [5]
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