The chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council spells out to Jeremy Corbyn exactly how we view his failure to condemn antisemitism. This is particularly disappointing in the light of a passing of a rule change empowering the party to tackle antisemitism more effectively. WHAT A JOKE!!!!! Thanks Jonathan Goldstein for tackling this head on.
The chair of the Jewish Leadership Council calls on Jeremy Corbyn to atone. The party leader’s deafening silence over anti-semitism on the left is deeply concerning.
Jonathan Goldstein
October 1 2017, 12:01am, The Sunday Times
“We are angry. We are disappointed. We are at our wits’ end. As chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council, the umbrella body of the 33 central charities and organisations of British Jewry, I can say with some certainty that this is how the vast majority of our community feels in the wake of last week’s Labour Party conference.
To many, Jeremy Corbyn appeared a hero as he delivered his keynote speech in Brighton. Welcomed onto the stage by crowds fervently chanting his name, he spoke at length about building a more equal society, about rebuilding the NHS, about creating opportunity for the young and ensuring “dignity and security” for the old. He confidently branded Labour as the “political mainstream”.
Yet in all this there was a glaring omission: an utter failure to denounce the pernicious anti-semitism that continues to pervade Labour — its events, its activists, its discourse and far too many of Corbyn’s friends.
Across the community we welcomed the rule change to empower the party to tackle anti-semitism more effectively. Promoted by the Jewish Labour Movement and endorsed by Corbyn and the party’s national executive committee, this was a positive step towards giving Labour the tools it desperately needs to combat anti-semitism and improve its relationship with our community.
Unfortunately, the adoption of the rule change by an overwhelming majority was eclipsed. At fringe events, political activists demanded that both Labour Friends of Israel and the Jewish Labour Movement be ejected from the party.
One speaker, Miko Peled, had the audacity to ask openly: “The Holocaust: yes or no?”, and some of Corbyn’s closest allies, such as Chris Williamson, Len McCluskey and Ken Loach, swept the problem under the carpet by asserting that allegations of anti-semitism were merely “mood music” and a conspiracy to remove the party leader.
One would have hoped Corbyn would use his keynote speech as the perfect opportunity to change the tone, to lead by example.
All he needed to say was: “They have a long record of campaigning for social justice and . . . suffered intolerable racist abuse.
“They have faced hostility and an army of social media trolls. It’s even more important that we stand shoulder to shoulder with our Jewish MPs, party members and the wider Jewish community and . . . condemn the anti-semites in our midst. They have no place in our party and our society and we want them out.”
Indeed, and he was absolutely right to utter almost these exact words to condemn the vile abuse that Diane Abbott has suffered in recent months. Yet he remained mute on the anti-semitism that continues to engulf the party under his leadership. To the Jewish community, this is a deafening silence and tacit endorsement from a potential prime minister. Can he not see that we are deeply offended? Does he not care?
A speaker at a fringe event asked: ‘The Holocaust, yes or no?’ Now more than ever Corbyn must stand up for what is right as party leader. Labour may not officially have responsibility for the content of speeches at fringe events, but leadership is about setting an example. There is a moral duty to create safe spaces for people to voice their diverse views, to establish a welcoming atmosphere across the entire party.
Labour is increasingly becoming home “for the many anti-semites, not the few Jews”. It is the few, the minorities in this country, who should be celebrated and protected, not vilified and persecuted.
My challenge to Corbyn and the entire party is clear: unequivocally condemn the anti-semitism in the party and cast out those who assert that this hatred does not exist; build bridges with our community, which has enjoyed strong relationships with every main political party for many years; prove to us that you are true to the values and ideals that you espouse and apply them in equal measure to Anglo-Jewry.
This weekend Jews around the world have observed Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. On this day we asked forgiveness for our offences. Our sages taught us that for transgressions against our fellow man and woman, even the Almighty does not grant clemency until we forgive one another.
As we begin a new Jewish year, perhaps Jeremy Corbyn will appreciate and take stock of the harm he has caused and the offence his silence has brought.
The opportunity to begin anew is still there but time is running out.
Jonathan Goldstein is chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council, the umbrella body of the British Jewish community
