Corbyn apologises to Jews over party’s anti-Semitism
JEREMY Corbyn has apologised for the hurt caused to Jews by anti-Semitism in Labour following stark warnings about the risk the row posed to the future of the party.
The Labour leader acknowledged there was an issue with anti-Semitism in the party and said people who denied that were “contributing to the problem”.
His comments came after deputy leader Tom Watson warned Labour faces being lost in a “vortex of eternal shame” unless it addresses the concerns of the Jewish community.
In a stark message, he said Labour had to take a “long, hard look at ourselves” and demanded immediate action to end tensions, including fully adopting an international definition of anti-Semitism which the party’s ruling body has so far resisted.
And the Jewish Leadership Council and Board of Deputies accused the Labour leader (right) of “ideological hostility” to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism and its 11 examples.
In a video message, Mr Corbyn said: “Driving anti-Semitism out of the party for good and working with the Jewish community to rebuild trust are vital priorities.
“I am sorry for the hurt that has been caused to many Jewish people. We have been too slow in processing disciplinary cases of, mostly, online anti-Semitic abuse by party members. We are acting to speed this process up.
“People who hold anti-Semitic views have no place in the Labour Party. They may be few — the number of cases over the past three years represents less than 0.1% of Labour’s membership of more than half-a-million — but one is too many.
“Our party must never be a home for such people and never will be. People who use anti-Semitic poison need to understand: you do not do it in my name or the name of my party. You are not our supporters.
“And anyone who denies that this has surfaced within our party is clearly actually wrong and contributing to the problem.”
The latest flare-up in Labour’s difficulties over anti-Semitism has been caused by the failure to fully incorporate the IHRA definition and examples in the party’s code of conduct.
Mr Corbyn has said that seven of the examples have been fully adopt- ed in Labour’s code of conduct, with “the essence” of the other four captured in the document. But he said there was an issue about “half of one example out of 11” because it could restrict criticism of Israel.
Mr Corbyn’s attempt to draw a line under the row began with a Guardian article which was branded “ill-timed and ill-conceived” by the Jewish Leadership Council and Board of Deputies after being published on Friday night as Jews observed the Sabbath.
They claimed the abuse suffered by their community “whether you
call this anti-Semitic or not” had resulted in “Jews and those who support them... being purged out of the party”.
“Above all, however, Mr Corbyn’s ideological hostility to the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism epitomises the enduring problem,” they said. They added that “actions are the only thing that have ever mattered” but claimed Mr Corbyn was merely restating words he had already used.
In a strongly worded intervention, Mr Watson told the Observer: “This is one of those moments when we have to take a long, hard look at ourselves, stand up for what is right and present the party as fit to lead the nation — or disappear into a vortex of eternal shame and embarrassment.”
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