Union boss attacks ‘ hostile’ Jewish leaders
LEN McCluskey sparked outrage yesterday after criticising the ‘intransigent hostility’ of Jewish community leaders over Labour’s anti-Semitism crisis.
In an incendiary intervention, the Jeremy Corbyn ally turned on Jewish groups following the row over whether the party leader had laid a wreath commemorating terrorists.
In a blog post, he also laid into moderate Labour MPs who he accused of exploiting the antiSemitism row to split the party.
Writing for the Huffpost website yesterday, the general secretary of
the Unite union warned that Labour risked a witch hunt, saying the party could descend ‘into a vortex of McCarthyism’.
He wrote that the ‘more Corbyn has personally sought to build bridges’ with the Jewish community ‘the worse the rhetoric has become’, adding: ‘What is the response from the leading Jewish community organisations to this record of reaching out, of understanding, and of action?
‘Intransigent hostility and an utter refusal to engage in dialogue about building on what has been done and resolving outstanding difficulties.’ The union chief also said the leadership of the Jewish community should ‘grasp the hand stretched out towards them’.
And he accused three Jewish newspapers – the Jewish Chronicle, Jewish News and the Jewish Telegraph – of a ‘thoroughly irresponsible act of fear-mongering’.
However, Mr McCluskey called for Labour to adopt the full International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antiSemitism, as not having done so already was ‘insensitive’.
But he warned there remained ‘free speech problems’ with one of the examples referring to ‘Israel as a racist endeavour’.
‘While rooting out the anti-Semites, we cannot descend into a vortex of McCarthyism, however much Labour’s opponents might enjoy the spectacle,’ he said.
He also used his blog to accuse Chuka Umunna and other Labour MPs of using the row over anti-Semitism as a method to ‘provide rocket fuel for a split in the Party’.
A Board of Deputies spokesman said: ‘We note that Len McCluskey has advocated the adoption of the full IHRA definition.
‘However, his attack on the Jewish community is both unfair and unwarranted.’
A Labour Party spokesman said: ‘We all need to work together to build support and confidence in the Labour Party among Jewish communities in Britain.’