Corbyn is a racist say Jewish leaders
JEWISH leaders last night accused Jeremy Corbyn of racism as they warned that British Jews were being treated as second- class Labour Party members.
The Board of Deputies called on the Labour leader to acknowledge his failings and offer a heartfelt apology to end the party’s anti-Semitism crisis.
In a scathing letter, the 300-strong body of representatives from the country’s synagogues said Mr Corbyn also owed an apology ‘to the Israeli victims of the terrorists with whom he has shown solidarity’ – an apparent reference to relatives of the victims of the Munich massacre.
Mr Corbyn has come under fire after the Daily Mail published pictures revealing his attendance at a wreath-laying in a Tunisian cemetery where those buried include Palestinians accused of masterminding the 1972 atrocity.
Last night’s letter said: ‘ While Labour could have used the summer to focus on any number of other serious challenges facing this country, the leadership has chosen to make its priority a fight with British Jews about anti-Semitism.
‘It is now beyond contention that he has repeatedly shared platforms and joined events with anti- Semites, terrorist- sympathisers and other extremists, not to challenge them, but to show solidarity.’
The row has been re-ignited following the emergence of footage of Mr Corbyn in 2013 attacking British ‘ Zionists’, saying they ‘don’t want to study history’ and ‘don’t understand English irony either’. Yesterday Jonathan Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi, attacked Mr Corbyn over the comments, branding him an ‘anti-Semite’ and the ‘most offensive’ British politician since Enoch Powell.
Theresa May yesterday called on Mr Corbyn to respond to the accusations of anti-Semitism.
The Prime Minister said: ‘ Lord Sacks was a long-standing Chief Rabbi. He raised significant concerns. But it’s not just him. Members of the Labour Party have raised concerns as well. I think the leader of the Labour Party needs to respond to those concerns.’
In its letter to Labour general secretary Jennie Formby, the Board of Deputies said that claiming they were ‘somehow un-British is a classic racist trope’.
It added: ‘Through these actions, he has not advanced the cause of peace and, potentially, even set it back. To move forward, Mr Corbyn must acknowledge his own failings and offer a heartfelt apology to British Jews and to the Israeli victims of the terrorists with whom he has shown solidarity.’
The Board of Deputies said Mr Corbyn’s ‘failures of judgment’ had sent ‘a signal that such behaviour is acceptable or laudable. This in turn leads to a hostile environment for Jews, where our Britishness is questioned and those who have even sought to kill British Jews or our relatives are praised.’
It called for the party to accept fully the internationally-recognised definition of anti-Semitism and criticised its failure to clear a backlog of disciplinary cases against allegedly anti- Semitic members despite a promise to do so by the end of last month.
In a separate letter to Miss Formby, the Jewish Leadership Council and Community Safety Trust wrote: ‘The current obsessive hatred of Israel and Zionism means that no Jew can be an equal member of the Labour Party, because even if they pass an initial loyalty/morality test, they still always remain under suspicion, lest they display “Zionist” or “proIsrael” tendencies.’
A Labour spokesman said: ‘The party and Jeremy Corbyn have made clear their total opposition to anti-Semitism and repeatedly stressed we must ensure our party is a welcoming home for Jews.’