Labour’s anti-Semitism: now it gets even nastier
Corbyn likened Israel to ISIS at meeting where MP stormed out
LABOUR’s attempt to address antiSemitism in its ranks descended into farce yesterday after Jeremy Corbyn compared Israel to the Islamic State, and a Jewish MP left a talk in tears.
The party’s crisis intensified after the hard-Left leader told a meeting that neither Jews nor Muslims should be held responsible for the actions of the Israeli government or ‘various self-styled Islamic states or organisations’ such as IS.
He also stood by impassively when one of his grassroots supporters accused Labour MP Ruth Smeeth, who is Jewish, of being part of a Right-wing media conspiracy.
After walking out in disgust, the previously loyal MP demanded that Mr Corbyn resign, saying that under him Labour ‘cannot be a safe space for British Jews’.
Mr Corbyn faces an internal party probe after he was reported to Labour’s compliance unit, which polices the behaviour of members, for his Israel comment. The Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, accused Mr Corbyn of making ‘offensive’ comments which, rather than rebuilding trust among the Jewish community, had caused ‘even greater concern’.
Emily Thornberry, the new Shadow Foreign Secretary, last night phoned the Israeli ambassador in London to apologise for any offence caused by his remarks.
The conference was held in London to launch a report on antiSemitism and was picketed by activists from Momentum, the Left-wing group set up to support Mr Corbyn. They handed out leaflets condemning MPs who had resigned over the past few days as ‘traitors’.
Civil rights campaigner Shami Chakrabarti was brought in to carry out a review of allegations of anti-Semitism in Labour’s ranks at the height of a row over remarks that resulted in several high-profile figures being suspended, including MP Naz Shah and former London Mayor Ken Livingstone.
She concluded that Labour and the Left had not taken the problem seriously ‘for some years’. While the party was not ‘over-run’ by racism, its reputation was ‘on the table’ over its failure to stamp out abuse.
Mr Corbyn welcomed the report but declined to condemn Mr Livingstone over his repeated references to Hitler in the context of the Israel/Palestine conflict. He then made the controversial comment: ‘Our Jewish friends are no more responsible for the actions of Israel or the Netanyahu Government than our Muslim friends are for those of various self-styled Islamic states or organisations.’
Later during the event, Momentum activist Marc Wadsworth criticised Mrs Smeeth.
‘I saw that The Telegraph handed a copy of a press release to Ruth Smeeth MP, so you can see who is working hand in hand,’ he said.
The shocked MP shouted, ‘How dare you,’ before walking out. She was said to be ‘in floods of tears’. An apparently impervious Mr Corbyn ignored the allegations and talked about the contents of the report, prompting Labour MP Wes Streeting to tweet: ‘You sat there and watched our colleague Ruth Smeeth abused at a Labour event this morning. Your words are hollow.’
Mrs Smeeth later said in a statement: ‘Until today I had made no public comment about Jeremy’s ability to lead our party, but the fact that he failed to intervene is final proof for me that he is unfit to lead, and that a Labour Party under his stewardship cannot be a safe space for British Jews.’