We must tackle anti-semitism, says Corbynite group’s leader

THE founder of Momentum, the Corbynite pressure group, claims that Labour must do more to “stamp out” anti-semitism in the party.

Speaking at the Limmud Festival of Jewish learning and culture in Birmingham, Jon Lansman, 60, said: “Anti-semitism falls into three categories. There’s the kind of petty remarks about big noses, which are dreadful ...

‘Stamp it out, oppose it, make clear it’s unacceptable. We have to challenge every form of anti-semitism’

petty xenophobic remarks. I don’t think there’s much of that in Labour.

“There’s the anti-semitism that arrives from the Israel-palestine conflict. We all understand that when that conflict heats up, it results in dreadful antisemitism. It shouldn’t result in that, but it does. The third type is extremely rare; it’s the real old-school anti-semitism that believes in blood libels and so on. I don’t think there’s a lot of that. But there is a lot of denial of anti-semitism.”

The Jewish Chronicle reported that Mr Lansman said Labour must tackle the problem and “stamp it out, oppose it, make clear it is unacceptable. It has to be dealt with. We have to challenge every form of anti-semitism and I do.”

The party has been dogged by growing accusations of anti-semitism under Jeremy Corbyn, who has in the past described Hamas and Hizbollah, the antiisraeli militant groups, as “friends”.