Jewish campaigners rebuke Rylance over Corbyn defence

SIR MARK RYLANCE has been rebuked by Jewish campaigners after he suggested that accusations of antisemitism levelled at Jeremy Corbyn had been whipped up by the media.

The Oscar-winning actor faced an angry backlash last night after claiming that Harold Pinter, the Jewish playwright, would have approved of Mr Corbyn and that he knew many Jews who were “very happy” with his leadership.

Sir Mark said that he had a “very different impression” of Mr Corbyn after meeting him.

Asked whether Pinter – whose plays he is due to perform at a London arts festival this week – would have approved of Mr Corbyn, Sir Mark said: “Yes. I know many Jewish people who are very happy with Corbyn’s leadership and obviously I hear about other Jewish people who are not.

“I would suspect that he would have met with Jeremy, as I have met with Jeremy, and seen that you get a very different impression of this from the media,” he told the BBC’S Andrew Marr Show.

His comments were seized on by supporters of Mr Corbyn, who took to social media to claim that he exposed the “smears” against the Labour leader.

However, Sir Mark faced fierce criticism from campaigners, who accused him of attempting to sideline the concerns of the Jewish community.

Karen Pollock, the chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said that Sir Mark’s claims were “misplaced” and demonstrated a failure to listen to those with genuine concerns about anti-semitism.

“I think he is a brilliant – a phenomenal actor. But his reflections on anti-semitism, Labour and their leader, in my view, are misplaced,” she added.

“I think it is wrong to suggest this is simply a ‘media narrative’ and it just needs a conversation and a sit down with the leader.”