Anti-Semitism fears of Momentum youth chief

A JEWISH Labour candidate has stepped down from the Jeremy Corbyn-supporting Momentum group, saying ‘deep-seated’ anti-Semitism had left him feeling ‘unsafe’.

Joshua Garfield, 23, resigned as youth officer for the grassroots campaign group’s Newham branch in East London, citing first-hand experience of ‘individual and institutionalised’ anti-Semitism.

In a resignation letter Mr Garfield, who is standing to be a councillor in the Stratford ward next month, said: ‘As a Jewish member, I have witnessed more anti-Semitism in the past week than I ever have in my eight years of Labour membership.

‘I have felt sometimes unsafe, and most certainly untrusted, as a Jewish member of the steering group, hence I’ve decided to step down.

‘While I believe political education and anti-Semitism training may help members of the group, in all honesty I don’t believe it would be sufficient to combat some of the deep-seated prejudices I saw being aired confidently on social media, and which went unchallenged.’

Mr Garfield, a member of the Jewish Labour Movement, said that denying anti-Semitism exists within the Labour movement was ‘misguided, ignorant and offensive’.

He added: ‘I cannot work alongside individuals who seek to silence the legitimate concerns of Jewish Labour members, or who remain silent in the face of blatant racism.’