Jewish paper’s front page that heaps utter shame on Labour leader
It urges ALL voters to snub anti-Semitic party... as second rabbi slams Corbyn
‘Sickening on so many levels’’
BRITAIN’S leading Jewish newspaper and a senior rabbi both urged voters to shun Labour yesterday because of its anti-Semitism.
In a hard-hitting front page, the Jewish Chronicle said the Labour leader had encouraged hatred of Jews in the party – and had tried to thwart action being taken against racists.
Urging non- Jews to vote against Labour, the editorial warned: ‘If this man is chosen as our next prime minister, the message will be stark: that our dismay that he could ever be elevated to a prominent role in British politics, and our fears of where that will lead, are irrelevant.’
At the same time, Yuval Keren became the second senior rabbi in the past week to urge his congregation to vote tactically against Mr Corbyn, saying Labour was ‘ riddled with anti-Semitism’.
But Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell sought to dismiss the Jewish Chronicle’s intervention, saying the paper was ‘behind the times’ and that Labour was being ‘ruthless’ with antiSemites. He told Radio 4’s World At One: ‘Everything that has been asked of us by the Jewish community we’ve done.
‘I just say to them, look, have a look again at the reality of what we’ve done, because actually we’ve done everything asked of us.’
He also insisted the party’s new procedures allowed them to be ‘rapid’ and ‘ruthless’ in expelling those found guilty of anti-Jewish racism.
However, former Labour MP Luciana Berger, who is now standing as a Liberal Democrat, called his claim that the party was on top of the problem a ‘lie’.
The Jewish Chronicle article said: ‘The vast majority of British Jews consider Jeremy Corbyn to be an anti-Semite. In the most recent poll, last month, the figure was 87 per cent... The near total inaction of Mr Corbyn and the rest of the Labour leadership in dealing with anti-Semites in the party has both emboldened them and encouraged others.
‘Indeed, Mr Corbyn and his allies have actively impeded action against the racists [and] given support to fringe organisations set up solely to deny the existence of Labour anti-Semitism. Is it any wonder Jews worry about the prospect of Mr Corbyn as prime minister?’
In an appeal to non- Jews, the paper wrote: ‘We believe that the overwhelming majority of British people abhor racism. We ask only that, when you cast your vote, you act on that.’
Meanwhile, in a letter to constituents yesterday, Rabbi Keren, from the Southgate Progressive Synagogue in north London, said: ‘Since Jeremy Corbyn’s assumption of Labour leadership, the attitude of the party towards British Jews has changed dramatically, and the party has become riddled with anti-Semitism.
‘If you too believe that a Corbyn-led government would be detrimental to Jewish life as we know it, you should put aside all other considerations and vote for the party that is most likely to defeat Labour in your local constituency.’
His comments come a week after Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain urged his congregation in Maidenhead, Berkshire, to vote for whatever party stands the best chance of keeping Labour out.
Mr Corbyn said many Jewish people in the Labour Party did not agree with the front page.
On the election campaign trail in Liverpool, he said: ‘I regret the Jewish Chronicle has chosen to print that. I simply say to everyone – our community is stronger when people work together, when we recognise the danger and the poison that anti-Semitism is.’
Last night, Conservative chairman James Cleverly said the Jewish Chronicle front page ‘shows how far the Labour Party has fallen under Corbyn’s feeble leadership’.
He added: ‘He cannot possibly be a fit and proper person to lead the country when an entire community is scared of the idea of him walking through the door of No 10.’
Miss Berger attacked Mr McDonnell for lying about how Labour was getting to grips with antiSemitism, adding: ‘This is sickening on so many levels.’