Labour fostering ‘softcore Holocaust denial’
American academic claims anti-semitism has become ‘embedded’ in the party under Corbyn’s leadership
The Labour Party is responsible for the rise of “softcore Holocaust denial”, Dr Deborah Lipstadt has said.
The American academic, who won a high-profile legal battle against David Irving, the British historian, in 2000 after she declared him a Holocaust denier, said that anti-semitism has become “embedded” in the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
She added that it has become more socially acceptable to “make a crack” at a dinner party about Jews.
As a result of her legal battle against Irving, who accused her of libel, she said: “The kind of Holocaust denial that I fought in the courtroom – what I call hardcore Holocaust denial – has been seriously weakened. And people who engage in it are seen as at best loony, at worst hateful anti-semites, falsifiers of truth and so on. But what we see today more of is softcore Holocaust denial … where everything becomes a genocide.
“Softcore Holocaust denial is where people say ‘Why am I always hearing about the Holocaust… jokes about the Holocaust…’ ”
Speaking at the Holocaust Education Trust’s annual conference in Westminster, London, she described how, in connection with Israel, people go beyond criticism of policies and begin to draw comparisons with Nazi Germany.
“To talk about a genocide, or to talk about the Nazi-like tactics of the Israeli army is ludicrous,” she said. “There are things the Israeli army does wrong, but to compare it to Nazis is softcore denial.”
Dr Lipstadt, who is the Dorot professor of holocaust studies at Emory University in Atlanta, said she believes anti-semitism and “softcore Holocaust denial” are both on the rise in the UK, in part due to the Labour Party.
“You have a former mayor here in London [Ken Livingstone] who would talk about the co-operation between the Zionists and the Nazis,” she said.
“He took one little historical fact and blew it up into something that never existed, completely twisted the truth.
“That’s the kind of softcore denial I worry about much more. It’s subtly anti-semitic and its clearly denial because it rewrites history.”
Dr Lipstadt went on to say how Mr Corbyn is at best “blind to overt manifestations of anti-semitism”, citing his questioning of a London council’s decision to destroy an anti-semitic mural.
She said that while anti-semitism has always existed on the right of politics as well, “it’s become more embedded in the Labour Party”. A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Jeremy Corbyn has been absolutely clear that he is a militant opponent of anti-semitism and is committed to driving it out of politics and our society.
“Labour has deep roots in the Jewish community and is campaigning to increase support and confidence in our Party among Jewish people in the UK.
“Any complaints of anti-semitism, including Holocaust denial, are taken extremely seriously and are fully investigated, and appropriate disciplinary action, in line with Party rules and procedures.”