How the Labour leader has been caught up in the storm
JEREMY Corbyn faces a fresh row over his handling of Labour’s relationship with the Jewish community. Here are some of the key questions:
Q What is the extent of the problem?
A Mr Corbyn has acknowledged anti-semitism occurred in “pockets” within the party and wider movement. A report by Baroness Chakrabarti in 2016 found “the Labour Party is not overrun by anti-semitism”, but it was condemned as a “whitewash” by critics. The pro-corbyn Momentum group said the problem is “more widespread in the Labour Party than many of us had understood even a few months ago”.
Q Has the problem got worse under Mr Corbyn’s leadership? A Like many on the left of the party, he has a long history of supporting the Palestinian cause and criticising the Israeli government for human rights abuses. But some who share Mr Corbyn’s political sympathies have crossed the line from attacking the Israeli government to smears aimed at Jews. In March, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and Jewish Leadership Council used an open letter to claim Mr Corbyn is “repeatedly found alongside people with blatantly anti-semitic views, but claims never to hear or read them” and “rightly or wrongly, those who push this offensive material regard Jeremy Corbyn as their figurehead”.
Q What sparked this latest row? A Labour MP Luciana Berger challenged Mr Corbyn over his apparent support for an artist behind a mural at the centre of an anti-semitism row. He admitted he should have looked more closely at the content of the picture before defending it on freedom of expression grounds. The ensuing row led to a protest outside Parliament and the strongly-worded open letter.
Q What has Mr Corbyn’s response been?
A He issued an apology for the “pain and hurt” caused by antisemitism in the party, and said he would meet representatives from the Jewish community. But he faced a backlash after attending a Seder event with the radical Jewdas group, which claimed the mural row had been a “malicious ploy” aimed at undermining Mr Corbyn.
Q What next?
A Mr Corbyn has asked to meet the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council to discuss tackling anti-semitism. Labour also has to deal with a backlog of cases of alleged anti-semitic behaviour.