Confession of Labour anti-Semitism group

THE Jewish Voice for Labour group that has rubbished claims of anti-Semitism in the party was formed by “totally secular” individuals who “identified as Jewish” in order to defend Jeremy Corbyn, its co-chairman has suggested.

Jenny Manson said her organisation was founded last year to advocate for Palestinian rights and “to tackle allegations of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party”.

Speaking at an event in London, Mrs Manson described herself as “Jewish but completely secular” and said other members of the group had similar outlooks.

Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) was formed last July, amid mounting allegations about anti-Semitic behaviour by Labour members and candidates. Mr Corbyn has said the group is “committed to fighting anti-Semitism and making sure there is a Jewish voice in the party”.

In March JVL was roundly criticised after taking part in a counter-protest against a demonstration outside Parliament at which MPs expressed concerns about anti-Semitism in Labour.

At the time, Mrs Manson said that “none of us in my group have ever experienced any anti-Semitism in the Labour Party” and warned against a “witch-hunt”.

Now, footage from a conference in March shows Mrs Manson saying: “Many of us are totally secular, identified as Jews for a specific reason. We started the organisation

for two purposes I would say: one was to work with other Jewish organisations… on behalf of Palestinian rights, and the other was to tackle allegations of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party.”

Speaking on March 19, Mrs Manson added: “I was actually with various members of staff of Jeremy Corbyn and Shami Chakrabarti [the shadow Attorney General] today, talking about that.”

Mrs Manson said her mother lived in Israel as a young girl having escaped a pogrom in Ukraine. Mrs Manson said: “When I began to identify as a Jew in order to argue against the State of Israel and its behaviour and its conduct, my mother supported me.”

Responding to questions about her comments, she said: “I did say it and it was not accurate. We have got a lot of observant Jews in Jewish Voice for Labour, including some orthodox Jews. I was generalising from myself too much. It looks like I am admitting to being a Jew for this purpose, but that wasn’t what I was saying.

“I was saying that in the context of Jewish political activity I only identified with Jewish organisations as my concern about Israel’s activities grew intense. It’s not that I don’t have a heritage of which I am enormously proud.”