Displaying items by tag: Labour party

In February we reported that anti-Semitic hate crimes in the UK had hit a record high, prompting prayers for more visible and frequent prosecutions for such incidents. The Jewish community was targeted almost four times a day last year, which also saw the highest tally of incidents since data gathering began. Three-quarters of all anti-Semitic incidents were in London and Manchester, where most Jewish communities live. Hatred is rising, and Jewish people are suffering as a result. This should concern everybody because it shows anger and division, threatening all society. In 2015 the international community agreed on a definition of anti-Semitism. The UK’s Labour party has not signed up to it, saying its own code of conduct already covers the definition. On 23 July Labour MPs and peers backed the international definition. Jeremy Corbyn disagrees.

Speaking during the House of Commons debate, Labour MP Luciana Berger said that after she spoke out about anti-semitism, people have accused her of being a ‘paid-up Israeli operative’, a traitor, and an ‘absolute parasite’, and told her to ‘get out of the country and go back to Israel’. A new survey of 1,500 people by the Independent newspaper revealed almost two-thirds of them believe Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party has a problem with racism or religious prejudice. A majority believed Mr Corbyn had handled anti-semitism claims badly. The party has been subject to protests from the Jewish community, and Israel’s Labour Party has severed ties with the leader’s office. Labour’s Ruth Smeeth, who has received many abusive messages (such as ‘Hang yourself you Zionist filth, you’re a cancer of humanity’. She said it was truly heartbreaking that she had to stand in Parliament Square to protest against the anti-Semitism that was ‘engulfing’ parts of the party.

A demonstration in Parliament Square by two Jewish groups has drawn attention to Jeremy Corbyn’s anti-Semitism problem. Many leading British Jews have written to him complaining that Labour contains pockets of anti-Semitism that he has turned a blind eye to or dealt with inadequately. Jewish Labour MPs have been subjected to anti-Semitic rants and intimidation from supporters of the hard left. Jewish students have abandoned Labour groups, feeling threatened and vilified. The hard left is almost defined by its hostility to Israel, and in the heat of political debate ancient hatreds flame. Labour candidate Alan Bull said the Holocaust was a ‘hoax’. Corbyn called Hamas and Hezbollah ‘friends’. He is a Facebook member of Palestine Live and History of Palestine, riddled with anti-Semitism under the cloak of pro-Palestine activism. See