Labour Party proposes Jeremy Corbyn to speak to Jews in London

The party, beset by allegations of antisemitism, approached the Jewish Museum with a plan to host a speech on the issue, the London-based Jewish Chronicle first reported on Thursday.

By JTA
The leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, delivers a speech in Manchester, Britain, March 22, 2018. (photo credit: REUTERS/PHIL NOBLE)
The leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, delivers a speech in Manchester, Britain, March 22, 2018.
(photo credit: REUTERS/PHIL NOBLE)
Jeremy Corbyn would address a Jewish audience under a proposal presented by his British Labour Party to the Jewish Museum in London.
The party, beset by allegations of antisemitism, approached the Jewish Museum with a plan to host a speech on the issue, the London-based Jewish Chronicle first reported on Thursday. Corbyn also has been fighting accusations of harboring anti-Semitic sentiments.
The event could take place as early as Monday, according to the Jewish Chronicle, though the museum’s chief executive said no agreement to host the address had been reached.
The proposed speech comes as rumors have spread that Labour is preparing to announce it will adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism in full.
Last month, the party’s ruling body and leadership endorsed a code of conduct that excluded several of the IHRA examples of antisemitism. The party has come under fire from Jewish members of Labour and the British Jewish community for not adopting the full definition.
The museum’s chief executive, Abigail Morris, confirmed that a proposal had been made to the institution. She said the museum would be open to hosting such an event.
Morris said the proposal indicated that the British Jewish Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council would be invited to the event, but that neither organization had been informed about it by the party.
Labour under Corbyn, a hard-left politician who has called Hezbollah and Hamas his “friends,” has come under intense scrutiny in the media over anti-Semitic rhetoric by party members as well as its leader’s own anti-Israel rhetoric. In 2016, an inter-parliamentary committee accused Labour of creating a “safe space for those with vile attitudes towards Jewish people.”
Corbyn has maintained that Labour will not tolerate racist rhetoric by its members. Dozens were kicked out over antisemitic statements. However, the party has kept on many Labour members whom Jewish community leaders said engaged in antisemitic hate speech.