“Hatred towards Jewish people is rising in many parts of the world,” Corbyn wrote to Labour members. “Our party is not immune from that poison – and we must drive it out from our movement.
By JPOST EDITORIALBritain's opposition Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn(photo credit: REUTERS/TOBY MELVILLE)
The latest poll on the crisis surrounding the UK Labour Party shows support for leader Jeremy Corbyn has fallen significantly among party members.That is a welcome surprise.Among the findings by the Times of London survey published Monday was that 70% agreed that antisemitism is a “genuine” problem within the party, and 48% of the 1,100 Labour members polled said that Corbyn has handled antisemitism either fairly badly or very badly.Corbyn admitted on Sunday that his party has a “real problem” with antisemitism that must be tackled properly, at the same time that he was marginalizing the issue by claiming that it had been exaggerated by rival parties and media.“Hatred towards Jewish people is rising in many parts of the world,” Corbyn wrote to Labour members. “Our party is not immune from that poison – and we must drive it out from our movement.“While other political parties and some of the media exaggerate and distort the scale of the problem in our party, we must face up to the unsettling truth that a small number of Labour members hold antisemitic views and a larger number don’t recognize antisemitic stereotypes and conspiracy theories.”Corbyn’s statements were in response to a full-page ad that ran in The Guardian a week ago, taken out by more than 60 Labour members of the House of Lords publicly accusing Corbyn of “failing the test of leadership,” and of overseeing a “toxic culture” of antisemitism in the party, as well as a comprehensive BBC broadcast about the rampant antisemitism in Labour.“We’re not asking if you are an antisemite,” the ad read. “We are saying you are accountable as leader for allowing antisemitism to grow in our party and presiding over the most shaming period in Labour’s history.”Labour has been grappling with antisemitism among its ranks since the far-left Corbyn was elected head of the party in 2015; and after each revelation about Labour’s antisemitism, or Corbyn’s explicit antisemitism disguised as anti-Zionism, it was excused, explained, rationalized, and ultimately swept under the rug.Now it has become too much to ignore, the dam bursting thanks to the BBC revelation titled “Is Labour antisemitic?” that aired July 10. A number of former party officials exposed the inner atmosphere of a party in trouble, accusing senior figures close to Corbyn of interfering repeatedly in disciplinary cases regarding antisemitism.
One former Labour official accused Corbyn of having “done more than anyone in modern political history to bring about the rise of antisemitism.”The Board of Deputies of British Jews issued a statement after the program saying that Corbyn and his allies “are personally responsible for having turned a once-great, anti-racist party into a cesspit of antisemitism.”In February, Jewish MP Luciana Berger called Labour “institutionally antisemitic” and quit the party, along with 10 others this year. But Corbyn’s personal track record, going back a decade, makes it impossible for him to root out antisemitism in Labour. Corbyn called Hamas and Hezbollah his friends, and claimed that Hamas is “an organization that is dedicated towards the good of the Palestinian people and bringing about peace and social justice and political justice…”In 2014, he stood by as others laid flowers on the graves of Palestinian terrorists who murdered Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972.This represents open support for those who call for, and work to advance, the genocide of world Jewry. Such a man cannot root out antisemitism in Labour until he roots it out of himself. He does not seem to understand that his is the most virulent antisemitism of our time.However the British do understand the odor of the new antisemitism wafting through the Labour Party. Indeed, 87% of British Jews believe that Corbyn is himself an antisemite, according to a poll conducted by the Jewish Chronicle in March.The good news is that the party faithful are starting to rebel, starting to take back Labour: two-fifths of party members want Corbyn to resign before the next general election, while 27% agreed that Corbyn should step down immediately.Unless he denounces this genocidally antisemitic sentiment in his party, we urge Labour Party members to disavow Corbyn who could potentially become head of state of one of the most important countries in the world. Corbyn must radically reform his form of antisemitism, or Labour must make sure he leaves the world stage.
