https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/aug/03/jeremy-corbyn-labour-is-not-a-threat-to-jews-in-britain
Thursday's front page of the Daily Mail, (2nd August 2018), screams of Labour being "on the brink of civil war", as the continuing turmoil and criticism of alleged "antisemitism" within the party rages on in the media and on television news programmes. The level of the argument has reached hysterical proportions over recent weeks, as more revelations of "anti Semitic" comments and actions (or lack of action), with some events going back more than 15 years, are "revealed" by anonymous sources, disgruntled MP's, or some pressure group or other with their own agenda's.
Ever since Jeremy Corbyn was elected as party leader in 2015 with a landslide vote of party members, and again in another leadership election in 2016, there has been a coordinated campaign by certain elements within the Parliamentary Labour Party, encouraged and supported by the media generally, to remove Corbyn and others within the party leadership. The latest tactic adopted by these dissident elemtents, is to grasp the Labour party National Executive's Committee's refusal to accept the complete International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism and substitute amended text in certain area's. This was criticised by some Jewish groups and individuals, albeit that the complete IHRA text had been adopted by 31 countries, as well as more than 130 UK local councils, the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the judiciary. Paradoxically, a group of Jewish writers, individuals and some Jewish organisations consider the IHRA definition, to be " verbose and imprecise", or "poorly drafted, misleading, and in practise leading to the suppression of legitimate debate and freedom of expression". It seems that there is disagreement, even within those organisations as to what is or is not, anti semitic.
At this point, I will stress that antisemitism and racism are totally unacceptable and have no place either in our society nor within our party.The NEC Code of Conduct states in Clause 5, inter alia, that "Antisemitism is racism. It is unacceptable in our Party and in wider society." The furor currently raging in the media and on television, has essentially two main ingredients. Firstly, there is the ongoing anti Corbyn agenda, designed to overthrow the present leadership and replace it with a more conservative party structure, where the party returns to the "good old days" of the PLP deciding policy, party rules, structure and management, with the exclusion of the party membership and party conference. Secondly, and perhaps even more importantly, certain lobby groups and individuals seek to stifle any debate, discussion or expression of any views which are critical of the Israeli Government. This extends even to the expression of support for Palestine and the Palestinian people or criticism of the ongoing occupation of Palestinian lands and the construction of illegal Israeli settlements.It is absurd for anyone to argue, that criticism of the Israeli government and its policies towards the Palestinian people, its actions within the occupied territories and the continuing land and sea blockade of Gaza, is somehow antisemitic.
Even holocaust survivors are not spared abuse and barracking. Very recently we have learned that , Dr Hajo Meyer who spent the whole of the war in Auschwitz where his parents were murdered, was shouted down as he was giving evidence in a Parliamentary Committee room with shouts of "rubbish". His "crime", was to compare his treatment in the camp, at the hands of the Germans with the treatment of Palestinians at the hands of the Israelis. For this Dr Meyer was also branded as anti semitic by others in the meeting. A preposterous allegation by elements who will go to any extremes to stifle and prevent criticism of Israel.
The mainstream media, not least of all, Sky News and BBC News, constantly fuel this frenzy of Labour party criticism (which would be expected from these reactionary media outlets), by invariably bringing Jeremy Corbyn, Labour leadership or antisemitism into every story, interview or newspaper preview, no matter how tenuous such a link might be. Moreover, practically every individual, MP, or journalist, brought to the studio for interview or paper review is carefully selected for their known hostility towards Corbyn or the Labour party. Balanced television news reporting, which was always a nebulous notion in any case, was abandoned when Jeremy Corbyn first became a serious contender for the leadership.
There is an element of antisemitism within limited areas of the party as there is are in all organisations, groups, structures and institutions. It is an endemic part of society as it has been for hundreds of years. However, the row about antisemitism within the Labour Party has been blown out of all proportion by individuals and pressure groups, each with their own agenda and in some cases driven by those seeking to change the leadership using any tool, cause or issue to further that end. In these cases, it has nothing to do with antisemitism, but everything to do with personal ambitions. Those of us in the Labour party who condemn antisemitism and racism unreservedly, must recognise the many motivations and sub plots involved in this issue, and we must not be drawn into protracted hysterical argument when the real issues of the day, housing, NHS, welfare, poverty, taxation, BREXIT and all the other areas that we campaign on, are neglected and left to Conservative government negligence.
Labour is not a threat to Jewish life in Britain.
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Ever since Jeremy Corbyn was elected as party leader in 2015 with a landslide vote of party members, and again in another leadership election in 2016, there has been a coordinated campaign by certain elements within the Parliamentary Labour Party, encouraged and supported by the media generally, to remove Corbyn and others within the party leadership. The latest tactic adopted by these dissident elemtents, is to grasp the Labour party National Executive's Committee's refusal to accept the complete International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism and substitute amended text in certain area's. This was criticised by some Jewish groups and individuals, albeit that the complete IHRA text had been adopted by 31 countries, as well as more than 130 UK local councils, the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the judiciary. Paradoxically, a group of Jewish writers, individuals and some Jewish organisations consider the IHRA definition, to be " verbose and imprecise", or "poorly drafted, misleading, and in practise leading to the suppression of legitimate debate and freedom of expression". It seems that there is disagreement, even within those organisations as to what is or is not, anti semitic.
At this point, I will stress that antisemitism and racism are totally unacceptable and have no place either in our society nor within our party.The NEC Code of Conduct states in Clause 5, inter alia, that "Antisemitism is racism. It is unacceptable in our Party and in wider society." The furor currently raging in the media and on television, has essentially two main ingredients. Firstly, there is the ongoing anti Corbyn agenda, designed to overthrow the present leadership and replace it with a more conservative party structure, where the party returns to the "good old days" of the PLP deciding policy, party rules, structure and management, with the exclusion of the party membership and party conference. Secondly, and perhaps even more importantly, certain lobby groups and individuals seek to stifle any debate, discussion or expression of any views which are critical of the Israeli Government. This extends even to the expression of support for Palestine and the Palestinian people or criticism of the ongoing occupation of Palestinian lands and the construction of illegal Israeli settlements.It is absurd for anyone to argue, that criticism of the Israeli government and its policies towards the Palestinian people, its actions within the occupied territories and the continuing land and sea blockade of Gaza, is somehow antisemitic.
Even holocaust survivors are not spared abuse and barracking. Very recently we have learned that , Dr Hajo Meyer who spent the whole of the war in Auschwitz where his parents were murdered, was shouted down as he was giving evidence in a Parliamentary Committee room with shouts of "rubbish". His "crime", was to compare his treatment in the camp, at the hands of the Germans with the treatment of Palestinians at the hands of the Israelis. For this Dr Meyer was also branded as anti semitic by others in the meeting. A preposterous allegation by elements who will go to any extremes to stifle and prevent criticism of Israel.
The mainstream media, not least of all, Sky News and BBC News, constantly fuel this frenzy of Labour party criticism (which would be expected from these reactionary media outlets), by invariably bringing Jeremy Corbyn, Labour leadership or antisemitism into every story, interview or newspaper preview, no matter how tenuous such a link might be. Moreover, practically every individual, MP, or journalist, brought to the studio for interview or paper review is carefully selected for their known hostility towards Corbyn or the Labour party. Balanced television news reporting, which was always a nebulous notion in any case, was abandoned when Jeremy Corbyn first became a serious contender for the leadership.
There is an element of antisemitism within limited areas of the party as there is are in all organisations, groups, structures and institutions. It is an endemic part of society as it has been for hundreds of years. However, the row about antisemitism within the Labour Party has been blown out of all proportion by individuals and pressure groups, each with their own agenda and in some cases driven by those seeking to change the leadership using any tool, cause or issue to further that end. In these cases, it has nothing to do with antisemitism, but everything to do with personal ambitions. Those of us in the Labour party who condemn antisemitism and racism unreservedly, must recognise the many motivations and sub plots involved in this issue, and we must not be drawn into protracted hysterical argument when the real issues of the day, housing, NHS, welfare, poverty, taxation, BREXIT and all the other areas that we campaign on, are neglected and left to Conservative government negligence.
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