One of the most frequent criticisms, and certainly the most heavy one of the last few weeks, is accusations of Jeremy Corbyn being anti-Semitic (a kinder version of this complaint is that even if he personally is not, there's a wealth of anti-Semitism within the Labour Party that he is doing absolutely nothing about). As I said in the previous paragraph, this isn't something I'm really able to comment on, as I am neither Jewish nor a member of the Labour Party. From what I can make out from various media sources, the majority of anti-Semitic rhetoric seems to come more from the far-right than the left and centre-left - but I'll accept, it may well be that Labour is a hotbed of anti-Semitic hatred that I am completely ignorant of. We all can only go by our own experiences, after all.
However, what can be proven is that since Jeremy Corbyn entered Parliament in 1983, he is one of only 8% of MPs to have consistently signed motions against anti-semitism, as well as the following:
- 1990 - signed a motion condemning the publication of anti-Semitic materials in the UK
- 2003 - signed a motion condemning an attack on two synagogues
- 2009 - signed a motion condemning anti-Semitic material on the Internet
- 2010 - signed a motion congratulating the Jewish newspaper and website Jewish News for its investigations into anti-Semitism on social media; also signed a motion praising former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's attempts to secure peace within the region
- 2012 - signed a motion condemning the BBC for cancelling the radio show Jewish Citizen Manchester, which was made by the Jewish community for the Jewish community
- 2013 - signed a Parliamentary motion condemning anti-Semitic abuse within football and other sports
- 2014 - signed a motion commemorating the importance of Holocaust Memorial Day
- 2015 - signed an almost identical motion to the one above, with the significance that it was the 70th anniversary; also signed a motion praising the Jewish community of Golders Green for their solidarity in the face of racist marches
However, much as I've generally been a supporter of his incarnation of the Labour Party, this blog is not really about praise for Jeremy Corbyn. I may personally like a lot of his policies and him as a character, but if other people don't it doesn't really bother me. We all have a right to express our own opinions, provided that that opinion is coherent and backed up by logical argument.
That last bit is in bold, because these claims of Jeremy Corbyn supposedly promoting anti-Semitism within Labour (despite inexplicably having voted in the way he did on the examples above) is not even comprehensible to his political opponents. This has all come to a head within the last week or so, when Corbyn celebrated a Passover feast with a group called Jewdas. Jewdas describes itself as 'radical voices for the alternative diaspora' (the word 'diaspora' here means 'the dispersal of Jews beyond Israel', which in the interests of multiculturalism I needless to say approve of). Jewdas is staunchly opposed to the occupation of Palestine by Israel (as am I). Beyond this, I will confess I knew nothing about this organisation until a week ago - so just as with the levels of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, it's not something I can comment on.
The Cambridge dictionary definition of 'antisemitic' is as follows:
'having or showing a strong dislike of Jewish people, or treating them in a cruel and unfair way'
There admittedly is a strong case for the word to have a broader meaning as 'Semitic' does not by its origins refer exclusively to Jewish people, but I shan't dwell on that. But my point here is this. If someone objects to the actions of a person or a society as being anti-Semitic, using the above definition, the Jewishness of the alleged victim must be the determining factor in decrying an alleged perpetrator's actions as being anti-Semitic. If you just dislike someone, or disagree with someone, who happens to be Jewish, it isn't by default anti-Semitic unless the other person's Jewish status is the reason for it. And the reaction from certain wings of the Labour Party to Jeremy Corbyn's attendance of Jewdas' Passover feast pretty much demonstrates that this is not about anti-Semitism, and never has been. This is about Corbyn's political opinions. It is not anti-Semitic to support Palestine, or to condemn Israel - in fact, I know many Jews who do just that.
Frankly, I actually find this reaction to be vastly more anti-Semitic than what Corbyn has been condemned for doing. It is a pretty blatant exploitation of the Jewish community to paint the Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition as being something he isn't. At what point is exploitation of a marginalised group to score a cheap political point not offensive? But this feeds into a wider point about honesty in our expression of political viewpoints. I think of myself as being very honest - I may not always make points that people agree with (no one does), but I always endeavour to be upfront about the reasons why I hold them. I think everyone should do that. So bearing that in mind, why not just be honest if you disagree with someone?
When you stop and think about it, you realise that this form of dishonesty extends beyond just this issue, particularly where Jeremy Corbyn is concerned but I imagine across the political spectrum. The example that springs to mind is the furore last year about how Labour had supposedly let down graduates by claiming that they'd cancel their University debts. Now whether or not Jeremy Corbyn made that promise is a discussion for another time (hint: he didn't), but there is quite an important point about it that was rarely brought up in the discussion. And it's this: Look at this situation from the most cynical perspective, which is that Jeremy Corbyn made a promise that he had no intention of fulfilling to win votes, and then backtracked after the election. This is what a lot of politicians do, after all - we're used to it, aren't we? Well, yes, except for one thing: Labour didn't win the election. That is a pretty significant hole in this theory. If you'd made an empty promise and then didn't win the election, why on earth would you admit it was an empty promise? Tactically, it would be far more savvy to continue pretending that that was what you were going to do. For some reason, I saw very few people make this counterpoint, but I think it completely destroys the argument that Corbyn was somehow being deceitful in its tracks. And again, it's something that no one ever really believed - there was no honesty in it. It was all just a means of discrediting.
If you disagree with Jeremy Corbyn's position on Israel, say so - but don't try to paint it as opposition to Judaism generally. If you do that, it undermines your own argument, slanders the person you're criticising, and worst of all, exploits the Jewish community, which doesn't need to be exploited for such purposes. Whether you are Jewish or not, you do not have the right to determine whether or not someone is the right kind of Jew, based on their political opinions or anything else.
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