Antisemitism on the left, yes — but Tories have their own problems with both Jews and Muslims Deep breath. I urge you, please, to read to the end and not presume I write in bad faith or […]

Deep breath. I urge you, please, to read to the end and not presume I write in bad faith or am harbouring noxious prejudices. I have stayed out of the Labour Party and anti-Semitism storm. I didn’t attend the press launch of the report by Shami Chakrabarti on this vexatious issue. That investigation found no evidence of endemic anti-Semitism, Islamophobia or other forms of racism but made recommendations to deal with ‘ignorant attitudes’ among some party members. The report provoked further dismay and a good number of British Jews have come to believe that Labour is profoundly anti-Semitic. This week, the Labour leader was expected to meet representatives from the Board of Deputies of British Jews and Jewish Leadership Council for talks.

The time has come to ask if today’s Labour party is indeed exceptionally anti-Semitic. And whether those accusations are increasingly used to obstruct valid criticisms of Israel. And if the Tory Party is clean when it comes to anti-Semitism. And what we know about other racisms in the two main political parties. Big questions.

Research on Conservative views and antisemitism

There can be no doubt that raw, ugly, visceral anti-Semitism is stirring across Britain. Neo-Nazi parties, Islamicists, seemingly nice, ordinary people hold appalling views about Jewish people, and Jewish Labour MPs suffer terrible abuse. However, can the Labour party really be wholly responsible for these alarming developments? My dear friend Edie Friedman, who runs The Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCORE) sent me some important research findings.

i's opinion newsletter: talking points from today Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription.

YouGov polls done in 2015 and again in 2017 found that Tory voters are more likely to hold negative views about Jews than Labour voters. For example, in 2015, 31% Conservatives thought Jews chase money more than other Britons. In 2017, the figure went down to 22%. For Labour the figures were 22% and 14%.

A 2017 study looking at British attitudes towards Jews by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research found that 30% of the general population hold at least one ‘anti-Semitic attitude’. Figures on the left are similar to or below the population mean, while those on the right are significantly more likely to hold at least one anti-Semitic attitude. Such facts do not stop the oft repeated accusations against the left.

Separating anti-Netanyahu and antisemitism

Now to Israel. Since March around 35 unarmed Palestinians have been killed by Israelis in Gaza. One was a journalist, another a teenager. How can it be anti-Semitic to criticize Netanyahu’s government which believes it has an unquestionable right to humiliate and punish Palestinians?

Conscientious Jews despise this strategy of blurring the lines between criticism of a state government and the persecution of Jews through many centuries.

An article published by the North American Middle East Policy Council includes this quote by Professor Michael Neumann: “to inflate the definition of anti-Semitism by including critics of Israel is, if not exactly incorrect, self-defeating and dangerous. No one can stop you from proclaiming all criticism of Israel anti-Semitic. But that makes anti-Semites out of Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu, not to mention tens of thousands of Jews.” Yet fear of being seen as anti-Jewish is now inhibiting legitimate debate.

Other racism ‘conspicuous and shameless’

Let’s move on to other minorities in Britain. Muslims are fair game. Baroness Warsi told a Home Affairs Committee this bigotry has got markedly worst since 2011.

Racism against black and Asian people is conspicuous and shameless.

Peter Oborne, the right wing journalist, accuses the Tories of protecting politicians with far right sympathies. One of those he names is Bob Blackman MP for Harrow East who retweeted a racist rant by the far right Tommy Robinson and invited to the Commons a Hindu extremist who hates Muslims.

A valiant intervention from a Tory MP

As the local elections gather pace, dog whistle racist politics are played by the Tories.

In Romford, a leaflet shows images of Sadiq Khan and Corbyn and warns that Labour wants to change Essex into an ‘inner city’ nightmare. Tory MP Nick Boles valiantly points out: ‘ We cannot attack Corbyn for indulging anti-Semitism in Labour and allow messages like this to go unchallenged’.

He is right.

Double standards and double talk must be confronted. People should be able to fairly criticize Israel and the way it dehumanizes Arabs.

And Tories need to be held to account as much as Labour been. Anti-Muslim attitudes, anti-Semitism, animosity against other racial and ethnic are tolerated more by the right than the left.

The left, meanwhile, too easily forgives the bigotry of minority communities. All racisms are equally abhorrent. Some victims are not more deserving than others. That, readers, is the simple, troublesome truth.