Britain’s oldest Jewish newspaper has attacked the Labour leadership frontrunner, Jeremy Corbyn, claiming he associated with “Holocaust deniers, terrorists and some outright anti-Semites”.

In a strongly worded editorial on its front page, the Jewish Chronicle said it was certain it spoke for the vast majority of British Jews in “expressing deep foreboding at the prospect of Mr Corbyn’s election as Labour leader”.

The paper wrote: “If Mr Corbyn is not to be regarded from the day of his election as an enemy of Britain’s Jewish community, he has a number of questions which he must answer in full and immediately. The JC asked him earlier this week to respond. No response has been forthcoming.”

One of the Chronicle’s allegations is that Corbyn donated to Deir Yassin Remembered (DYR), run by the Holocaust denier Paul Eisen, who claimed in a blogpost, which has now been made private, that the candidate was a “long-standing associate” who attended his Deir Yassin commemorations.

The Jeremy For Labour team has previously rejected claims of any links between Corbyn and Eisen, saying “anyone can call themselves a ‘long-time associate’ when in fact that is not the case”.



“Paul Eisen clearly holds some of the most extreme views that are entirely his, and Jeremy totally opposes them and disassociates himself from them,” it has said.



In response to the Chronicle’s claims, it said Corbyn absolutely rejected antisemitism and had not accepted an invitation to speak at a conference alongside an antisemitic cartoonist.

A statement from his campaign said: “Jeremy is proud to represent a multicultural constituency of people from all over the world and to speak at every opportunity of understanding between Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and other faiths. He has delivered this message in all places of worship. No place of worship should ever be attacked and nobody’s right to practise their faith in peace should ever be prevented.

“Jeremy has involved himself in Middle East issues for many years, meeting many people and groups with whom he has huge differences of opinion – but he believes that only dialogue can bring about peace.

“The Holocaust was the most vile period in human history and the Jewish people were scapegoated by the Nazis. Some people in Britain, including Jeremy’s own parents, stood in Cable Street in 1936 to halt the rise of Nazism in our country.

“Only by unity of all people and all faiths can we defeat racism and build an inclusive, tolerant society.

“Jeremy’s very strongly held view is there should not be any anti-Semitic, Islamophobic or racist slogans or banners at any demonstration, ever.”

Last month, Corbyn was asked by Channel 4 News about having referred to people in Hamas and Hezbollah as “friends”. At the time, Corbyn said this did not mean he used the term in a “collective way”.

“Does it mean I agree with Hamas and what it does? No. Does it mean I agree with Hezbollah and what they do? No. What it means is that I think to bring about a peace process, you have to talk to people with whom you may profoundly disagree,” he said.

“There is not going to be a peace process unless there is talks involving Israel, Hezbollah and Hamas and I think everyone knows that.”