(Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty)

Another week, another revelation about Jeremy Corbyn’s links with anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers… and yet more silence from Labour leaders, party members and Corbyn’s usually highly-vocal supporters.

As a British Jew, and someone who believes Corbyn’s longtime association with known Jew-haters is disturbing and unacceptable, I find the lack of public outrage deeply worrying.

There’s no doubt in my mind that if Theresa May had been found to be a member of a private Facebook group where people casually used the ‘N’ word, openly spouted scientific racism as fact, and celebrated KKK leaders as visionaries, it would be the front page of every newspaper, the streets would be filled with demonstrators, and she’d be out of Number 10 quicker than she could say, ‘strong and stable’. And rightly so.



And yet last week, when it was revealed that until 2015 Jeremy Corbyn was a member of the Facebook group Palestine Live (which is listed on Facebook as ‘secret’, meaning you can only find it if you’re invited to join it by someone with permission to invite new members) – where Jews are commonly referred to as ‘JewNazis’, ‘Zionazis’ and ‘Zios’, where Holocaust deniers openly share their sick, twisted theories, where conspiracy theories about global Jewish networks (such as the fictitious ‘Elders of Zion’) are discussed as fact, where memes featuring Nazi-style caricatures of Jews receive hundreds of likes, and anti-Semitic speakers are lauded as heroes – there was mass silence.


(Picture: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty)

The anti-Semitism on this group is so utterly vile and filled with hate, reading it made me feel physically sick. If you think I’m exaggerating, I urge you to have a look on David Collier’s blog for yourself.

Despite the extreme nature of the content in this Facebook group (and the fact that the Labour have suspended a number of members for their involvement in it), Corbyn has somehow managed to escape unscathed, again.

Cleverly, Corbyn’s not said much on the matter. In one of his few statements, to the Press Association, he simply feigned ignorance, saying: ‘I have never trawled through the whole group. I have never read all the messages on it. I have removed myself from it,’ before adding, ‘Obviously, any anti-Semitic comment is wrong. Any anti-Semitism in any form is wrong.’

Although the vast majority of the UK population seem to be satisfied with his simple denial and paint-by-numbers rebuke of anti-Semitism, I’m not, and I’m not alone.

A statement by the respected parliamentary group, Labour Friends of Israel, read: ‘That Jeremy Corbyn was a member of a Facebook group frequented by anti-Semites, Holocaust deniers and Israel-hating conspiracy theorists is both appalling and utterly unsurprising.

We have long known about the kind of company that he keeps and this is simply further confirmation of a deeply disturbing pattern of behaviour.

‘Mr Corbyn has repeatedly failed to apologise to the Jewish community and to recognise the hurt caused by his past actions and associations. Now would be a good time for him to do so.’

Not that my personal political beliefs should matter – for this is a conversation about anti-Semitism, pure and simple – but in the nature of transparency (and the hope that this piece won’t simply be dismissed as the angry rants of a rampant Tory), I’m going to say here and now that I don’t have any allegiances to any political party.



In the past I’ve voted Labour, Conservative, Green, and even, once, Lib Dem. I consider each vote separately – researching the candidates and issues – in the aim of making a balanced and personal voting decision based on fact and not emotion.

But while we’re talking about my personal politics, I’ll admit that I found the last election incredibly stressful and upsetting.

‘Even more shocking are the Labour voters who say even if Corbyn holds anti-Semitic beliefs, they’re willing to overlook this inconvenient fact for the greater good (i.e. a fairer society. Oh, the irony!)’ (Picture: Anita Russo/REX/Shutterstock)

Because like many other members of the Anglo-Jewish community (including many long-time Labour members) – I felt that I simply couldn’t support, or vote for, the party in its current state. Which is a position none of us ever imagined we’d be in.

I mean – don’t you think it’s terrifying that in Britain in 2018, Jews feel that they can’t vote for a major political party because they believe there’s overwhelming evidence that the party’s leader is an anti-Semite? I certainly do.

And if you do too, please shout about it. I, and the rest of the Jewish community, would be incredibly grateful, because right now we feel very alone, and that’s a very scary place to be.

Aside from the fact this is even happening, I’ve found the sheer unwillingness of Corbyn’s supporters to objectively look at the facts and even consider that their dear leader might hold anti-Semitic views, both frustrating and immature.

Even more shocking are the Labour voters who’ve told me that even if Corbyn holds anti-Semitic beliefs, they’re willing to overlook this inconvenient fact for the greater good (i.e. a fairer society. Oh, the irony!).

Then there are the people who tell me that Corbyn and his pals aren’t anti-Semitic – they’re just anti-Israel.


Aside from the fact that this simply isn’t true (which I think is now proven by the outright Jew-hate shown in that Facebook group), the sad truth is, the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 created a handy smoke screen for anti-Semites to hide behind. Anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli sentiments are now widely conflated (e.g. all Jews, regardless of their politics or feelings towards Israel, are now referred to as ‘Zios’).

This relationship was recognised as far back as 1960s. In fact, in 1973 – around the same time that Corbyn was forming his political beliefs – Abba Eban, the former Israeli Foreign Minister, wrote: ‘[R]ecently we have witnessed the rise of the new left which identifies Israel with the establishment, with acquisition, with smug satisfaction, with, in fact, all the basic enemies … Let there be no mistake: the new left is the author and the progenitor of the new anti-Semitism.’

More recently, Brendan Simms – Professor of the History of International Relations at Cambridge University – wrote this fantastic piece for the Evening Standard explaining the new political anti-Semitism far better than I ever could.

Look, I’m not saying Corbyn wants all Jews dead, but I am saying, as a matter of fact, that he associates with people who do, and that his feelings towards Jews are not 100% positive or neutral.

And if you’re standing by, silent, waiting for the storm to blow over so you can go back to blindly singing his praises, you need to take a long hard look in the mirror and ask yourself how YOU really feel about Jews.

Scary, I know.