Can someone please explain anti-semitism and the Labour Party to me?

[serialtester]

My aibu is that I just really don't understand it all.

The Labour Party should be opposing - not imploding.

What is going on?

Anyone who honestly thinks being critical of Israel = being anti semetic needs their head examined.

Well blanket condemnation of Israel is problematic as Israel a large country with a broad population including a number of Arab citizens, like any country there are those who support particular policies and those who don't. It is therefore important to qualify the statement, what is being opposed are the policies and practices of the Israeli government.

In addition on Twitter and on Facebook a number of posts reference the 'international Jewish conspiracy', 'Jewish bankers' and so on...exactly the rhetoric employed by the National Socialists, and on sites such as Amazon people calling themselves Corbyn supporters are posting positive reviews for books such as 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion' a fake book that put forward idea of an international Jewish conspiracy, and was assigned to many schools as a text under the Nazis.

Then there are the leaked emails from Barnet Momentum and so on...enough material to fill a book by Dave Rich on Labour's anti-Semitism problem and a new edition coming out in October.

Everything Jeremy Corbyn does now is apparently a "smear" or fake news. It's getting distinctly Trump like.

Puzzled - I've looked and I'm just still very confused!

Also the point is not whether Jeremy Corbyn is anti-Semitic or not (personally I think he is, but remember like all forms of racism there is a spectrum, not either you are or you aren't and yes anti-Semitism is a form of racism, since to be Jewish is an ethnic identity, not related to practicing Judaism). The point is that there is a culture of anti-Semitism within the Labour Party, rather like institutional racism within the police force, and as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is responsible for dealing with it. Since the recommendations made by the rather weak inquiry by Shami Chakrabarti in 2016 have not yet been implemented it suggests either a lack of leadership or a lack of will.

In addition, as Jonathan Freedland pointed out on Newsnight, ignoring the calls from the Jewish community and its leaders to adopt the IHRA was rather like the police after the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, and the charge of institutional racism, being given guidelines by the black community leaders. Imagine if the police had then drawn up their own guidelines using a predominantly white panel then gone back to the community leaders and said we're not using your guidelines, but here are ours be grateful. This is, in effect, what Labour leadership has said to the Jewish community.

I won't have anything in my house that was made in Israel, does that make me anti-Semitic, don't think so.

Rafals this fact check from C4 is an 8nteresting read about facts and perceptions.
This comment on a yougov survey gives some good info - evolve politics is a left wing site, but the figures come from yougov which is often criticised for right wing bias.
There’s more if you look around. It doesn’t get reported in the media, funnily enough.

serialtester when you look at Twitter, for example, you need to look at replies in threads, this is where some of the worst examples tend to appear, although some have now been deleted by Twitter.

I won't have anything in my house that was made in Israel, does that make me anti-Semitic, don't think so

What you do/don't have is up to you, perhaps you should also ban anything British (since how Israel set up due to British after WW2), nothing Australian after treatment of migrants, nothing from Turkey treatment of Kurds, refusal to deal with history of Armenian Genocide, nothing from Myanmar treatment of Rohingyas and so on...and so forth...no innocent countries in this world.

The declaration that Labour refuses to adopt contains a clause that it is anti Semitic to deny the right for Israel to exist, or to hold a higher bar for Israel than for other countries. These are the main clauses that Labour finds difficult.

It is not antisemitic to be critical of Israel if you are equally critical of a country like (say) Dubai for its domestic policy around non-Emerati, or of Burma for its treatment of the Rohingya people, or Australia for its treatment of undocumented immigrants. I could clearly go on and on. However people's rage is reserved for Israel mostly.

I do think Corbyn is racist. Attending extreme rallies and putting wreaths on the graves of terrorists are the clues I see..

@Dottierichardson our posts crossed but clearly we agree!

I won't have anything in my house that was made in Israel, does that make me anti-Semitic, don't think so

Also no goods from US, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia (bit of a problem as leads to further boycott of British goods as arms deals), China, all major global hotspots for human rights' abuses according to human rights' groups such as Amnesty.

W0rriedMum I think we do too, haven't even gotten round to the fact that UK built on empire and global exploitation, proceeds from slavery (no apology, no reparations made, although Cameron weakly acknowledged).

Well said Dottie

I disagree with the actions of the Israeli government just as I disagree with both the British Government (on Brexit for example) and the American government. But I still support Israeli PEOPLE (Jews and non Jews) my fellow Brits and Americans. There are good and bad people everywhere.

The declaration that Labour refuses to adopt contains a clause that it is anti Semitic to deny the right for Israel to exist, or to hold a higher bar for Israel than for other countries.

Another x post WorriedMum!

Some stats (all sourced) on antisemitism in Labour vs Tory here...

anotherangryvoice.blogspot.com/search?q=tory+antisemitism

I agree with puzzled

*Some of the media are trying to dig dirt on a person/group they don't like, to favour others they do

Unfortunately there seems a lot of dirt to be found, so they're feeling encouraged

The whole thing's causing a lot of upset to a lot of people

It's also causing angst among those whose idea of right and wrong depends less on what's being done and more on who's doing it*

sunshinesupermum You too! Yours and WOrriedmum mirror my position exactly.

It has failed to acknowledge and condemn with explicit anti-isemitism in its ranks, as it has done explicit misogyny.

I’ve read that fact check before, that’s why I asked the question. The furore about anti-Semitism is about anti-semitism within the party. The YouGov poll doesn’t show that anti-semitism is lower in the Labour Party than the Tory party because it can’t. It isn’t a poll of party members.

Which I think was kind of the point of the fact check.

I agree with you Worried Mum.

These are things he's said and done with photographs. Hardly smears.

Labour has clearly got issues with anti semitism and I can't see how anyone can think otherwise.

Some of the media are trying to dig dirt on a person/group they don't like, to favour others they do

So we swap one lot of conspiracy theories for another, it's all the fault of the mainstream media (or MSM as conspiracy theorists prefer to call it). Unfortunately doesn't explain lots of solid, life-long Labour voters, such as myself, also finding a lot of what's being said online distasteful and discriminatory. And I'm one of the idiots who voted him in as leader!

I have a problem with Corbyn's failure to deal with anti-Semitism, lack of opposition to Brexit, appalling inflexibility (great in a future dictator, not so great in a future leader of a democracy where compromise is key), the growth of far-left groups in the Labour Party supported by Corbyn such as Novara Media (luxury Marxism anybody?), the groups represented by The Canary, the appalling abuse towards more moderate voices in the party. Corbyn seems to have 'pet' projects mostly related to international rather than domestic issues, and an inability to deal with anything outside his bias. So like many I'm now politically homeless and I follow Twitter, online blogs/news sites/New Yorker/Prospect/New Statesman/The Guardian/ even Novara Media's site, so don't think being brainwashed by MSM. Might have been that pesky politics degree.

LadybirdsAreBirds thanks and the resurgence of rampant misogyny!

Being brainwashed by the MSM is so patronising isn't it?

I did used to follow a few different commentators to give different angles to things but I did have to sack off Owen Jones because I just couldn't take it anymore.

RafaIs another example, perhaps of the old saw about "lies, damned lies and statistics"?

Knowing how easily such things are manipulated, I tend on the whole to ignore what politicians say or claim, looking instead at what they do. And for me, what they're doing about antisemitism within the party just isn't good enough

PiggyPoos so agree about Owen Jones, can't stomach him at all. He definitely has issues around women.