U.K. Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn compared Israel to Nazi Germany
The panel was looking to write a definition of anti-Semitism which would trigger disciplinary action against Labor Party members who violated that definition. The panel began with the universally accepted definition of anti-Semitism — the “working definition” by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance – but then diluted it. The IHRA’s definition, adopted by the British government, contains many examples of how anti-Semitism expresses itself, directly or indirectly, but the Labor Party panel removed many of these examples. Critics charge that by removing many of the examples of anti-Semitism – the IHRA offers examples of how anti-Semitism can be masked as criticism of Zionism, Israel, or “international financiers” – the Labor Party panel’s proposal would not only allow for more open expression of anti-Semitism in Labor ranks, but would make it more difficult to discipline such hate speech.
Joan Ryan, the Labor MP and chairwoman of Labor Friends of Israel, demanded an investigation into Mr. Corbyn’s comments. “It is beyond abhorrent that the leader of the Labor party would ever welcome the release of such depraved terrorists,” she said.
“These evil individuals were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent Israelis, including children and survivors of the Holocaust. These terrorists did not seek peace, only death and destruction.
“I will be calling on the party to investigate this matter immediately as I believe Mr. Corbyn’s actions bring the Labor party into disrepute.”
The president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews said today that Mr. Corbyn should undergo equalities training and “stop hiding”.
“Where is Jeremy Corbyn?” Marie van der Zyl said. “As new and very personal revelations about Jeremy Corbyn continue to shock, he is refusing to speak to the media and is hiding behind a half-hearted ‘apology’ no doubt crafted by his spin doctors. Why are we not hearing from the man who’s supposed to be the leader himself?”
She added: “Jeremy Corbyn needs to stop hiding and make an abject apology to UK Jews in his own voice.”
Dame Margaret Hodge, the Labor MP who is facing disciplinary action for calling Mr. Corbyn an anti-Semite and a racist following the party’s failure to fully adopt a widely backed definition of antisemitism, today accused him of putting “two fingers up” at British Jews.
She told the BBC’s Woman’s Hour: “There was a deep arrogance to start with to think that we could play with the definition that had been accepted by all the national organizations — whether the Crown Prosecution, the government and the devolved administrations — accepted by tons of other countries including some where antisemitism is an even greater problem than it is here today.
“If that’s not good enough, the way to tackle that is not to offend the Jewish community, put two fingers up to them and say, ‘I’m not going to do what you want’.”
