UK MPS debate anti-Semitism
British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn came under fire in Parliament this week as MPs discussed anti-Semitism. Tuesday afternoon's debate on the issue saw Jewish members of Corbyn's party discuss their own personal experiences.
BRITISH Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn came under fire in Parliament this week as MPs discussed anti-Semitism.
Tuesday afternoon’s debate on the issue saw Jewish members of Corbyn’s party discuss their own personal experiences.
Luciana Berger revealed that among other slurs she had been called a “paid-up Israeli operative” and an “absolute parasite”.
Stating “anti-Semitism within the Labour Party is more commonplace, it is more conspicuous and it is more corrosive,” the MP for Liverpool Wavertree said, “One anti-Semitic member of the Labour Party is one anti-Semitic member too many.”
She added, “My party urgently needs to address this issue publicly and consistently. We need to expel these people from our ranks who hold these views including Ken Livingstone.
“Being a bystander who turns the other way is not an option. The time for action is now. Enough really is enough.”
The sentiment was echoed by Stoke-on-Trent North MP Ruth Smeeth who told Parliament she had been called a “Zionist b***h” for participating in last month’s rally against anti-Semitism in the party.
“Over the last two years, I have experienced something genuinely painful – attacks from within my own Labour Party,” she said.
Meanwhile, Communities Secretary Sajid Javid accused Corbyn of a “frankly deeply worrying lack of leadership” on the issue.
Noting a litany of incidents where the Labour leader has found himself endorsing anti-Semites, before subsequently excusing his actions, Javid added, “When it comes to the Leader of the Opposition, there are too many of these apparently accidental associations to list.”
Corbyn is due to meet with members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council to discuss the issue of anti-Semitism within the party.
Ahead of the debate, inspired by the movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri three mobile billboards were driven around Parliament and outside Labour’s headquarters on Tuesday morning, attacking the party’s record.
Organised by the group Community United against Labour Party Anti-Semitism (CULPA), the billboards stated, “Holocaust deniers harboured by Labour”, “Failure to act on anti-Semitism” and “Institutional anti-Semitism in Corbyn’s Labour”.
CULPA spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman said “This is a grassroots action born of intense frustration at the lack of action by Jeremy Corbyn.
There is no indication that he takes anti-Semitism seriously. No recognition that for Jews anti-Semitism is not just a matter of bad behaviour, it is a matter of survival. If he is unwilling or unable to deliver on the fight against anti-Semitism, then Labour must find someone who can.”
AJN STAFF
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