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Britain: reiterated anti-Semitism accusations against Labor leader Corbyn

2019-11-26T14:47:10.990Z


The British Chief Rabbi publicly attacks Jeremy Corbyn: he does not do enough about anti-Semitism in his party, says Ephraim Mirvis. It is a reproach to which the Labor leader has often been exposed.



This criticism is extremely inconvenient for Jeremy Corbyn: In the midst of the election campaign, the British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis accuses him of not having done enough to counter anti-Semitism in his party. "A new poison - approved by the top - has spread in the Labor Party," Mirvis wrote in a guest article for the Times magazine. It is a "leadership failure" that raises the question of whether Corbyn is fit for a high office.

Corbyn has repeatedly rejected anti-Semitism charges against him and his party in the past. Since his election as Labor leader in 2015, these have been raised again and again. In 2018, Corbyn acknowledged that disciplinary proceedings against anti-Semitic party members had been too slow and timid. Since 2017, according to the Times, 13 MPs have left the Labor Party, including criticisms of anti-Semitic tendencies in the main opposition force.

Critics also accuse Corbyn of supporting the Palestinians unilaterally in the Middle East conflict. Even before he became Labor leader, he described, according to British media, the Gaza-ruling Hamas, which is also classified by the EU as a terrorist organization, as "friends". Later he apologized for that.

Rabbi: British Jews "seized with fear"

"The way the party leadership deals with anti-Jewish racism is incompatible with the British values ​​we are so proud of," Rabbi Mirvis continued. British Jews were legitimately "frightened". He called on the country's citizens to vote "with their conscience" in the parliamentary elections on 12 December.

The Times described Mirvis' contribution as an "unprecedented intervention in politics." The chief rabbi himself stated that it was not his job to tell people how to vote. To call attention to the growing concern about anti-Semitism so shortly before the elections was "one of the most painful moments" of his career.

British Chiefs: pic.twitter.com/DNxr0Qxht5 That the Chief Rabbi should be compelled to make an unprecedented statement at this time

- Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) November 26, 2019

The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, supported the Chief Rabbi's concerns in a tweet, without explicitly mentioning Labor.

Corbyn rejects allegations

Party leader Corbyn responded to the allegations by condemning anti-Semitism "in any form" as "disgusting and wrong". There is no room for this in modern Britain, and under a Labor government no anti-Semitism would be tolerated. The party has a fast and effective system to handle reports of anti-Semitic incidents. A Labor spokeswoman also disagreed with Mirvis' claim that "thousands" of anti-Semitic charges remain unprocessed in the party.

Britain's PM Boris Johnson, who leads the Conservative party against Corbyn through the election campaign, called the allegations a "very serious matter". It was "clearly a leadership failure of the Labor leader who was unable to eradicate this virus in his party," Johnson said.

Because of several complaints within the Labor Party, a Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is currently investigating whether Labor has "unlawfully discriminated against, harassed or harassed people because they are Jews," news agency PA reported.

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2019-11-26

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