Fighting antisemitism

“Unfortunately, a comment on this thread has been deleted and the user banned for repeated antisemitic comments. Bigotry or any form of racial or religious discrimination, be it Islamophobia or antisemitism, simply will not be tolerated on this page.” That was the commitment given by the SNP Friends of Palestine (FoP) on its public Facebook page in December of last year. It is a commitment that the campaign has spectacularly failed to implement. Over the past ten months its Facebook page has carried a plethora of textbook examples of how traditional antisemitic tropes are incorporated into...

One small incident at the Labour Party Socialists conference last weekend said a lot about current attitudes on the left about anti­semitism, Jews, and Zionism. Speaking in a workshop on Europe, Ros Young pointed to the new rise of anti-semitism. It must be fought, she said; and especially so because it will give grist to the mill of Zionism and lead to more Jews going to Palestine where they will oppress our ''black comrades'', the Palestinian Arabs. The next speaker asked that the discussion be brought back to what the workshop was sup­ posed to be about - attitudes to European integration...

On 16 October, a Home Affairs Select Committee on antisemitism criticised Jeremy Corbyn’s handling of recent controversies within Labour, but also found that “no reliable empirical evidence to suggest there is a higher prevalence of antisemitic attitudes within the Labour Party than in any other party”. The Committee report, which was dominated by Tory MPs, has been criticised for focusing too heavily on allegations of antisemitism within the Labour Party, and within that, on instances of online abuse, to the exclusion of analysing increases in antisemitic attacks elsewhere. Haredi (ultra...

There was a lot of Jewish support for the US Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. Martin Luther King spoke out against anti-Semitism: “How could there be anti- Semitism among Negroes when our Jewish friends have demonstrated their commitment to the principle of tolerance and brotherhood… “It would be impossible to record the contribution that the Jewish people have made toward the Negro’s struggle for freedom — it has been so great.” (1965) That Black-Jewish unity broke down, partly because of the emergence of radical Black Nationalist organisations which identified with the Palestinians...

The inquiry into antisemitism in the Labour Party, headed by lawyer and civil rights advocate Shami Chakrabarti, has concluded that, while Labour is not “overrun” with any form of racism, “an occasionally toxic atmosphere is in danger of shutting down free speech in the party”. The report makes a number of recommendations as to how to detoxify that atmosphere. Many are around the use of language. Chakrabarti condemns the use of the epithet “Zio”, an abbreviation of “Zionist” pioneered by the far right but disgracefully embraced by some on the far left. She counsels caution with the term...

The Labour Party's internal inquiry in antisemitism closed for submissions on 10 June. It was convened at the end of April in the wake of numerous allegations of antisemitism against various Labour Party members, including Ken Livingstone, many of whom have been suspended from the party. The inquiry is headed by Sami Chakrabarti, formerly head of the human rights organisation Liberty, with Professor David Feldman, an academic based at Birkbeck, University of London, and Baroness Royall, the leader of the Labour Group in the House of Lords, as deputy chairs. Royall also conducted a separate...

One of the activities of the US-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is to conduct global surveys to gauge levels of anti-semitism. Their 2015 survey was conducted in the US, Argentina, Iran, Turkey and fifteen Western and Eastern European countries, including the UK, and concluded that 220 million people in the 19 countries surveyed held anti-semitic views. They asked their respondents if the following statements were “probably true”, or “probably false.” Placing the bar high, the ADL concluded that answering six out of eleven questions meant the respondent held anti-semitic attitudes. The...

Rhea Wolfson, who has replaced Ken Livingstone on the Centre-left Alliance slate for Labour’s National Executive (NEC), spoke to Solidarity . I think the campaign is now going very well. It started off with an unexpected torrent of abuse from fascists, which was very difficult emotionally, for me and my family. But that has calmed down, and we have seen huge amounts of support from my union, which helped. But apart from that and an attempted smear of me as someone not interested in winning elections, it has gone well. I’m coming to the game late. I don’t have as many CLP nominations as most...

Momentum condemns the suspension of Jackie Walker, Vice Chair of our Steering Committee, from the Labour Party on 4 May. Jackie, a black activist of Jewish heritage and lifelong anti-racist campaigner and trainer, was suspended by the party for alleged antisemitism following an article that appeared in the Jewish Chronicle, which quotes statements she made on Facebook discussing her family history. We are extremely concerned by the lack of due process in this case, and the failure to apply the principles of natural justice. Journalists were briefed about Jackie's suspension by party staff...

In the wake of discussions over antisemitism in the Labour Party and beyond we have collated here a series of articles, new and old, on the topic of left antisemitism. An edited selection can also be found in our pamphlet 'Left antisemitism: what it is and how to fight it' which can be purchased here. More articles here . The current debate on left antisemitism and the Labour Party Don't leave it to Labour right to fight antisemitism Left antisemitism and the NEC election REVIEW: The Left’s Jewish Problem — Jeremy Corbyn, Israel and antisemitism The anatomy of "left" antisemitism Video of talk...