Notice the article was published on 1st April.Are you sure it wasn't an April Fool's day joke? :unsure:
In any case, I refuse to disable Adblocker for a Torygraph article.
Here you go then (of course you could have responded to the points I raised in my post, but you chose not to):
Jonathan Arkush, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, has called on the Labour leadership to "exorcise" the party's "antisemitic demons", following a string of incidents within the party.
Earlier this month, Mr Corbyn came under pressure to suspend Vicki Kirby, the vice chair of the Labour's Woking branch, who was promoted despite tweeting that Jews have "big noses" and "slaughter the oppressed".
In the past few days, it has also emerged that Labour councillor and former Lord Mayor of Bradford Khadim Hussain was suspended from the Party after promoting a cartoon on social media bemoaning the emphasis schools place on teaching the Holocaust "and the six million Zionists that were killed."
Writing exclusively for the Telegraph, Mr Arkush says that Jeremy Corbyn is "failing to lead" Labour out of a damaging trend of anti-Semitism that has been an undercurrent in the Left for years.
'How will history remember Corbyn?'
The past few weeks have been very unsettling for British Jews and particularly for the many people in our community who consider themselves to be Labour Party supporters. The image of the party has been damaged by a string of Labour members who have been identified as actively anti-Semitic.
First came the sensational resignation of Alex Chalmers from his position as chairman of the Oxford University Labour Club, citing concerns that a “large proportion” of the club’s members had “some kind of problem with Jews”. Shortly after, Rayhan Uddin, a Labour-supporting student at the London School of Economics, came under fire for a deeply offensive Facebook post in which he wrote that “leading Zionists” wanted to take over the student union.
British opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn waits to give a television interview after speaking to Tata Steel workers CREDIT: AFP
Then we had the spectacle of Labour members exhibiting anti-Semitism on social media. They included the hard-Left activist Gerry Downing, the vice chair for Labour in Woking, Vicki Kirby, Kensington councillor Beinazir Lasharie, Bob Campbell, a Momentum activist in Middlesbrough, and former Bradford Lord Mayor Khadim Hussain. And we doubt that these will be the last.
Vicki Kirby's now-deleted Tweets CREDIT: TWITTER
Sadly, little of this behaviour is a surprise to the Jewish community. We have for some years witnessed an undercurrent of these attitudes and activities, particularly on the Left, from people who should know better.
We have never accused or suspected Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, of anti-Semitism. When the Board of Deputies of British Jews met Mr Corbyn in February, he told our delegation that he opposed anti-Semitism “from any part of the political spectrum”, whether Left or Right.
But when, at our meeting, I highlighted the engagements he had carried out in the past with real, dyed-in-the-wool anti-Semites, including representatives of Hamas and Hizbollah, and asked Mr Corbyn to at least acknowledge and draw a line under these associations with anti-Semites, Holocaust deniers and terrorists, heonly committed himself to “reflect further” on such connections. This does not go nearly far enough.
"There is undoubtedly confusion within some parts of Labour about the limits of criticism of Israel or its government"
If Labour is to be credible in exorcising its anti-Semitic demons, its leader must first clearly demonstrate that he understands why these relationships are problematic. To put it another way, if the leader fails to lead, how can he – or we in the Jewish community – expect others to follow?
There is undoubtedly confusion within some parts of Labour about the limits of criticism of Israel or its government. But, while criticism of a government’s policies is one thing, it is completely unacceptable when that spills over into violence, intimidation or hatred.
Failing to oppose terrorism at the Jewish community by the likes of Hamas and Hizbollah; singing a song called Rockets over Tel Aviv; indicating sympathy for the Holocaust, or denying it happened; denying or finding excuses for the problem of contemporary anti-Semitism; indulging in theological anti-Semitism – tying the current problems in the Middle East to prejudices about Jews learnt from the texts or traditions of Christianity or Islam; repeating Jewish conspiracy theories about malevolent Jewish power and control, including the “blood libel” – all of these things should be obviously unacceptable behaviour. But, sadly, they have not been obvious enough to some.
Admittedly there are some actions that may or may not be anti-Semitic depending on the circumstances. Protests against events with Israeli or Jewish speakers; targeted boycotts of, or vandalism against, Israeli or kosher products, and questioning the right of Israel to exist – all of these can create a sense of fear and apprehension among Jews. And so, people engaging in these sorts of activities have to ask themselves whether they are applying a double standard to the Jewish state, and if so, why?
“It is hard to underestimate the damage being done to the Labour Party. I am disturbed by those who have criticised those of us who have spoken out."
Wes Streeting MP
There have been some encouraging signs from Labour, including the speed with which the party expelled or suspended members once their revolting views became widely known. John McDonnell has proposed a lifetime ban for any members exhibiting anti-Semitism. Sadiq Khan has made tackling anti-Semitism a key priority if he is elected London’s mayor on May 5. Chris Bryant is the latest in a series of senior Labour figures to highlight the problem, and John Mann continues to do a sterling job as chairman of the Parliamentary Committee Against Anti-Semitism.
Mr Corbyn clearly has a challenge here – but he also has an opportunity. He could meet the problems Labour has encountered head-on, by tackling Left-wing and Islamist anti-Semitism with the same clarity as he has opposed Right-wing anti-Semitism and other forms of racism. To do so would be to deal a blow to one of the most pervasive forms of contemporary discrimination. How will history remember him? Only he can decide.
