On the ten demands the Board of Deputies of British Jews make of the six Labour leadership candidates. Some can be construed as anti-Semitic

JezzabeauC writes:

I was absolutely staggered when I read that the Board of Deputies of British Jews (BoD) had compiled a list of 10 “policies” which it “asked” the six Labour leadership candidates to sign. So far five out of the six candidates have signed. Clive Lewis is the only candidate not to have signed. (While writing this I learned that Lewis has stood down from the contest).

When I first read about this I was angered because the BoD is a known Tory supporter and is also pro-Israel, and the Labour Party is supposed to stand up for, and support, oppressed peoples like the Palestinians. It is bad enough that both Emily Thornberry and Jess Phillips support Labour Friends of Israel (LFI). To be a member of LFI you do not have to be a Labour Party member or Jewish; the same applies to the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM). The LFI was implicated in the four part Al-Jazeera documentary The Lobby when the then Labour MP and leader of LFI Joan Ryan was secretly videotaped conspiring with Israeli embassy staffer Shai Masot on how to take MPs down.

The BoD’s “Policy” number four names two ex-Labour Party members demanding that they never be re-admitted to the Labour Party. I will not name those two people but suffice it to say that one of these two people is Jewish which surely would make this “policy” anti-Semitic. “Policy” number five does not actually mention any names but you know who the BoD is referring to when it states: “Provide no platform for bigotry: any MPs, peers, councillors, members or CLPs [Constituency Labour Parties] who support, campaign or provide a platform for people who have been suspended or expelled in the wake of anti-Semitic incidents should themselves be suspended from membership.”

It was when I reached “policy” number eight that I decided to go and reread the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism which the Labour Party agreed to and one would assume the BoD would adhere to. It states:“Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred towards Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” It also says that this is a “non-legally binding working definition of anti-Semitism” which to my mind brings into question all the people suspended or expelled from the Labour Party due to unfounded and/or unproven allegations of anti-Semitism.

“Policy” number eight, which really caught my attention, states: “Engagement with the Jewish community to be made via its main representative groups: Labour must engage with the Jewish community via its main representative groups, and not through fringe organisations and individuals.” Mike Sivier responds to this policy very succinctly and, in my opinion, correctly. He says: “This is an example of genuine anti-Semitism. The Board of Deputies is trying to ensure that groups representing a more common-sense attitude, like Jewish Voice for Labour and Jewdas, are denied a voice. That’s denying Jewish people a right to self-determination, and its a claim that members of this organisation are ‘the wrong kind of Jew’. Despicable. It’s also undemocratic, of course…”

After reading the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism and agreeing that Mike Sivier had written the simple and definite truth, I would say that in my opinion all five of the Labour leadership candidates should carefully rethink their positions and rescind their agreements to these demands – which is what they are: they are demands not policies. Labour is a socialist party and should not be dictated to by outside influences, especially when those influences are Tory supporters. The fact that they also want the JLM to oversee anti-Semitic training would make me laugh if it was not so disturbing. The JLM is a right wing organisation with ties to the Israeli embassy, which was revived when Jeremy Corbyn became leader of the Labour Party in 2015. The JLM was actually formed in 2004 as a successor to Poale Zion, which was a movement of Marxist-Zionist Jewish workers founded in Poland, Europe and Russia in the early 20th century.

I am now in two minds as to whether I should remain a member of the Labour Party and fight the right wing elements from within, or just say “enough is enough”, like some others, and resign my membership.