The row has turned into a crisis.
You could be forgiven for missing it, because it has been all-but-buried by Brexit drama and limited mainstream news coverage. But Labour’s anti-Semitism row has resurfaced this week with vicious intensity – and is threatening to tear the Party apart.
Various explosive exposés in recent years have made the nation painfully aware that Labour has a deep-rooted anti-Semitism problem.
Now, as if things could get any worse, a furore has erupted because the Party has dared to create its own definition of anti-Semitism which waters down the international standard – effectively institutionalising its own anti-Semitic behaviour.1
Seeing Red
Last week, a Labour sub-committee backed the diluted definition over the full International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition, which is widely accepted as an international standard and embraced by the UK Government, the CPS, the police and many local councils.
Predictably, Labour’s watered down version omits several specific examples of anti-Semitic behaviour to do with Israel, an area of discourse which has been a notorious sticking-point for the Party under Jeremy Corbyn and which today represents the main conduit for Western anti-Semitic attitudes and behaviour.2
The sub-committee’s decision sparked a huge backlash from MPs and provoked an unprecedented letter from 68 British rabbis, published in The Guardian over last weekend, urging Labour leaders to “listen to the Jewish community” and adopt the full IHRA definition.3 Hours later, the Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, weighed in with the same message.4 On Monday night, a packed meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (with the noted absence of Corbyn) rebelled against the sub-committee, voting overwhelmingly to accept the IHRA definition in full.5
Labour’s watered down definition of anti-Semitism omits several specific examples of anti-Semitic behaviour to do with Israel, a notorious sticking-point for the Party under Corbyn.
Despite all this, Labour’s governing body, the National Executive Committee, upheld the amended definition on Tuesday, without recourse to a vote and with the full support of Corbyn, who was present. During the meeting, which was marked by bitter exchanges, NEC member Pete Willsman told the room that “Some of the people in the Jewish community are Trump fanatics – I’ll take no lectures from them” and rejected the open letter from the 68 rabbis by declaring their message “simply false”.6
Afterwards, a furious Dame Margaret Hodge – veteran Jewish Labour MP – saw red and approached Corbyn behind the Speaker’s Chair during the Commons votes on Brexit, reportedly calling him “an anti-Semitic racist” and adding, “It is not what you say but what you do, and by your actions you have shown you are an anti-Semitic racist.”7
Now, remarkably facing disciplinary action by the Party, Hodge has defended her actions in a Guardian article further laying into the Opposition Leader.8 A rally was held in Parliament Square on Thursday evening, and a number of Jewish MPs are said to be considering quitting the Party altogether.9
Willing Blindness
Having shattered Labour’s reputation as an anti-racist, pro-tolerance Party, Corbyn and his inner circle are stumping both MPs and ordinary citizens by remaining steadfastly committed to fostering this one particular brand of racism within Party ranks, blowing every possible opportunity to make amends with British Jews.
But, as Jewish author and blogger Melanie Phillips obligingly notes, Jeremy Corbyn is not the cause of Labour’s anti-Semitism problem – he is a result of it.10 For the anti-Semitism that embattles Labour today actually pervades the entire left wing of the political spectrum, being a natural consequence of its wholesale commitment to Palestinianism.
Corbyn and his inner circle have shattered Labour’s reputation as an anti-racist, pro-tolerance Party.
Through a potent cocktail of godless, anti-biblical ‘isms’ - postmodernism, secularism, humanism and liberalism - the left has blinded itself to the fact that Palestinianism is a fundamentally anti-Semitic endeavour that one cannot support meaningfully without eventually getting drawn into the same attitudes.
Yet, ironically, those subscribing to left-wing secular humanism consider themselves to be paragons of virtue, incapable of racism: always standing in solidarity with the oppressed. That is why Corbyn cannot even admit fully to the Party’s anti-Semitism problem: he genuinely cannot see it. Or, even worse, he can see it, and doesn’t care - or explains it away – because he patently agrees with its underlying premises.
Spiritual Battle
Thankfully, this blindness has not descended fully on MPs or ordinary Labour supporters, among whom there is now new opportunity to highlight the roots of this nightmare in a rejection of the God of the Bible. For, contrary to popular opinion, anti-Semitism is not a racism like any other, but is actually a demonic backlash against God, his chosen Land, people and covenant purposes. Not even Melanie Phillips quite grasps its true, spiritual nature - which is why it is ‘the longest hatred’, repeatedly raising its head around the world and throughout history, refusing to die.
How people align themselves in this spiritual battle – whether or not they even know it is there – places them on one side or the other of a promise made by God some 4,000 years ago, recorded in the Book of Genesis, that “Those who bless [Israel] will themselves be blessed, but those who curse [Israel] will be cursed” (Gen 12:3).
It is the outworking of this very promise today that is causing such division and strife in the Labour Party. Truly, Jerusalem is a cup of reeling that makes the nations stagger (Zech 12:2). Systematically siding with Israel’s enemies and behaving in a way which evidences his commitment to her ultimate annihilation, Corbyn has placed Labour under a curse – which will undoubtedly affect the entire nation should he ever ascend to the office of Prime Minister.
Corbyn has placed Labour under a curse – which will undoubtedly affect the entire nation should he ever ascend to the office of Prime Minister.
House on Sand
Mercifully, most people can still recognise that something has gone fundamentally wrong with the Labour Party, even if they don’t understand why. There is now fresh opportunity for multitudes to be challenged to think about the ‘why’: why a Party so devoted to ‘inclusivity’, ‘tolerance’ and ‘anti-racism’ is manifesting the exact opposite behaviour.
We can pray that God will use their wonderings to open their eyes, to see that the ideological house of the liberal left – in which the vast majority of our politicians now shelter - has been built not on rock, but on sand.
How both MPs and ordinary citizens respond to this current storm will fundamentally shape the future for British Jews and indeed for the entire nation – perhaps as much as or even more than Brexit. As for those in Britain who have committed themselves to Israel’s destruction,
Make them like tumbleweed, my God,
like chaff before the wind.
As fire consumes the forest
or a flame sets the mountains ablaze,
so pursue them with your tempest
and terrify them with your storm.
Cover their faces with shame, LORD,
so that they will seek your name.
May they ever be ashamed and dismayed;
may they perish in disgrace.
Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD-
that you alone are the Most High over all the earth. (Psalm 83:13-18)
References
1 Phillips, M. Institutionalising antisemitism in the British Labour Party. 20 July 2018.
2 Under Labour’s definition, calling Jews Nazis or Israel an ‘apartheid’ state could be permissible.
3 The 68 are said to represent 30,000 British Jewish households, from ultra-progressives through to haredi Orthodox. This show of unity is exceptional. See also, 68 rabbis from across UK Judaism sign unprecedented letter condemning Labour antisemitism. The Jewish Chronicle, 16 July 2018.
4 Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis writes unprecedented letter, warning Labour not to send 'message of contempt' to Jews. The Jewish Chronicle, 17 July 2018.
5 Labour MPs defy party leadership, vote to back IHRA definition of antisemitism. The Jewish Chronicle, 16 July 2018.
6 Labour rejects full IHRA antisemitism definition - but is accused of 'fudge' for pledging review. The Jewish Chronicle, 17 July 2018.
7 Stewart, H and Elgot, J. Labour MP labels Corbyn an 'antisemite' over party's refusal to drop code. The Guardian, 17 July 2018.
8 Hodge, M. I was right to confront Jeremy Corbyn over Labour’s antisemitism. The Guardian, 18 July 2018.
9 Proctor, K. Jewish MPs may quit Labour as row grows over anti-Semitism. Evening Standard, 19 July 2018.
10 Phillips, M. Giddy at their boldness – but Corbyn didn’t cause Labour antisemitism. He’s its product. 30 March 2018.
