Jewish groups attack Corbyn over anti-Semitism

Jewish groups have attacked Britain's main opposition leader and Labour Party chief Jeremy Corbyn, accusing him of failing to tackle anti-Semitism, the media reported on Monday.

The letter by the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council said there has been a "repeated institutional failure" to properly address anti-Semitism, reports the BBC.

It accuses Corbyn of being unable to "seriously contemplate anti-Semitism, because he is so ideologically fixed within a far left worldview that is instinctively hostile to mainstream Jewish communities".

The organisations refer to the opposition leader's apparently supportive message to the creator of an allegedly anti-Semitic mural in 2012 and his attendance at "pro-Hezbollah rallies".

 

They said the Labour leader has "sided with anti-Semites" either because of "the far left's obsessive hatred of Zionism" or "a conspiratorial worldview in which mainstream Jewish communities are believed to be a hostile entity, a class enemy".

The letter will be delivered to a meeting of Labour MPs and peers on Monday.

A protest will then be held outside the Houses of Parliament, which will see a number of Labour MPs join members of the Jewish community.

The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism group has also called for a national protest against anti-Semitism in Labour.

Corbyn issued an apology in a statement on Sunday night saying: "I want to be clear that I will not tolerate any form of anti-Semitism that exists in and around our movement.

"We must stamp this out from our party and movement... I am sincerely sorry for the pain which has been caused."

--IANS

ksk/bg