The Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn is entangled in a new anti-semitism scandal as a dossier reveals violent, abusive and anti-Jewish comments on Facebook groups allegedly calling out to his most ardent supporters.
It is said that 12 senior staff working for Corbyn, as well as the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, are members of groups on Facebook which contains violent and anti-semitic comments, such as praises for Adolf Hitler and threats to kill Prime Minister Theresa May.
The most all-encompassing inquiry conducted into 20 if the biggest groups supporting Corbyn on Facebook, with a total of 400,000 members, found that there were routine attacks on Jewish people, as well as denial of the Holocaust, with someone claiming that the deaths of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust “was a big lie!”
Whistleblowers compiled this dossier for over two months along with The Sunday Times. It is said they uncovered over 2,000 anti-semitic, racist, violent, misogynistic and abusive messages.
Many leading British Jews, who could be pertained as the world's most successful ethnic minority, have written to Corbyn with three main complaints: that the Labour Party consists of anti-semitism, that the Labour leader allegedly ignored such harmful attitudes, and that previous attempts to deal with anti-semitism has proven to be unacceptable or inadequate.
Former MP, Ivor Caplin, who speaks on behalf of the Jewish Labour Movement said, “The fact remains that anti-semites have found a home in the party and many of them use influential online groups to feed poison into the party's bloodstream. The party must act in concert with Facebook to deal with this.”
Jeremy Corbyn issued an apology to Jewish people in a letter to Jewish leaders. In the letter, he said, “I recognise anti-semitism has surfaced within the Labour Party, and has too often been dismissed as simply a matter of a few bad apples. This has caused pain and hurt to Jewish members of our party and to the wider Jewish community in Britain. I am sincerely sorry for the pain which has been caused, and pledge to redouble my efforts to bring this anxiety to an end.”
Backlash over Jewdas
Furthermore, Jeremy Corbyn also faces criticism for attending an event organised by a left-wing Jewish group, Jewdas, who are said to be critical of more mainstream Jewish organisations. It comes after the Labour leader pledged “watertight” inquiry into claims of anti-semitism within the Labour Party.
One Labour MP has labelled Corbyn's actions as “irresponsible and dangerous”; however, a leading Corbyn supporter has stated that his attendance at the event was “not as significant as it's being made out.”
The founder of Momentum, Jon Lansman said, “It was his night off, he had nothing in his official diary, his office didn't know he was there.”
Lansman went on to say that “Jeremy [Corbyn] is a lifelong anti-racist” and that he was keen to meet the leaders of “mainstream Jewish organisations”.
A Labour Party spokesperson confirmed that the Labour leader had attended the Seder event organised by Jewdas. “He [Corbyn] wrote to the Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council last week to ask for an urgent formal meeting to discuss tackling anti-semitism in the Labour Party and in society.”
On the other hand, the president of the Board if Deputies of British Jews, Jonathan Arkush said, “If Jeremy Corbyn goes to their event, how can we take his stated commitment to be an ally against anti-semitism seriously?”
