John Mann: Corbyn should take action against antisemitism

Over recent weeks, searching questions have been asked of Jeremy Corbyn, the man who would be Prime Minister. Regardless of the indignation displayed by those that claim to be his supporters when queries are raised about antisemitic links or associations, such scrutiny is right and will no doubt intensify should he win the leadership contest. He must account for himself and the delayed responses that have been issued to date are insufficient. The leader of the Labour Party has a duty not just to stop sharing platforms with homophobes, racists and antisemites but to publicly confront their racism and bigotry. Jeremy Corbyn's commitment to doing so has in recent weeks been called into question.

The Jewish Chronicle as part of its scrutiny of Corbyn asked specifically whether he had donated to and attended conferences run by the Deir Yassin Remembered (DYR) group (run by Holocaust denier Paul Eisen). In an interview with Channel Four News Corbyn explained that he likely did both but that it had been some years ago and just loose change. It appears he last attended a DYR event in 2013.

He has now issued a clarification about his support for Stephen Sizer, the man banned from speaking, writing, tweeting or blogging on the Middle East by the Church of England because of antisemitic conspiracy theories he had shared online. I would think Corbyn should congratulate the Church of England for their robust rebuttal of Sizer's comments and be vocal in his support of others that reject antisemitic activity.

The political activist and writer, Dyab Abou Jahjah, who claims to have “briefly met and collaborated" with Mr Corbyn in 2009 and has shared a picture of himself sitting next to Mr Corbyn in parliament on one occasion, told a Flemish newspaper that the death of British soldiers should be a considered “as a victory.” Initially, during an interview with Radio 4’s World at One program Corbyn denied ever having met Jahjah but this was amended to an admission that his staff had found evidence to back up Mr. Jahjah’s claim. In a statement Corbyn said; “I meet a lot people on all sides in the Middle East and it does not mean I agree with their views.” His spokespeople said of Mr. Jahjah’s more extreme views that “there is no suggestion he has said them in Jeremy’s hearing."

Meanwhile of Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel and a man convicted of invoking the blood libel (the antisemitic charge that Jews use the blood of Christian children for religious rituals), Corbyn reassures us that “he did not at any stage utter any antisemitic remarks to me.” I don’t think that Jeremy Corbyn is an antisemite himself, but is this now our barometer for acceptability? Is it OK to associate with antisemites so long as we aren’t antisemitic and don’t personally witness antisemitism? Is it OK to associate with homophobes or racists if we are not and don’t hear such abuse?

I cannot understand why there has not been a more immediate, proactive response to the questions put to Corbyn. Why did it take his team days to respond?

Not only is this inertia worrying but the space it creates allows others to fill it with nonsense. In defending Corbyn, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown produced an article suggesting that “hard zionists” were among those teaming with “the right” and “Blairites” to “slay” Corbyn’s reputation. These “forces of darkness” seeking to disparage Corbyn are supposedly using the charge of antisemitism to block probes into Israel’s behaviour. The issue here is that no-one to my knowledge has accused Corbyn of antisemitism (nor does this have anything to do with his position on the Israel/Palestine debate). Nonetheless, with so little said elsewhere, a prominent commentator has been given the room to do what so many have done before—that is to disparage and disregard legitimate concerns of the Jewish and non-Jewish communities about the antisemitism of others.

If I thought Jeremy Corbyn was an antisemite then I would have challenged him directly and in person as I have others in my role as the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group against antisemitism. However, for political leaders it is actions that count and I am looking forward to seeing some decisive leadership.

I want to see Jeremy Corbyn clearly state that there is no second division in tackling racism and that there are no acceptable exceptions in political discourse. I want him to make clear that racism, antisemitism and other forms of discrimination have no place in progressive politics and commit himself to observing a no platform policy for racists and antisemites. However, it is not enough that he should not share platforms with such people but he must lead by example and insist that others do not. I want him to sign and promote the London Declaration on Combatting Antisemitism, drafted in London in 2009 and previously signed by Brown and Miliband. This has attracted cross-party support of political leaders in the UK and across the world. Antisemitism remains a growing problem in the UK and across Europe. The new Labour leader must without equivocation lead the fight and tackle antisemites whatever their political perspective or background.