If Corbyn Doesn’t Slay the ‘Anti-Semitism’ Dragon It Will Slay Him

By refusing to confront the Israeli State's representatives in Labour, Corbyn is Building his own Funeral Pyre

"What started organically, therefore, morphed into a planned campaign to create a coalition of mostly Jewish activist academics, pro-Israel and national representative bodies in the Jewish Diaspora, and the aforementioned major American Jewish organizations to take the discussions in an increasingly political and ideological direction, linking anti-zionism and antisemitism ever more closely. A key player in and growing influence on this campaign was the Israeli government, pursuing a new policy since the late 1980s, through its then-recently-established Monitoring Forum on Antisemitism. The policy aimed at establishing Israeli hegemony over the monitoring and combatting of antisemitism by Jewish groups world wide. This was coordinated and mostly implemented by Mossad representatives working out of Israeli embassies"

- Antony Lerman, On Antisemitism: Solidarity and the struggle for Justice, pg 11

Tony Lerman was the founder of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research before he was forced out by people like Stanley Kalms, Tory Party Treasurer, Zionist and Director of IJPR.

It sometimes seems as if Corbyn has a death wish. Not only does he ignore the evidence that the anti-Semitism campaign has been manufactured to order, faked with the sole purpose of removing him, but he is doing his best to keep it alive. Personally ordering his supporters, Ken Livingstone and Christine Shawcroft, to resign in order to satisfy the Zionist and Labour Right witchhunters is madness. Corbyn's performance is indicative of someone who with a death wish, intent on building up his own funeral pyre.

Jonathan Arkush, the outgoing President of the Board of Deputies, which has been to the fore in making false allegations of anti-Semitism, is not only a right-wing Tory but a stupid one.  Arkush’s concerns about ‘anti-Semitism’ did not prevent him from welcoming Donald Trump and the anti-Semitic alt-Right to power in America. This despite the fact that Trump’s campaign openly employed anti-Semitic stereotypes and themes. [Anti-Semitism is no longer an undertone of Trump’s campaign. It’s the melody].

Donald Trump and his administration combine ardent Zionism with anti-Semitism.  Their campaign employed a variety of subtle and not so subtle anti-semitic messages such as the advert above - Crooked Hilary with the slogan 'most corrupt candidate ever!' inside a Star of David.  It couldn't be more blatant yet the Zionists didn't utter a peep.  Ha'aretz's headline said it all: Trump's Win, the Greatest Victory for anti-Semitism in America Since 1941 

Arkush though had no hesitation in welcoming Trump to power despite the fact that his administration included open fascists like Sebastian Gorka, who is a member of a group called the Vitézi Rend (Order of Vitéz), a far-right nationalist group in Hungary originally founded by Miklós Horthy, Hungary's pro-Nazi war-time dictator who presided over the deportation of nearly half a million Jews to Auschwitz.

The 'enough is enough' demonstration that the Zionists called on March 26th was the first 'antiracist' demonstration that the Board has ever called.  In the 1930's and 1970's they told the Jewish community to stay indoors and ignore the fascists - prominent amongst those attending were those well known anti-racists Norman Tebbit and Ian Paisley's DUP!!

Arkush doesn’t even bother to hide his views or disguise them in any way.  He doesn't do subtlety yet still Corbyn and McDonnell don’t get the message.

In his final speech before retiring as President of the Board of Deputies, Arkush said of Corbyn that “he has views which are antisemitic, and he has problematic views”

In the Guardian of 30^th May Arkush was quite explicit as to what he meant by ‘anti-Semitism’.  The problem was Corbyn's attitude to Israel:

“Delegitimising the state of Israel is antisemitic,” Arkush told the newspaper. “He was a chairman of Stop the War, which is responsible for some of the worst anti-Israel discourse.

“If he shares the prevalent discourse about Israel, then that view is unquestionably antisemitic.”

Chakrabarti, who was never a radical or a socialist, joined the ranks of the witchhunters in forcing Livingstone out

In other words anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism are one and the same thing, yet the Right in the Labour Party throw a fit when people say the ‘anti-Semitism’ allegations are really about Israel.  They accuse us of believing in conspiracy theories, refusing to face reality, yet here is the leader of British Zionism confirming what we have been saying all along, that the fake anti-Semitism campaign is about Israel and the Palestinians.

To her credit, Rhea Wolfson, a Jewish member of Labour’s National Executive Committee defended Corbyn describing him as ‘one of the most principled people in politics’. Rhea was also correct to say that

‘Arkush’s claims are entirely without foundation. The evidence he cites? Jeremy’s criticisms of the actions of the Israeli government.  Criticising the actions of the Israeli government is not antisemitic.

Corbyn betrays his friends in order to appease his enemies

The problem though is that Rhea Wolfson remains a member of the Jewish Labour Movement, a group that has done more than most to spread the false anti-Semitism narrative. The JLM calls the Israeli Labour Party its ‘sister’ party. The leader of this racist party, Avi Gabbay, has just cut links with Corbyn because of

‘the hostility that you have shown to the Jewish community and the antisemitic statements and actions you have allowed”

Labour Friends of Israel tweet - blaming the murder of what is now over 115 Palestinians on the Palestinians.  In blaming Hamas, these racists denied Palestinians any agency.  Not one word of condemnation of Israeli snipers

If Rhea Wolfson means what she says then logically she should also cut links with the JLM, a group which, as the Al Jazeera under-cover programme The Lobby made clear, is in bed with the Israeli Embassy and its Ambassador Mark Regev. 

The JLM is the overseas wing of the Israeli Labour Party which operates inside the British Labour Party. The Israeli Labour Party is not a left-wing party, it is a racist and nationalist party. It has never made a claim to be socialist or indeed anti-racist.  It openly says that Jews and Arabs can't live together.  It believes that the Arab birthrate in Israel is a 'problem'.

Gabbay supported the the deportation of 40,000 Black African refugees back to Eritrea and Sudan because they were neither White nor Jewish. Party leader Gabbay forces Zionist Union to back expulsion of migrants The ILP also supports the mass murder of unarmed demonstrators in Gaza in the past 4 weeks.

This little fascist Harry Saul Markham has a picture of Menachem Begin on his teeshirt - Begin was condemned by Albert Einstein, Hannah Arendt and 20 other Jews in a letter to the New York Times in December 1948 for founding Herut 'a political party closely akin in its organization, methods, political philosophy and social appeal to the Nazi and Fascist parties'

And yet despite all of this, when some of us have pointed out that the ‘anti-Semitism’ attacks have really been about Israel, Arkush and company complain that ‘we are accused of “smearing” Corbyn’.  Perish the thought!

Arkush and his side-kick, Jonathan Goldstein of the Jewish Leadership Council wrote an Open Letter to Corbyn in which they made it crystal clear that the ‘anti-Semitism’ they were talking about was anti-Zionism:

‘“Again and again, Jeremy Corbyn has sided with antisemites rather than Jews. At best, this derives from the far left’s obsessive hatred of Zionism, Zionists and Israel. At worst, it suggests a conspiratorial worldview in which mainstream Jewish communities are believed to be a hostile entity, a class enemy,”

If final proof were needed about the bogus nature of the ‘anti-Semitism’ claims, then Arkush gave the game away when he called the Jewish group that Corbyn visited to spend Seder with, Jewdas, a‘ source of virulent anti-Semitism.’.  Adding for good measure, horror of horrors, that not all of them were Jewish!

Labour Friends of Israel represents the Israeli Embassy inside the Labour Party - it talks of a 'cycle of violence' as if there were gang warfare in Gaza rather than an 11 year siege by Israel - not one word of condemnation of the deliberate shooting of unarmed demonstrators by Israel

Of course it does not need a genius to work out what the 'antisemitism' smears are about. The latest anti-Semitism furore, was sparked of by Luciana Berger MP, who produced a 6 year old, long erased mural, whose destruction Corbyn had opposed on free speech grounds.  This was such an obvious pretext that you would need an IQ of under 60 not to get it.

It had been pulled out of a hat, like a rabbit at a party, in time for the local elections.  The purpose was obvious.  To try and do as much damage as possible to Labour's local election results.  I have no doubt that at this very moment similar pretexts are being dusted down for use in the future.

I will therefore make a prediction.  Just as last year I was almost alone in predicting that Corbyn would come out of the General Election in a better shape than when he went into the election [see here and here] so I predict that unless Corbyn faces down the false anti-Semitism allegations he will fail to become Prime Minister.  The purpose of the anti-Semitism witch-hunt was not to remove me or Marc Wadsworth or Ken Livingstone.  It is to remove Jeremy Corbyn.  We are just collateral damage.  If Corbyn cannot see that then he does not deserve to become Prime Minister.

Corbyn has behave utterly stupidly and cowardly in betraying his friends to appease his enemies.  Telling Christine Shawcroft to resign from the NEC was the sign of some who was in panic mode.  To tell Livingstone he had to go, and there is absolutely no doubt that Jeremy Corbyn was personally involved, was even more stupid.  Livingstone was a strong and capable supporter.  Appeasing John Mann by sacrificing your closest political ally is shameful.

Corbyn's idiotic comment about 'pockets of anti-semitism' was used against him at the Zionists' 'antiracist' demonstration

The depths of Corbyn’s idiocy was betrayed in his comment that there are ‘pockets’ of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party.  In giving sustenance to the idea that anti-Semitism is a living phenomenon in the Labour Party Corbyn was also giving sustenance to his enemies.  When we turn around and point out the bogus nature of the ‘anti-Semitism’ allegations the Right point to Corbyn and say that even he agrees with them. Corbyn is thus giving substance to a campaign whose purpose is to remove him.

Likewise Momentum’s owner and dictator, Jon Lansman, with his crass comments that Labour’s anti-Semitism was ‘unconscious’.  If antisemitism is unconscious then it isn't be much of a problem.  If only the Windrush victims had faced ‘unconscious’ racism they would be laughing.  

The fact is that Jews in Britain don’t experience state racism, deportation, police violence, discrimination in the jobs market, false imprisonment etc.  Anti-Semitism exists at the margins.   Indeed most of what is called ‘anti-Semitism’ is simply a reaction to the war crimes Israel perpetrates in the name of Jews.

In Britain today it is hard to call antisemitism a form of racism.  It is more a form of prejudice.  It has no relationship to the nexus of power in this country.  Jews are White NOT Black.  Jews are not an ethnic minority or an oppressed group.  They suffer at worst marginal prejudice.  Indeed most prejudice results from the actions of Israel as a self-declared Jewish state.

The ‘anti-racism’ demonstration of March 26^th called by the Board of Deputies was the first such demonstration that the Board had ever called.  When it came to opposing Sir Oswald Moseley’s British Union of Fascists in the 1930’s or the mass mobilisation of the Anti Nazi League in the 1970’s the Board preached complete pacifity.  Jews were recommended to stay at home.  When it comes to Israel’s defence then the Board is all in favour of demonstrating.  In other words when it comes to defend Jews against real anti-Semitism, the Board lies down and whimpers.  when it comes to defending Israel the Board comes out with guns a blazing.

Let me however make another prediction. Although the ‘anti-Semitism’ allegations have died down now that the local government elections are out of the way the embers are still glowing.  Come the Labour Party conference in the autumn or the local elections next year or possibly a general election if Brexit blows up in May’s face, then ‘anti-Semitism will resurface.

 

Why?  Because ‘anti-Semitism’ is a potent weapon in the hands of the Right.  It is difficult to attack Corbyn over rail nationalisation or austerity or the other popular elements of Labour’s programme. However anti-Semitism is the Achilles heel of the Labour left.  It gives the Right, especially the Labour Right, a sense of righteousness that defending poverty and cuts doesn’t give them.

Of course any idiot should be able to see that if the Sun, Daily Mail, Express and all the rest of the yellow press are so opposed to ‘anti-Semitism’ in Labour at the same time as they attack or demonise Black people, then there must be a catch. How can one oppose ‘anti-Semitism’ and support all other forms of racism unless of course, ‘anti-Semitism’ is a code word for supporting the Establishment, Capitalism and the politics of Imperialism.  'Antisemitism' is really about foreign policy.

That is why when John McDonnell says he ‘could weep’ over Labour’s ‘anti-Semitism’ one wonders what he’s going to do when faced with the determined resistance of the financial and industrial capitalists when he tries to nationalise the utilities. The attack on Labour for ‘anti-Semitism’ is so patently transparent that one wonders what kind of idiot it is that doesn’t see it.  McDonnell is now coming under attack from The Telegraph for failing to dissociate himself from the Labour Representation Committee, of which he is honorary President, because of the LRC’s support for the victims of the anti-Semitism witchhunt like Jackie Walker.

Perhaps McDonnell will weep and resign from the LRC proclaiming that he didn't know that they opposed the witchhunt of socialists?

‘Anti-Semitism’ is the gift that keeps giving. It is the only thing that the Labour Right have going for them.  It is what puts a left sheen on racists like Keir Starmer and John Mann. If Corbyn cannot slay the ‘anti-Semitism’ dragon it will slay him. It cannot be avoided because the Right, which means the BBC and the Tory tabloids, The Guardian included, won’t let it die down.

If Corbyn had faced down the false anti-Semitism narrative two years ago when he was accused of consorting with holocaust deniers then he wouldn’t be facing these never ending attacks now.  The time has come to put this beast to sleep alongside those who insist on breathing life into what has become the equivalent of the political undead.

Tony Greenstein