UK Labour needs to do more to rebuild ties with Jewry - Board of Deputies
The Board of Deputies released a list of “Ten Pledges” Labour needs to adopt to heal its relationship with the Jewish community, which became greatly strained under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
By LAHAV HARKOVJews and non-Jews gather in solidarity to protest against Antisemitism at Parliament Square in London on Sunday(photo credit: SARKIS ZERONIAN)
Labour needs to address antisemitism in the party as it elects a new leader, the Board of Deputies of British Jews said on Sunday.The Board of Deputies released a list of “Ten Pledges” Labour needs to adopt to heal its relationship with the Jewish community, which became greatly strained under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership in the last four years.Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl said that “the relationship between Labour and the Jewish community, once rock-solid, has been all but destroyed.“Rebuilding will take more than mild expressions of regret. It will take a firm public commitment to agree to a specific course of action,” she added.The list comes as Labour chooses candidates to replace Corbyn as party leader. The nomination process ended Sunday afternoon.Among those 10 points is a call to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism “without qualification,” meaning that it includes clauses that state that denying Jews self-determination or comparing Israel to Nazi Germany – which Labour members have done in recent years - is antisemitism.In addition, the Board of Deputies called for Labour to engage with the Jewish community “via its main representative groups… not through fringe organizations and individuals,” as the party did under Corbyn, alienating the century-old Jewish Labour Movement.The Jewish umbrella organization also called on Labour to resolve outstanding cases of antisemitism, ensure transparency to those relevant to the process, and make the party’s disciplinary process independent. Whistleblowers came forward in the last year to say that the party’s ombudsmen were stopped from taking action on complaints of antisemitism.Van der Zyl said that all of the points had been suggested to Corbyn and his team in the past, but they did little or nothing about them.The Board of Deputies president said she expects anyone who wants to move Labour away from its recent antisemitism should endorse all ten pledges.As for leadership hopefuls, she said “some… have spoken of their regret at the party’s lack of action on antisemitism under the current leadership, as well as the need to do things differently. Others have said nothing at all on the subject. A few appeared to have tailored their message depending on which section of the party they have been addressing.”
Related TagsJeremy CorbynUK Labour Party
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