Britain’s oldest Jewish newspaper, The Jewish Chronicle, has published an editorial on its front page calling on “our fellow British citizens” not to vote for Jeremy Corbyn in the 12 December national vote, agreed upon last week.
The piece suggested the “vast majority of British Jews consider Corbyn to be an anti-Semite” highlighting a “most recent poll, last month” that said the figure stood at 87%.
The editorial went on remark the same poll found that nearly half of British Jews would “seriously consider” emigrating if Corbyn wins on 12 December - something that “will give you an indication of what it feels like to be a British Jew at a time when the official opposition is led by a man widely held to be an anti-Semite”, the story went on.
“How can the racist views of a party leader — and the deep fear he inspires among an ethnic minority — not be among the most fundamental of issues?” the editorial’s authors queried.
To illustrate their point, the journalists brought up Hamas, “whose founding charter commits it to the extermination of every Jew on the planet”, recounting that Corbyn had referred to the group as “friends”.
“We believe that the overwhelming majority of British people abhor racism. We ask only that, when you cast your vote, you act on that”, the editorial concluded, with many reposting the story on Twitter and weighing in on the criticism:
… while some recalled Corbyn’s denial of anti-Semitism, implying it is all about an ongoing smear campaign against him:
UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said Sunday that British Jews have nothing to fear if his party wins the upcoming election, amid reports that many members of the Jewish community would consider leaving the country should this happen.
Asked about The Jewish Chronicle front page story, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell asserted that the party’s response to the anti-Semitism allegations had been “rapid and at times ruthless”.
Nonetheless, Luciana Berger, a former Labour MP who exited it over anti-Semitism and is now a Liberal Democrat candidate, struck back saying the response is “sickening on many levels”.