From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Anti-Israel activists defend UK Labour hopeful
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleProminent anti-Israel activists in the UK are slamming the Jewish Chronicle newspaper for its coverage of links between Labour party primary candidate Jeremy Corbyn and anti-Semitic individuals and groups.
Last week, the Chronicle published seven questions for Corbyn, including about his ties to Holocaust denied Paul Eisen and others, and his support for Hamas and Hezbollah.
In a letter, the activists charge that the Chronicle’s “McCarthyite guilt by association technique” was “deeply unpleasant and dishonest.”
“Your assertion that your attack on Jeremy Corbyn is supported by ‘the vast majority of British Jews’ is without foundation,” the signatories write. “We do not accept that you speak on behalf of progressive Jews in this country. You speak only for Jews who support Israel, right or wrong.
“Jeremy Corbyn’s parliamentary record over 32 years has consistently opposed all racism including antisemitism.”
Signatories to the letter include Tony Greenstein, Professor Haim Bresheeth, Abe Hayeem, Miriam Margolyes, Professor Ilan Pappe and Michael Rosen.
The letter defends Corbyn’s support for Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which regularly express rabidly anti-Semitic views, including the call in Hamas’s charter for the deaths of all the world’s Jews.
The activists say Mr Corbyn has “nothing to apologise for” following his meetings with representatives of the two groups: “Hamas was democratically elected in Palestinian elections generally accepted as fair, and Hezbollah also has strong electoral support in Lebanon.”
The Times of Israel Community.