I work with evidence. So, as Lloyd Grossaman would say in his mid-Atlantic accent, let’s look at the evidence on Corbyn and anti-Semitism.
Of course it isn’t antisemitic to criticise some of the actions of the Israeli government, but what Corbyn does goes a little bit beyond that doesn’t it? Referring to Hamas – an organisation committed to the destruction of the state of Israel and who regularly launch rockets into residential areas – as ‘friends’ and inviting them to Parliament goes a bit beyond criticising the settling of the West Bank. What does Corbyn think should happen to the 8 million people - many of the Jews, but by no means all - who live in Israel, if his friends were to get their way?
Attending a wreath laying for Black September terrorists who attacked Israeli athletes in Munich goes a bit beyond criticising the de-facto blockade of the Gaza strip even if he was ‘present but not participating’, as the final excuse for that one goes.
Care has to be taken with drawing conclusions from Corbyn’s association with terror organisations who primarily target Israel, however, as he has also, of course, associated with Republican terrorists in Ireland who, as far as we know, have no beef with Jews, but prefer to shoot and blow up Protestants, people who paint Union Jacks on the sides of their houses and the British state.
Where it starts to get interesting is Corbyn’s defence of the anti-Semitic mural that hit the news earlier this year. That mural is antisemitic upon the shortest of inspections and has nothing at all to do with Israel or the Palestinians. I recall that we went through several different versions of the Corbyn excuse for that (as he and his advisors realised that the earlier versions wouldn’t hold water), but the final version was one that he didn’t look properly before commenting i.e. his brain was present, but not participating. That excuse admits of two explanations – he is lying and either didn’t care or agreed with the antisemitic nature of the mural or that he is very stupid. If any Corbyn supporter can think of a third explanation, I’d love to hear it as neither of my options are one that would make me want him as Prime Minister.
Branding UK Zionists as lacking a sense of irony despite having lived in the country for a long time is more interesting still, not least because the comment demonstrates that he sees those people as ‘separate’ from the UK population. To illustrate that point, consider what would happen if IBS had started a thread in which such a sweeping and negative generalisation was made about UK Muslims by another poster. It is beyond doubt that certain other posters would be all over it- going ‘waaah’ to the mods - complaining about right wing views on the site.
With the evidence above, I think it impossible to say with certainty that Corbyn is an antisemite, but I think it impossible to completely clear him of the charge too.
I agree that the antisemitism issue has been used a stick to beat Corbyn over the head with, but it was Corbyn who carefully polished the stick before handing it to his critics.
The real issue with Corbyn is summed up in this opinion piece from the Independent, which sets out the way he has become morally compromised by his rather blinkered and, frankly, naïve approach to the world. It’s a good read:
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices...-a7875451.html
