Antisemitism is a poison – the left must take leadership against it

Antisemitism is a menace. It is not simply the preserve of knuckle-dragging neo-Nazi skinheads; this centuries-old sickness infects progressive circles, too. There are people reading this and thinking “ah, but what aboutIsrael?” I know this because whenever I tweet about antisemitism, someone replies with a sentence along those lines. Sorry to sound self-righteous here, but if that’s you, then you’re part of the problem. Speaking as a committed supporter of Palestinian justice, it is possible to raise the issue of prejudice towards and hatred of Jewish people without immediately invoking the actions of the Israeli government. At best, this is victim-blaming (people are apparently being compelled to hate Jewish people by the actions of a foreign state); but, regardless, it is sinister. The issue of antisemitism arises because of revelations centred on a Labour party activist named Vicki Kirby. Back in 2014, Kirby was Labour’s parliamentary candidate in the Tory stronghold of Woking; she was suspended from the party after a series of tweets came to light in which she is said to have described Jews as having “big noses” and called Adolf Hitler the “Zionist god”. The same year, her suspension was lifted and she was given a warning; since then, she became vice-chair of her local party.

For those making it all about Jeremy Corbyn, it should be noted that both the suspension and its lifting took place under the old regime. If she sent antisemitic tweets, why she was not expelled after an investigation in 2014 needs an explanation. It is not the party leader who decides who remains a member of the party, of course, and Labour’s NEC has once again today suspended Kirby. If she’s guilty, let’s hope this time she isn’t readmitted, as she was in 2014.

But there are a number of things Labour as a party should do. Firstly, change the rules so that anyone found guilty of antisemitism – or any other form of racism – is expelled from the party. Their readmission should only happen when they have demonstrably been shown to have been re-educated. Secondly, set up two commissions: one on antisemitism, the other on anti-Muslim prejudice, respectively headed by a leading Jewish and a Muslim figure. Both forms of bigotry are on the rise in Britain, and both exist within progressive circles and the Labour party. The commissions could issue a series of recommendations, both for dealing with it when it arises within Labour, and also in wider society too.

It is incumbent on the progressively minded to take antisemitism seriously. We wouldn’t belittle the seriousness of other forms of bigotry, or seek to deflect from it. It is possible to passionately oppose antisemitism on the one hand, and on the other oppose the policies of Israel’s government and support Palestinian national self-determination. Both these issues have to be completely disentangled: a discussion about serious antisemitism should not be a launchpad into a debate about Israel. It cannot be acceptable that Jewish people feel uncomfortable in Labour, or indeed in Britain. The left should speak out ever more loudly about antisemitism as an act of solidarity with Britain’s Jews. After all, socialism is about the emancipation of humanity from all forms of oppression, or it is nothing.