My dealings with Anti-Socialism
I am a Jeremy Corbyn supporting Jewish Socialist in the Labour party. There was a time,
not so long ago when this would not have been a controversial thing to say, lately Jews like me have found ourselves boxed in by a Labour Party in retreat from accusations of antisemitism and a vocal centrist alliance united by a desire to oust our current leadership. I found myself on the receiving end of this when suspended and readmitted to the labour party for using the phrase “Jew process” in a now infamous speech.
Looking out across the political landscape I see a lot of things I’d never thought possible and if I’m honest, frankly terrifies me. The far right on the march waving England flags and saluting Hitler, governments on both sides of the channel led by white nationalists, and the destruction of our working class communities with policies designed to enrich the richest and enslave the poorest. There is a lot here for our worldwide movement to get stuck into but somehow, in UK Labour, we are stuck in a parochial battle that is sapping our energy.
My own campaign to represent my community and Riverside as a Labour MP has had to confront some of the most cynical and dishonest campaigning I’ve ever seen. These have included attempts to use my Jewishness against me, claiming I’m not Jewish enough or “the wrong kind of”. The idea is to cause enough of a stink in an attempt to bully the NEC into excluding Jews and socialists like me from representing the Labour party.
Worse still there has been a normalisation of antisemitism from this murky campaigning that has a real chilling effect on left wing Jews. Our voices are being silenced and the diversity of Jewish opinion, humanity and view points are condensed into a singular centrist concoction. I for one am not happy when non Jews tell us how or how not to be Jewish, or for them to wield a veto over which jewish voices are can be heard and which should be silenced.
Some of the worst antisemitism I’ve seen has come from online trolls like Gnasher Jew and their followers whose tactics in one memorable tweet included analysing an opponent’s Jewish heritage to see if they pass some kind of purity test. These people are not protecting the labour movement they are sullying it. They have a strategy on using antisemitism which follows a well-worn formula...
1. Identify your opponent
2. Create a panic with innuendo and smear
3. Threaten the Labour party with an antisemitism scandal
4. Use their allies to oust or exclude their opponent, trash their name in the media, threaten meeting venues and their employers.
This is not OK.
We belong to a diverse movement, not everyone will share the same opinion nor agree on tactics. One thing we should agree on is that racism is not a weapon, Racism is too important an issue to be used as a political football. To do so plays into the hands of racists and attacks our most vital weapon against racism in all its forms - our solidarity.
I was once told that naming a concept gives you power over it and so it is with racism. Naming racism has allowed us to identify and eradicate it in many places in our society. It has also created a space for the unprincipled to use it cynically against Jews like me, I trust the Labour Party to see through this just as many of my comrades have.
More than this though, they should know better, I’m a gobby and proud Jewish Scouser and I will keep speaking up for my community whatever they say.
29 October 2019