Faith leaders line up against Jeremy Corbyn to back Chief Rabbi’s warning on anti-Semitism

Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Sikh leaders have joined Britain’s Chief Rabbi in condemning Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour for anti-Semitic ‘poison’.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, top left, has thrown his support behind Britain's Chief Rabbi, bottom left, to call out anti-Semitism in Jeremy Corbyn's Labour.

Britain’s Chief Rabbi has been backed by Christian, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh leaders after he ­attacked the “poison” of anti-­Semitismin Jeremy Corbyn’s ­Labour Party.

Ephraim Mirvis put Mr Corbyn’s record on anti-Semitism at the heart of the election campaign on Tuesday when he wrote in “unfit for high office”.

He warned that the “very soul of our nation is at stake” on December 12.

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Mr Corbyn refused four times to apologise to British Jews on Tuesday night (Wednesday AEDT), saying Rabbi Mirvis was “not right” to say that Labour’s claim to have investigated every case was a “mendacious fiction”.

He insisted he had improved Labour’s disciplinary processes and he was “looking forward” to talking to Rabbi Mirvis to “hear why he would say such a thing”.

Repeatedly invited by Andrew Neil on the BBC to apologise to British Jews, Mr Corbyn each time declined. Instead, he said he wanted to ensure “our society will be safe for people of all faiths”.

READ: “The way in which the leadership of the Labour Party has dealt with anti-Jewish racism is incompatible with the...

Posted by Chief Rabbi Mirvis on Monday, 25 November 2019

He said racism was “a total ­poison”. “I want to work with every community, to make sure it’s eliminated. That is what my whole life has been about,” he said.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the refusal to apologise was shameful.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was swift to express solidarity, echoing the concerns over anti-Semitism but without singling out Labour or Mr Corbyn.

“That the Chief Rabbi should be compelled to make such an unprecedented statement at this time ought to alert us to the deep insecurity and fear felt by many British Jews,” Dr Welby said.

‘Racist’ party under Corbyn

The Muslim Council of Britain called anti-Semitism in politics “unacceptable” and also turned its fire on the Conservative party, accusing it of “tolerating Islamophobia and allowing it to fester in society”. The council suggested that Muslims should also follow Rabbi Mirvis’s call to “vote with their conscience” and not vote for the Tories.

The Hindu Council UK supported the Chief Rabbi’s “comments on [the] Labour Party having become a racist party under Jeremy Corbyn”. Citing a resolution passed at the party conference criticising India’s actions in Kashmir and calling for self-determination for the region, it said Labour was “polarising Hindu and Muslim relations”.

Sikh crossbench peer Indarjit Singh said Rabbi Mirvis’s criticism had been “very strong but I can understand the hurt”. He added that Sikhs, Hindus and Buddhists also faced a rise in discrimination, saying this was often “left on the side” of the focus on anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

Senior Labour figures were divided on Tuesday over how to respond to the criticism. Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, told the New Statesman: “I know the Chief Rabbi, I’ve met him many times. And I admire and respect him. But he’s wrong.”

Jeremy Corbyn speaks in London on Tuesday. Picture: AP

She urged Labour supporters, however, not to “go for the messenger”, saying: “You need to think carefully about the message. And there’s no doubt that a lot of Jewish people are very angry about our seeming inability to deal with anti-Semitism in our midst.

“Everybody now accepts that we took too long to deal with it. That we weren’t strong enough about it. That is now accepted. The difficulty is that once you lose confidence or trust, it takes quite a long time to get it back.”

She added that she did not think Mr Corbyn was himself anti-Semitic.

Labour peer Charlie Falconer, a former lord chancellor, said the Chief Rabbi’s criticism was “deserved” and that there were “a lot of cases that have not been properly investigated”.

‘Proud of my church, ashamed of my party’

He told The World at One on BBC Radio 4: “We deserved an attack that strong, we need to deal with anti-Semitism properly. We are not dealing with the cases within the party.” He said he would support Labour at the election next month, provided that the Chief Rabbi’s “extraordinary but justified intervention will be listened to”.

Wes Streeting, the Labour candidate for Ilford North in London, shared on social media Dr Welby’s message. Mr Streeting wrote: “This is how a real leader responds … I am proud of my church and ashamed of my party.”

Jess Phillips, the Labour candidate for Birmingham Yardley, said: “The only response to the Chief Rabbi that is moral is, ‘I’m sorry and I’ll do whatever I possibly can to win back your community’s trust’.”

Jon Lansman, a member of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee and chairman of the pro-Corbyn activist group Momentum, said some Jewish groups had “refused to engage” with Mr Corbyn. He told Channel 4 News: “I acknowledge the deep concern of the Jewish community about this but I think we are doing our best to deal with it, I really do.”

Luciana Berger, a former Labour MP who is now a Liberal Democrat candidate, said she had had to leave Labour because she “couldn’t change things from within”.

“I did everything within my power,” she said. “I couldn’t change things from within and sadly, as I said then and I feel very strongly today, the Labour Party is institutionally anti-Semitic.”

The Labour Party has defended its record on anti-Semitism, insisting that in government it would “guarantee the security of the Jewish community, defend and support the Jewish way of life and combat rising anti-Semitism in our country and across Europe”.

The Times