Why I’m glad Corbyn came to the Jewdas Seder

by Guest Wed Apr 04, 2018 11:17 am

Last night I attended a Seder to celebrate the Jewish festival of Pesach (Passover), held in Islington by a group called Jewdas. Before the fourth cup of wine had even been drunk, a story appeared on the right-wing Guido Fawkes blog, painting those who attended as extremists and the Twittersphere went into meltdown. Why? Because Jeremy Corbyn came to celebrate with us.

Jeremy could not have been a more gracious guest. Anyone who knows anything about the Passover Seder knows that it is not a quick event. It lasted over four hours, with Jeremy an active participant from start to finish, leading the prayer for Elijah’s cup, singing along with us as best he could, and even bringing along beetroot from his own allotment for our (vegan) Seder plate. He made an effort to speak to anyone who wanted to speak to him, about anything, and stayed long after the event to make sure that no one who wanted a picture left without one despite being obviously tired.

Now, with everything happening in the Labour Party, including Jeremy’s own inability in the past to identify and challenge antisemitism, and the party’s institutional failing to get a grip on it, you would think this would be something to be commended. While Jewdas are a left-wing group of predominately young Jewish people, those wishing to demonise Jeremy Corbyn have painted a deeply offensive and misrepresentative picture of the group as somehow antithetical to the “mainstream Jewish community”.

Yet many of last night’s attendees are absolutely part of the “mainstream community”. A number of us, myself included, are paying synagogue members and active in communal life, but we also recognise the failings of many of our communal institutions and communities – particularly when it comes to gender and queer identities, as well as the issue of Israel and the extent to which we do or don’t identify with it as part of our Judaism. It is untrue to say that there is any one narrative, political or otherwise, within Jewdas. It is a collective space where we can have uncomfortable conversations – what unites us all is the fact that we are Jewish.

From conversations with many young Jewish people in the Labour Party and the wider left, the primary grievance in recent years has been that too often we feel like we need to be apologetic for being Jewish in left-wing spaces, and apologetic for being left-wing in Jewish spaces. At last night’s Seder, we could unapologetically be both. It was a space where no one felt like they needed to be on guard, and we could just enjoy our festival celebrations for what they were, and where no one was priced out of participating. Anyone who was at last night’s event can tell you that it was everything you want in a good Seder: well-natured, humorous, boisterous at times, and accessible to those covering a whole spectrum of degrees of observance and Hebrew/Yiddish language skills.

It is not for non-Jewish people, in criticising Corbyn’s attendance, to determine what is and isn’t a legitimate expression of the Jewish faith. Many of the criticisms I’ve seen are themselves anti-Semitic. For those in the community who want to paint Jeremy’s attendance as an act of provocation, rather than an attempt to listen, engage, and share our festival with us, it’s actually just alienating many young Jewish people further and validating Jewdas’ very existence.

The Jewish community is not one monolithic bloc; part of its beauty is in its plurality and diversity. It’s absolutely right that, particularly when some community gatekeepers are refusing to meet with Corbyn, he nonetheless shows willingness to engage with the community at all levels, to listen and to learn, and be a gracious guest. If you want to see this for yourself, do as Jewdas did and simply invite him.

https://labourlist.org/2018/04/why-im-glad-corbyn-came-to-the-jewdas-seder/

by Guest Wed Apr 04, 2018 11:23 am

The Young Jews Shunning Israel and Building Radical New Communities
Young Jews who once saw Israel as their birthright are now shunning the state and finding community elsewhere.

Editor’s note, Tuesday 3rd of April 2018: Today Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been criticised for attending a Passover event with the Jewish group Jewdas. In 2016 VICE published this article which involved Jewdas. As a Jewdas Seder is now the source of political controversy, we’re re-publishing the piece so that you can read about the group.

Growing up with the knowledge that you have a homeland, a country that was fought for in your name, to be a place of safety should you ever face persecution for your culture and your faith, is a comforting thought. This is what that the state of Israel promises the eight million Jews living in diaspora communities around the world.

The Israeli Government is mounting the pressure for us to make the move there, with Prime Minister Netanyahu calling on Jews to relocate to the state: "I would like to tell all European Jews, and all Jews wherever they are: 'Israel is the home of every Jew... Israel is waiting for you with open arms," he said last year.

The problem is, for many young Jews right now, the modern state of Israel feels far from a home. A recent poll found that 47 percent of the UK's Jewish population believe that the Israeli government is "constantly creating obstacles to avoid engaging in the peace process". Three quarters said that the expansion of settlements on the West Bank is a "major obstacle to peace." Just under a third even said they wouldn't demand that Palestinians must recognise Israel as a Jewish state.

Annie Cohen is a London-based student and member of Jewdas, a new non-Zionist Jewish organisation based in London, which uses the strapline "radical voices for the alternative diaspora". The group's aim – according to its website – is to harness the "great radicalism of Jewish tradition, a tradition of dreamers, subversives, cosmopolitans and counter-culturalists" by "putting loyalty to ideas of international justice over tribalism and parochialism". The group is populated mostly by under-30s, and meets regularly, hosting cultural events and organising political campaigns such as refugee fundraiser "Beigels not Borders".

Organised communities in the diaspora seem unwilling to reflect this change in attitudes. The list of active, major Jewish youth movements in the UK are Zionist in their entirety, offering "unparalleled opportunities to meet other young Jewish people and to have fun whilst exploring personal connections to both Judaism and Israel."

Attempting to avoid these political fractures by by sticking to synagogue is no more fruitful. Festivals such as Yom Ha'atzmaut (Independence Day), the celebration of Israel's creation, are now inescapable dates in the religious calendar. The Prayer for the State of Israel read in services week on week. Israel has been weaved into the very fabric of modern orthodox Jewish practice.

So in the summer of 2015, Annie went to a week-long summit in Morocco, along with representatives from 10 other countries, to launch an alternative, international Jewish organisation. "The outcome of these meetings feels really important, we're just getting started, but we're growing, and will start campaigning together soon," she says. "It was an emotional experience to be sat for six days with people who care so much about ending the occupation. It felt so empowering, transforming our own communities, with people who had travelled across the world to be together."

Organisations like Jewdas have been growing in number and popularity worldwide. In America, the organisation representing Jewish students, Hillel, split over Israel. Campus branches calling for "inclusivity and open discourse" have felt no option but to form their own organisation to challenge these politics. Australia, South Africa, and Canada have new local groups too.

"What grew from trying to create spaces for Jews who shared anti-Zionist politics turned into something bigger, into somewhere you can be Jewish and not feel excluded for your views, where in fact they're the norm," says Annie. "We can support each other, especially those of us in countries where organisations are already vocal in their support for the Palestinian struggle, we can help members in other countries who are trying to get stuff off the ground."

It can be lonely and isolating; the comfort and familiarity of the world you grew up in feeling like a place in which you don't belong. The "self-hating Jew" stereotype becomes difficult to shake when your beliefs amount to betrayal in your wider community. But these networks have the capacity to change things, to be a vocal advocate for a different type of Judaism, and put an end to the political isolation that those rejecting a Zionist narrative often face.

You could put these new feelings of detachment from the Israeli state down to a shift in government policy; Netanyahu's Likud party was re-elected into power in 2015, veering further rightwards with its pledge to end talk of further withdrawals from occupied land. "If I'm elected, there will be no Palestinian State", Netanyahu boasted on the final day of the campaign.

But maybe it's less the policies, more the YouTube footage of Israel's actions – such as the July 2014 video of young Gazan children being shelled on a beach. This kind of harrowing, real-time footage that makes the Israeli Defence Force's response that "The reported civilian casualties from this strike are a tragic outcome", impossible to swallow, or put down to anti-Israeli Western media bias.

Moriel Rothman-Zecher was born in Jerusalem, but spent his formative years in Ohio, USA. Like many young Jews growing up in the diaspora, he hoped one day to make aliyah, literally "going up" in Hebrew, the phrase that describes Jews relocating to Israel.

Why I’m glad Corbyn came to the Jewdas Seder Meet-the-young-jews-shunning-israel-and-building-new-radical-communities-body-image-1454597421

Why I’m glad Corbyn came to the Jewdas Seder Meet-the-young-jews-shunning-israel-and-building-new-radical-communities-body-image-1454597421

Jewish anti-occupation campaign group All That's Left protesting against the destruction of West Bank village of Susiya.

"When I was as a kid, my idea was to move to Israel, join the army, and live what it represented," he says. Moriel returned to live in Jerusalem, but aged 22, his draft notice arrived, and made the decision to refuse military service. "I spent a few weeks in jail. I maintained a connection to the Jewish people, but the Government and military state? Not so much."

Today Moriel lives in Jerusalem, and is part of a network of Jewish activists called All That's Left, a politically diverse campaign group, united by disdain for the occupation.

When Moriel was 19, he lived in a Palestinian village inside Israel for a few months. For the first time, he saw Palestinians as people, which went against everything he'd been taught as a child. "There are a lot of concepts to grapple with in this conflict, and I didn't know any Palestinians personally. I suppose growing up I learned to view this whole group of people as a political concept, so it was easy to paint this nation as a threat."

From attempting to halt the evictions of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, to supporting families facing their community's destruction in the West Bank village of Susiya, Moriel's Judaism is now inherently connected to this political struggle.

But for the majority of young Jews, who aren't able to go and live with Palestinians and redefine their disaporic identity, social media has been key in changing attitudes.

"At school I'd never heard the word Palestinian", says Jordy Silverstien, a Melbourne-based Jewish academic who has abandoned her Zionist views. "For me, spaces like Facebook have been indispensable, I've met so many diaspora anti-Zionist and non-Zionist Jews around the world that without the internet I'd never have met."

Before social media united them, many Jews struggling to confront the politics of the modern religion were forced to walk away from it. For years, groups such as Jews for Justice for Palestinians had operated on the fringes of Jewish society; political organisations, but with no broader community of Jewish practice taking shape.

But the community is changing, a new Jewish identity is being formed, one that's distinct from a Zionist politics. It comes at a time when dissenting voices, and places of comfort, have never been more in demand.

https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/nn9yek/meet-the-young-jews-shunning-israel-and-building-new-radical-communities

by Guest Wed Apr 04, 2018 11:30 am

There has been a kerfuffle on social media about UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's decision to attend a "seder" by the group called Jewdas, which is a radical left organization that claims to have some Jewish identity.

The Guardian reports:

Jeremy Corbyn has been criticised for attending a Passover event with a leftwing Jewish group highly critical of mainstream Jewish communal bodies, and which has described the protests against the Labour leader as “faux outrage greased with hypocrisy and opportunism”.

Corbyn attended a Passover seder, the traditional meal of the Jewish festival, in his Islington constituency that was organised by Jewdas, which last week accused the Jewish Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and Jewish Labour Movement of “playing a dangerous game with people’s lives”.

The group – which runs alternative Jewish parties, events and a satirical website – said in a statement last week over the Enough Is Enough protests that much of the furore over antisemitism in Labour was “the work of cynical manipulations by people whose express loyalty is to the Conservative party and the right wing of the Labour party”.

A spokesman for Corbyn said he attended the event in a personal capacity and not in his official role as Labour leader, after his attendance was revealed by the Guido Fawkes blog. “He wrote to the Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council last week to ask for an urgent formal meeting to discuss tackling antisemitism in the Labour party and in society,” the spokesman said.

Jewdas, a collective that describes itself as “radical voices for the alternative diaspora”, says its members are “synagogue-going Jews, most with either paid or voluntary positions within our communities”. The group has been highly critical of the Israeli government, but has also published pamphlets for pro-Palestinian demonstrations advising activists how to avoid antisemitism in campaigning.

In a piece for the pro-Labour website Labour List, Charlotte Nicols, one of the attendees of the Jewdas seder, said Corbyn had stayed for four hours and was an active participant in the rituals.

Let's look at those "rituals" as seen in the Jewdas "Haggadah" from last year. (h/t On The Dark Side)

Most seders involve four cups of wine. Ours involves one quantity of wine and one only: as much as it fucking takes. For our purposes, the FIRST four cups we drink will represent the normal seder shit. The reason it normally involves four is because Judaism is obsessed with fucking four. Four represents “the four seasons of the year”, “the four douchebag ancient empires that fucked with Israel”, and “the four corners of the universe”. But the universe isn’t square. YOU ARE.
Tonight, the four cups are the four types of freedom. Just fucking go with it.

Now that we see how much Jewdas respects Judaism, we can go on:

Usually, left wing seders love talking about how Jews spill some wine in talking about the plagues to say that Egyptian suffering shouldn't be celebrated. Not this one:

SECOND BUCKET OF WINE
Legend has it that when the Egyptians were being sucked down
into the Red Sea, hallucinogenic angels wanted to chant a cover of
Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah in victory. This peeved Lorde. Lorde
rebuked: “Fucking angels! How you gonna do me like that? Those
are MY little bastards drowning down there! I know they were doing
bad shit, but fucking show some compassion!”
In a “normal” seder, we’d fill our second bucket of wine only halfway
to show that it’s sad to see any human suffering, even those
asswipes. In this seder, we fill two buckets of wine per person
because...yeah. Fuck those fascists.

Finally, we get to the point of "anti-Israel" part. And it isn't just anti-Israel, which, lets face it, no one would complain about. And it isn't just antisemitic, either.

Corbyn's buddies don't like the Queen either. Or Parliament.

“Prayer against the State of Israel” by Geoffry Cohen

Please God, smash the State of Israel. Smash it in the abundance of your
love. Send forth your light and truth to those who lead. And JUDGE it - on Yom
Kippur try to pay special attention to those who hold elective office. Establish
in them, through some sort of magic God thing, wise counsel, that they might
stop being so fucking racist. We're sure you've been trying but srsly, you need
to give this some more thought.
Strengthen the hands of those who seek to liberate our holy land that isn't
actually ours at all but everyone's. Let them inherit salvation and life. And give
peace to the land, and perpetual joy to all its inhabitants. Stop referring to the
“house of Israel”, that's gone, it's been hundreds of years, get over it, get a flat.
Plant in our hearts a love of everywhere. Destroy all borders, tear down all
walls, quick, before Banksy comes and draws something on it.
And for all our people everywhere, may God be with them, and may they have
the opportunity to go wherever they want to go, and help them to live in peace
with their neighbours. Cause your spirit’s influence to emanate upon the
dwellers of Stamford Hill and/or Golders Green.

Meaning...Jews. Because mainstream Jews are evil and need to be set right.

And fuck the queen and ESPECIALLY FUCK PRINCE PHILIP. Burn down
parliament. Full communism. Amen.

The British might tolerate the pure antisemitism and the desire for Israel to be destroyed in this "seder" - but they don't like when you mess with the Queen.

And Corbyn was an "active participant."

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2018/04/jeremy-corbyns-jewdas-seder-buddies.html

by Guest Wed Apr 04, 2018 11:32 am

Has to be said, those who only like Jews is they are 'the right kind of Jews' are the most anti semetic of the lot.

by Guest Wed Apr 04, 2018 11:36 am

sassy wrote:Has to be said, those who only like Jews is they are 'the right kind of Jews' are the most anti semetic of the lot.

So you support this group, that wants to see Israel destroyed?

The only Jewish state?

Not any other state?

They claimed, that the head of the British council of Jews, was a non-Jew, or did you not get their memo?

It has to be said, there is such a thing as people like you sassy enabling antisemitism

So now thousands of Jews are just making this all up according to sassy and the extreme left?

Labour now under Corbyn, is as bad as the Far right

by Guest Wed Apr 04, 2018 11:44 am

by Guest Wed Apr 04, 2018 11:47 am

Didge wrote:There has been a kerfuffle on social media about UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's decision to attend a "seder" by the group called Jewdas, which is a radical left organization that claims to have some Jewish identity.

The Guardian reports:
Jeremy Corbyn has been criticised for attending a Passover event with a leftwing Jewish group highly critical of mainstream Jewish communal bodies, and which has described the protests against the Labour leader as “faux outrage greased with hypocrisy and opportunism”.

Corbyn attended a Passover seder, the traditional meal of the Jewish festival, in his Islington constituency that was organised by Jewdas, which last week accused the Jewish Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and Jewish Labour Movement of “playing a dangerous game with people’s lives”.

The group – which runs alternative Jewish parties, events and a satirical website – said in a statement last week over the Enough Is Enough protests that much of the furore over antisemitism in Labour was “the work of cynical manipulations by people whose express loyalty is to the Conservative party and the right wing of the Labour party”.

A spokesman for Corbyn said he attended the event in a personal capacity and not in his official role as Labour leader, after his attendance was revealed by the Guido Fawkes blog. “He wrote to the Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council last week to ask for an urgent formal meeting to discuss tackling antisemitism in the Labour party and in society,” the spokesman said.

Jewdas, a collective that describes itself as “radical voices for the alternative diaspora”, says its members are “synagogue-going Jews, most with either paid or voluntary positions within our communities”. The group has been highly critical of the Israeli government, but has also published pamphlets for pro-Palestinian demonstrations advising activists how to avoid antisemitism in campaigning.

In a piece for the pro-Labour website Labour List, Charlotte Nicols, one of the attendees of the Jewdas seder, said Corbyn had stayed for four hours and was an active participant in the rituals.
Let's look at those "rituals" as seen in the Jewdas "Haggadah" from last year. (h/t On The Dark Side)

Most seders involve four cups of wine. Ours involves one quantity of wine and one only: as much as it fucking takes. For our purposes, the FIRST four cups we drink will represent the normal seder shit. The reason it normally involves four is because Judaism is obsessed with fucking four. Four represents “the four seasons of the year”, “the four douchebag ancient empires that fucked with Israel”, and “the four corners of the universe”. But the universe isn’t square. YOU ARE.
Tonight, the four cups are the four types of freedom. Just fucking go with it.
Now that we see how much Jewdas respects Judaism, we can go on:

Usually, left wing seders love talking about how Jews spill some wine in talking about the plagues to say that Egyptian suffering shouldn't be celebrated. Not this one:

SECOND BUCKET OF WINE
Legend has it that when the Egyptians were being sucked down
into the Red Sea, hallucinogenic angels wanted to chant a cover of
Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah in victory. This peeved Lorde. Lorde
rebuked: “Fucking angels! How you gonna do me like that? Those
are MY little bastards drowning down there! I know they were doing
bad shit, but fucking show some compassion!”
In a “normal” seder, we’d fill our second bucket of wine only halfway
to show that it’s sad to see any human suffering, even those
asswipes. In this seder, we fill two buckets of wine per person
because...yeah. Fuck those fascists.
Finally, we get to the point of "anti-Israel" part. And it isn't just anti-Israel, which, lets face it, no one would complain about. And it isn't just antisemitic, either.

Corbyn's buddies don't like the Queen either. Or Parliament.

“Prayer against the State of Israel” by Geoffry Cohen

Please God, smash the State of Israel. Smash it in the abundance of your
love. Send forth your light and truth to those who lead. And JUDGE it - on Yom
Kippur try to pay special attention to those who hold elective office. Establish
in them, through some sort of magic God thing, wise counsel, that they might
stop being so fucking racist. We're sure you've been trying but srsly, you need
to give this some more thought.
Strengthen the hands of those who seek to liberate our holy land that isn't
actually ours at all but everyone's. Let them inherit salvation and life. And give
peace to the land, and perpetual joy to all its inhabitants. Stop referring to the
“house of Israel”, that's gone, it's been hundreds of years, get over it, get a flat.
Plant in our hearts a love of everywhere. Destroy all borders, tear down all
walls, quick, before Banksy comes and draws something on it.
And for all our people everywhere, may God be with them, and may they have
the opportunity to go wherever they want to go, and help them to live in peace
with their neighbours. Cause your spirit’s influence to emanate upon the
dwellers of Stamford Hill and/or Golders Green.
Meaning...Jews. Because mainstream Jews are evil and need to be set right.
And fuck the queen and ESPECIALLY FUCK PRINCE PHILIP. Burn down
parliament. Full communism. Amen.
The British might tolerate the pure antisemitism and the desire for Israel to be destroyed in this "seder" - but they don't like when you mess with the Queen.

And Corbyn was an "active participant."

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2018/04/jeremy-corbyns-jewdas-seder-buddies.html

I think people will be more interested in this that they have said sassy.

No denying you support such appalling people

So again, do you support the destruction of the only Jewish state?

Not any of the countless Arab or Muslim states?

Or European states?

Asians States?

African states?

Australia or America?

Only sassy could defend extremists

by Guest Wed Apr 04, 2018 11:51 am

The supporters of Jeremy Corbyn are meant to comprise the most cultish movement British politics has seen. Yet on the issue of left anti-Semitism they do not blindly follow their leader. For once in their lives, they give every impression of thinking for themselves.

Corbyn has come as close as he can to admitting a mistake – which by most people’s standards is not close at all. Like Stalin airbrushing his own history, he has deleted his Facebook account. He did not explain how he found himself a member of Facebook groups that featured Holocaust denial, or defending medieval fanatics who believe Jews drink the blood of Christian children, or endorsing Nazi-style propaganda. But he was prepared to say the abuse of Jews and non-Jews (for all you have to do on the far left to become a ‘Zionist’ today is criticise Corbyn) was ‘certainly not in my name’.

His supporters in Momentum spoke with greater moral seriousness. The said anti-Semitism was ‘more widespread in the Labour party than many of us had understood’. (The ‘us’ in that sentence refers to Momentum’s leaders, incidentally, not to ‘anyone with eyes to see’.) Maybe the spectacle of Momentum’s Christine Shawcroft defending a Labour candidate who publicised Holocaust denial changed minds. Or perhaps Momentum’s founder Jon Lansman learned a lesson about modern racism I learned myself years ago.

Like blacksupporters of Donald Trump, Jews on the far left are tolerated as long as they follow orthodoxy. When Lansman stepped away from it by challenging Corbyn’s candidate for the Labour general secretary, his Jewishness had turned from an irrelevance into a total explanation for his character and behaviour. Lansman and his ‘Zionist friends no doubt want a Zionist in charge because they put Israel above the Left or even Britain,’ Corbyn supporters told him on Twitter. Momentum was ‘a vehicle to further his own Zionist takeover of the Labour party’.

For whatever reason, both Corbyn and Momentum have said prejudice must be recognised and fought.
Go to the Labour party forums on Facebook, however, or monitor Twitter and you find dark mutterings about plots by Jews to ‘smear’ Jeremy and help the Tories grind the faces of the poor into the dirt. Instead of being contrite about the fact that Jews and their allies held an anti-racist demonstration against the Labour party last week, Corbyn supporters seized on the presence of Tory MPs as evidence that that Labour MPs at the rally were ‘traitors’.

Quoting tweets leaves you open to the charge of exaggerating the importance of a few cranks and creeps. Look then at the main journals of the far left, which cannot be so easily dismissed.

Corbyn’s old newspaper the communist Morning Star said the ‘self-proclaimed ‘leaders of British Jewry’’ were making ‘bogus accusations that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is somehow soft on anti-Semitism’. In language horribly familiar to anyone old enough to remember the robotic curses of communism, the paper denounced Corbyn’s critics’ ‘preposterous posturing’. They were engaged in ‘a cynical ploy’ to undermine ‘Labour’s performance at forthcoming local elections’. So there you have it, if Labour loses seats, a Jewish conspiracy will be to blame.

Like the Morning Star, the Canary and SKWAWKBOX never once criticised the adoption of medieval and fascist ideas and images. Even though their leader, in however mealy-mouthed a fashion, has accepted he may have been at fault, they do not admit their mistake. Instead, they cast far leftists as victims rather than victimisers. Or as SKWAWKBOX explained as it shed the tears of the cry-bully.

Many people have reported depression, severe mental distress and even suicidal feelings as a result of the unprecedented and undeserved assault aimed at a leader who has given them hope of a change from the predations of the Tory government.

There you have it again. Criticism of Corbyn is a threat to public health. He is the way and the truth and the light, and anyone who is against him is against all hope and goodness.

Finally, a nest of academics sent the obligatory round robin to the Guardian arguing that black was white, two plus two equals five and charges of anti-Jewish bigotry were not based on the hard facts of Jewish experience of life on the left. They were, of course, a plot‘framed in such a way as to mystify the real sources of anti-Jewish bigotry and instead to weaponise it against a single political figure just ahead of important elections’.
The use of ‘weaponise’ is everywhere on the left and it is a tellingly insidious charge. The militaristic imagery is meant to imply to the faithful that uncomfortable arguments are not the normal business of free societies but acts of war.

There are two possible explanations. The first is Corbyn’s followers are finally breaking with him. Corbyn may have more power over the Labour party than any previous leader, but on anti-Semitism, his supporters will find the courage to defy him.

The alternative is more convincing. His followers do not believe Corbyn is sincere. He only speaks of his concern about anti-Semitism and his determination to do better because it is politically expedient, the smart PR move. In his doublespeak there is one message for worried Labour supporters, and another for his base. Don’t worry, he implies. Nothing will change. I am just going through the motions. The desire to send a Trumpian nudge and a wink was the real meaning of his decision to spend Passover with a tiny Jewish group that thinks there is no problem with anti-Semitism.

For a serious effort to combat anti-Semitism would require the far left to purge itself. It would require Corbyn to tell his supporters to stop threatening David Lammy, Thangam Debbonaire and the other Labour MPs who attended the demonstration against anti-Semitism outside Parliament last week. He now admits the demonstrators were right. Doesn’t he? So left wingers cannot censure Labour MPs for standing up for a cause their leader now believes in.

They can because when Corbyn was asked to say Lammy should not be deselected he retreated into doublespeak. At one point he seemedto be telling his followers to back off. At another he said it was ‘it was up to the local party’ and it was no business of his if it ended Lammy’s career.

We will see which side he comes down on when the far left comes for ‘Zionist’ MPs who have ‘weaponised’ anti-Semitism as part of an anti-Labour conspiracy. His supporters think they already know. They are not rebelling but following. They appear to defy the cult leader, while all the time honouring his wishes.

https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2018/04/jeremy-corbyn-and-the-far-lefts-anti-semitism-doublespeak/

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