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A thread about why this oped by David Feldman is such a trenchant analysis of why Labour’s problem with anti-Semitism is so persistent - and, tacitly, his own journey from hope in, to disillusionment with, Jeremy Corbyn. It’s quite a ride 1/21 https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/the-real-reason-corbyn-s-anti-racist-labour-just-can-t-deal-with-anti-semitism-1.8191704
Feldman was vice-chair of the 2016 Chakrabarti inquiry into Labour anti-Semitism. Its main findings were lukewarm and fuzzy: the party was guilty of an occasional 'toxic atmosphere'; 'too much clear evidence [of] ignorant attitudes' on anti-Semitism 2/21
http://www.pearsinstitute.bbk.ac.uk/home/chakrabarti-inquiry-report-published/
http://www.pearsinstitute.bbk.ac.uk/home/chakrabarti-inquiry-report-published/
The Chakrabarti inquiry made plenty of (non-binding) recommendations; Feldman stated they constituted 'a sound basis on which the Party can move forward' 3/21 http://www.pearsinstitute.bbk.ac.uk/home/chakrabarti-inquiry-report-published/
Corbyn declared: ‘Under my leadership Labour will not allow hateful language or debate in person, online, or anywhere else. We will aim to set the gold standard, not just for anti-racism, but for a genuinely welcoming environment for all communities’ 4/21 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36672022
The signs were ominous from the start. At the launch itself, a hard left activist harangued a Labour Jewish woman MP, accusing her of covertly conspiring with the right-wing press. She left the launch in tears; he was expelled (two full years later) 5/21 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-antisemitism-jeremy-corbyn-ruth-smeeth-jewish-mp-accused-of-colluding-with-media-a7111061.html
The inquiry was framed as ‘independent’ of the party. It suffered a major credibility loss when Corbyn pushed Chakrabarti to the House of Lords, suggesting a quid pro quo: play down anti-Semitism, get a peerage. The ‘whitewash for peerages’ scandal 6/21 https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/fury-at-peerage-for-chakrabarti-1.62363
The three years since have seen a truly endless, well-documented series anti-Semitic incidents at all levels of the party (here, a first-personal account by @adamlangleben)…7/21 https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/corbyn-has-led-labour-into-mob-rule-and-institutionalized-anti-semitism-1.6953886
Including the hounding out of two Jewish women MPs who were subjected to constant intimidation, abuse and threats 8/21 https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/biggest-split-in-labour-party-s-history-over-institutional-anti-semitism-1.6942380
...and a clear directive from on high to interfere with and shut down the party’s disciplinary system dealing with complaints of anti-Semitism 9/21 https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/.premium-jew-baiters-and-anti-racists-how-corbyn-destroyed-britain-s-labour-party-1.7492017
That systematic behavior has triggered an investigation of potential ‘institutional anti-Semitism’ and unlawful discrimination in the party by a Labour-established state body, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (still in progress) 10/21 https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/mar/07/labour-antisemitism-equalities-watchdog-opens-investigation
A year ago, Feldman wrote in @haaretzcom with @b_mcgeever ‘though we conventionally associate anti-Semitism with the right and fascism, the political culture of the Left has long been a source of anti-Semitism…’ 11/21 https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/labour-s-festering-anti-semitism-problem-didn-t-start-with-corbyn-1.5980426
‘[More recently] avowed anti-racists seem unable to recognise anti-Semitism when it stares them in the face [dismissing] it as a smear perpetrated by "Blairites" and Zionists’ 12/21 https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/labour-s-festering-anti-semitism-problem-didn-t-start-with-corbyn-1.5980426
This week, Corbyn participated in what was widely recognized as a ‘car crash’ interview with @afneil in which he was offered the chance four times to apologize to the Jewish community - and refused 13/21 https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1199393787149242368?s=19
Asked if the phrase ‘Rothschild’s Jews run Israel and world government’ was anti-Semitic, he even referenced the Chakrabarti report to say the phrase ‘should not be used’ - but demurred from calling it anti-Semitic 14/21 https://twitter.com/Dannythefink/status/1199448621705572353?s=09
So it’s fascinating to read Feldman now, 3 years on from his initially optimistic Chakrabarti era, and weeks from a general election offering Corbyn as a potential PM as polling shows 30% of the entire electorate believe Corbyn is anti-Semitic 15/21 https://twitter.com/britainelects/status/1199714681868423173
Feldman’s take now? Labour's in the 'extraordinary' position of being ‘attuned to the everyday racism suffered by people of color, to Islamophobia, and to the legacies of colonialism’ but ‘failed to comprehend and deal with the racism in its own ranks directed at Jews’ 16/21
He explains why ‘ejecting a few bad apples,’ the few truly ideologally committed anti-Semites, from Labour, won’t help: ‘Labour’s anti-Semitism problem is neither so simple nor contained: the issue is one of anti-Semitism, not anti-Semites’ 17/21 https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/the-real-reason-corbyn-s-anti-racist-labour-just-can-t-deal-with-anti-semitism-1.8191704
That anti-Semitism drinks from a ‘reservoir’ of ‘negative, stereotypical ideas about Jews embedded deeply within our culture’ meeting covert/malign ‘Jewish power’ conspiracy theories originating on the right but now ‘most visible on the left’ 18/21 https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/the-real-reason-corbyn-s-anti-racist-labour-just-can-t-deal-with-anti-semitism-1.8191704
Feldman has hardly rushed to judgement. But it’s his final line that shows his distance from being appointed by Corbyn to that 2016 inquiry, to a loss of faith in the Labour leader’s capacity to learn, apologize and understand the basic dynamic of left-wing anti-Semitism. 19/21
Labour anti-Semitism ‘will only be addressed by education, contrition and a leadership able to recognize and explain to members how racism can enter a political party, even one that conceives itself as the embodiment of anti-racist principles’ 20/21 https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/the-real-reason-corbyn-s-anti-racist-labour-just-can-t-deal-with-anti-semitism-1.8191704
It seems clear to Feldman and to many others that Jeremy ‘life-long anti-racist’ Corbyn is incapable of just that 21/21
