One of Labour's Jewish MPs, Dame Margaret Hodge, called Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn a "fucking antisemite" to his face in the House of Commons today, following some votes on Brexit.
"You’re a fucking anti-Semite and a racist," Hodge told Corbyn, according to a fellow MP. "You have proved you don’t want people like me in the party."
Corbyn reportedly replied: "I’m sorry you feel like that."
The astounding attack seems to have been motivated by two recent events. A week ago Naz Shah, a Muslim MP, who was formerly accused of "anti-Semitism," was promoted to be Shadow Equalities Minister, making her the party spokesperson on that subject.
Then, today, the Labour Party's National Executive Council (NEC), which decides party policy, refused to define criticism of Israel as "anti-Semitism."
In recent years the Labour Party has been embroiled in a fake anti-Semitism row, caused by its Leftist anti-colonialist attitudes to the state of Israel, which many Left-wingers view as a White colonial power, occupying the land of the Palestinians.
Labour members have increasingly been indulging in anti-Zionist memes, with reports that some members may even have gone further.
In fact this is the problem with Naz Shah who was forced to apologise after she retweeted this anti-Zionist meme, sensibly advocating the relocation of Israel to a more hospitable part of the world:
In order to prevent incidents like this and further outbreaks of infighting, the Labour Party decided to create a code of conduct on anti-Semitism.
Jewish MPs and their supporters are pushing for the most wide-ranging definition of anti-Semitism, namely that of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which includes criticism of Israel as a form of anti-Semitism:
“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews...Manifestations might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity. However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic. Antisemitism frequently charges Jews with conspiring to harm humanity, and it is often used to blame Jews for “why things go wrong.” It is expressed in speech, writing, visual forms and action, and employs sinister stereotypes and negative character traits."
At the NEC meeting to discuss the code or conduct, NEC member Rachel Garnham said the IHRA guidelines were deeply flawed because they conflated criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
Meanwhile a Labour party spokesperson told the Huffpo that the proposed code of conduct supported by the NEC actually adopts the IHRA definition but “expands and contextualises” its examples.
I guess that's just not good enough for people like Hodge who have sunk their career in the fake narrative of the Labour Party being a hotbed of rabid anti-Semitism.
I suppose Corbyn is doing his bit by offering no opposition to Brexit, and preventing a Remainer from leading Labour.
ReplyDeleteBut Corbyn ought to start telling the truth as he sees it regarding the EU; like Coriolanus, you cannot be an effective public speaker until you speak from the heart. As a bonus, he can drive the haters out of his party.
A Corbyn interregnum for a year or so might be helpful to set up a Rees-Mogg Government. It would be hard for Rees-Mogg to accomplish anything as a book end to a decade of "Call Me Dave" Conservatism.
The proper goal of a Rees-Mogg government? The Northern Alliance: Russia, USA, UK etc. and the destruction of the EU.