by
Jonathan Cook
Part
2 - Revenge of the Blairites
Williamson,
it should be noted, is widely seen as a key ally of Jeremy Corbyn, a
democratic socialist who was propelled unexpectedly into the Labour
leadership nearly four years ago by its members. His elevation
infuriated most of the party’s MPs, who hanker for the return of
the New Labour era under Tony Blair, when the party firmly occupied
the political centre.
Corbyn’s
success has also outraged vocal supporters of Israel both in the
Labour party – some 80 MPs are stalwart members of Labour Friends
of Israel – and in the UK media. Corbyn is the first British party
leader in sight of power to prefer the Palestinians’ right to
justice over Israel’s continuing oppression of the Palestinians.
For
these reasons, the Blairite MPs have been trying to oust Corbyn any
way they can. First through a failed re-run of the leadership contest
and then by assisting the corporate media – which is equally
opposed to Corbyn – in smearing him variously as a shambles, a
misogynist, a sympathiser with terrorists, a Russian asset, and
finally as an “enabler” of anti-semitism.
This
last accusation has proved the most fruitful after the Israel lobby
began to expand the definition of anti-semitism to include not just
hatred of Jews but also criticism of Israel. Labour was eventually
forced to accept a redefinition, formulated by the International
Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, that conflates anti-Zionism –
opposition to Israel’s violent creation on the Palestinians’
homeland – with anti-semitism.
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