by Asa Winstanley
Part 5 - Corbyn’s mistake
The same poll for the Jewish News also found that 52 percent of Labour voters agreed that “Jeremy Corbyn is the target of a concerted smear campaign by his political opponents to try to discredit him over anti-Semitism.”
The smears worked because instead of pushing back, Corbyn and his advisers capitulated to them.
This was a fatal mistake.
Instead of challenging lies as lies, Corbyn kept robotically condemning anti-Semitism, even when there was no real anti-Semitism to condemn. He hoped that would be enough to make the issue go away.
The time to condemn anti-Semitism is when real and lethal anti-Semitism is happening – overwhelmingly from the right.
The smears worked because instead of pushing back, Corbyn and his advisers capitulated to them.
This was a fatal mistake.
Instead of challenging lies as lies, Corbyn kept robotically condemning anti-Semitism, even when there was no real anti-Semitism to condemn. He hoped that would be enough to make the issue go away.
The time to condemn anti-Semitism is when real and lethal anti-Semitism is happening – overwhelmingly from the right.
But condemning “anti-Semitism” in the face of a fabricated smear campaign to defend Israel and smash the left was a recipe for disaster.
Corbyn effectively accepted the lie that Labour had a “problem” with anti-Semitism and opened himself to more attacks that he wasn’t doing “enough” to combat it.
As the anti-Semitism witch hunt escalated, many good socialists were pushed out of the party for doing nothing wrong.
Corbyn was unable or unwilling to prevent it, while Labour centrists hoped that throwing just one more comrade under the bus would finally put the accusations to rest.
These retreats set a long pattern.
Corbyn effectively accepted the lie that Labour had a “problem” with anti-Semitism and opened himself to more attacks that he wasn’t doing “enough” to combat it.
As the anti-Semitism witch hunt escalated, many good socialists were pushed out of the party for doing nothing wrong.
Corbyn was unable or unwilling to prevent it, while Labour centrists hoped that throwing just one more comrade under the bus would finally put the accusations to rest.
These retreats set a long pattern.
Well-known British figures were targets of the witch hunt: They included former London mayor Ken Livingstone, socialist lawmaker Chris Williamson and anti-racist and left-wing campaigners Jackie Walker, Marc Wadsworth and Tony Greenstein.
Many of those suspended, expelled or investigated are Jewish anti-Zionists.
They were falsely accused, demonized and then forced out – with Corbyn’s acquiescence.
But the Israel lobby and the the intransigent Labour right were never appeased because the “anti-Semitism crisis” was never about real anti-Semitism.
Many of those suspended, expelled or investigated are Jewish anti-Zionists.
They were falsely accused, demonized and then forced out – with Corbyn’s acquiescence.
But the Israel lobby and the the intransigent Labour right were never appeased because the “anti-Semitism crisis” was never about real anti-Semitism.
It was about removing Corbyn and ending the left-wing ascendancy whose platform included support for Palestinian rights as part of a foreign policy with justice and solidarity as central values.
The damage goes far beyond Labour, with the emergence of open threats to ban Palestine solidarity and crack down on left-wing publications.
John Mann, a former right-wing Labour MP who now works for Boris Johnson’s Conservative government, plans to investigate The Canary and other independent publications for supposed anti-Semitism. In other words, the witch hunt is far from over.
The damage goes far beyond Labour, with the emergence of open threats to ban Palestine solidarity and crack down on left-wing publications.
John Mann, a former right-wing Labour MP who now works for Boris Johnson’s Conservative government, plans to investigate The Canary and other independent publications for supposed anti-Semitism. In other words, the witch hunt is far from over.
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