Jonathan Ofir
Mondoweiss
Once again, a wave of hysteria concerning the British Labour's alleged 'anti-Semitic problem' is at a high. The target has always been leader Jeremy Corbyn and his fierce critique of Israel, considered dangerous by the more conservative Blairites and those further right in the political spectrum. Labour has been fighting for its soul, with activists trying to defend their right to oppose Israeli policy, or even Zionism, without it necessarily meaning that they are anti-Semites.
But it is of course the anti-Semitism accusation that is the most effective, and the conservative Jews are eager to make it stick. And now, international mainstream media is shamefully assisting - not only BBC and Washington Post, but also the Israeli liberal newspaper Haaretz.
Amanda Erickson's article in Washington Post Sunday is titled: "In a brutal open letter, Jewish leaders in Britain accuse Jeremy Corbyn of anti-Semitism". She takes the word of "Jewish leaders" for her opening sentence:
Erickson refers to the current controversy:
Mondoweiss
Once again, a wave of hysteria concerning the British Labour's alleged 'anti-Semitic problem' is at a high. The target has always been leader Jeremy Corbyn and his fierce critique of Israel, considered dangerous by the more conservative Blairites and those further right in the political spectrum. Labour has been fighting for its soul, with activists trying to defend their right to oppose Israeli policy, or even Zionism, without it necessarily meaning that they are anti-Semites.
But it is of course the anti-Semitism accusation that is the most effective, and the conservative Jews are eager to make it stick. And now, international mainstream media is shamefully assisting - not only BBC and Washington Post, but also the Israeli liberal newspaper Haaretz.
Amanda Erickson's article in Washington Post Sunday is titled: "In a brutal open letter, Jewish leaders in Britain accuse Jeremy Corbyn of anti-Semitism". She takes the word of "Jewish leaders" for her opening sentence:
"The Labour Party has a long history of troubling behavior, according to Jewish leaders in Britain."She continues with an example:
"In 2016, former London mayor Ken Livingstone was suspended from the party after he said Adolf Hitler had been a supporter of Zionism in the 1930s."But what if that was largely accurate? Livingstone had said that Hitler was "supporting Zionism", referring to the Transfer Agreement of 1933-39. But Livingstone's words are being twisted again and again in a desperate attempt to avoid the very issue - that he was actually referring to a factual historical event, with legitimate appraisal of it.
Erickson refers to the current controversy:
"Then, on Friday, Labour lawmaker Luciana Berger, who is Jewish, challenged Corbyn's office to explain something he had posted on Facebook in 2012. In the post, he was responding to Los Angeles-based artist Kalen Ockerman, who had complained that one of her [sic; Ockerman is a man] London street murals was being painted over in response to criticism that it was anti-Semitic."Read more
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