Labour’s ties with community under spotlight at Limmud
Anti-Semitism in Labour is 'real' but 'exaggerated' according to the chief of Momentum Jon Lansman, speaking at Limmud conference
Labour’s often fractious relations with the Jewish community were spotlighted in two packed sessions at this year’s Limmud conference. And the star of the show, according to social media reports, was Labour’s former parliamentary candidate for Finchley and Golders Green, Sarah Sackman.
In passionate and well-received remarks, the 32-year-old barrister acknowledged that it had been a difficult time to be a member of the Labour Party, and admitted that she had been repeatedly asked how she, as a Jewish woman, could remain involved.
But Ms Sackman, who is vice-chair of the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM), urged her audience: “Shape events or be shaped by them. Don’t mourn — organise”. She said there were battles in which the Jewish community needed to get involved, not least in combatting “the rise in the suspicion of the other — and we know where that ends.”
Ms Sackman was speaking on a panel which included Jon Lansman, the Jewish founder of Momentum, the pro-Jeremy Corbyn campaign group.
Mr Lansman, treading a difficult line, both acknowledged that there was anti-Semitism within the Labour Party but also claimed that the bulk of it pre-dated Jeremy Corbyn’s election as party leader, and that today it was both “real” but “exaggerated”. He criticised both Tories and non-Jews on the right of the Labour Party whom he accused of spinning anti-Semitism into a bigger issue than he believed it was. But he drew an incredulous response from some members of the audience when he praised the Chakrabarti Report into Anti-Semitism — as “a good start”.
Fellow panellists such as Luke Akehurst, director of We Believe in Israel, and the chair of JLM, Jeremy Newmark, did not agree.
Mr Akehurst said: “I was very disappointed by Chakrabarti, I thought she understood what the community’s concerns were”. She had failed to come up with a definition of anti-semitism which acknowledged what happened “when anti-Zionism can cross the line and become anti-Semitic. We now have that definition as the government has defined and adopted it. The Labour Party should abide by that same definition.”
JLM chairman Jeremy Newmark described the Chakrabarti Report as a “mixed bag.” Its launch and presentation had been “incredibly poorly handled” but there had been some important dimensions in it such as the delineation of the word “Zio” as an offensive term.
But — to loud applause — Mr Newmark added: “Jeremy Corbyn needs to stand up and take responsibility. You cannot support and be friends with organisations like Hamas and Hizbollah whose charter contains statements urging and inciting genocidal anti-semitism, and at the same time claim to be an anti racist and an opponent of anti semitism without that having an impact on the broader membership of your party.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
