Liberal rabbi accused of ‘victim-blaming’ by JLC over call to engage with Labour
Senior rabbi sparks rare rebuke from the JLC after appearing to suggest the community needed to do more to build relations with Labour – saying “close ties” were an obligation,
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
There has been an impasse in dialogue between Labour and the mainstream community since the JLC and Board of Deputies met Jeremy Corbyn in March for talks, described as “a disappointing missed
opportunity”.
Speaking to Jewish News, Rabbi Danny Rich, chief executive of Liberal Judaism and himself a Labour councillor, said Anglo-Jewry “is in danger of being accused of only desiring regime change in the Labour Party – and there is not a cat in hell’s chance of that happening”.
He believed, he said, that there was “an obligation for the Jewish community to work very closely with the Labour leadership. The situation today is very volatile, and working closely with those who might form the next government does not mean that when one sees antisemitism, it shouldn’t be called out”.
He added that a Labour government did not only mean the prime minister, and that it should be possible to establish good working relationships with many ministers.
But he said the current level of “no discussion” between the Jewish community and Labour was “not helpful” to either.
“Those Jews who are still members of Labour ought to do everything they can to encourage dialogue,” he added.
But JLC chair Jonathan Goldstein, told Jewish News from LA: “Holding the Jewish community accountable for the current impasse has the danger of becoming a form of victim-blaming. It is important to remember that this isn’t a fight the community wants to have, it is one we have been forced into.
“We have engaged with the Labour leadership in good faith and set out a series of reasonable steps for them to take to reduce levels of antisemitism in the party. That was six months ago – not only have they failed to deliver on a single one of those steps, they have bunkered down. All the evidence points to the fact that the Labour leadership is either incapable or unwilling to change.”
At the end of March, following the “Enough is Enough” rally near Parliament, the JLC and the Board of Deputies wrote to Corbyn setting out a series of steps he could take to address the situation.
These included bringing outstanding and future antisemitism cases to a swift conclusion under a fixed timescale. The two Jewish bodies asked for “an independent, mutually agreed ombudsman” to be appointed, and asked that MPs and councillors should not share platforms with suspended members. Anybody who does should themselves be suspended from membership or lose the party whip.
Goldstein said their key recommendations had not been addressed; there is still said to be a large backlog of antisemitism cases to be finalised and there have been numerous cases of platform-sharing that have not led to suspension or the loss of the party whip.
Relations were further soured after Labour failed to consult with the Board and JLC before initially adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism without all its examples –a decision since overturned.
In response to Goldstein, Rich said: “I do not want to personalise the issue or blame anyone, but it seems to me a great tragedy that the two great communities of which I am proud to be a member, the Jewish community and the Labour Party, are not talking to each other.”
In the interview, Rich described Jewish Voice for Labour chair Jenny Manson as a “very decent woman” but insisted he was not supporting her run for parliament.
He classified himself as a religious Zionist member of the Labour Party. He said he felt warnings of Labour as “an existential threat” were “exaggerated nonsense. But that does not mean Labour should not take seriously that there are people who are frightened and want to leave”. But, he said, such talk meant “the people we need to persuade go into siege mode”.
He said Labour “needs to get its act together and throw out the antisemites as soon as possible,” adding that on both sides of the divide “people find it hard to apologise”.
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.
