The right-wing politics of the British “Labour anti-Semitism” smear campaign
By
Jean Shaoul
5 April 2018
The British and international media is filled with uncritical reports of Jewish protests against Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, centred on the March 26 demonstration by some 200 people outside parliament demanding that Corbyn purge the party of supposedly rampant anti-Semitism.
Little has been said about the forces behind the protests or their political objectives. However, an examination of the tendencies and prominent leaders involved makes clear that strident accusations of anti-Semitism are aimed at shifting the domestic and foreign policy not just of Labour, but of the entire British political establishment sharply to the right.
Especially critical is the effort to silence any criticism of the right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and its brutal subjugation of the Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and within Israel itself, as well as its plans to draw the US into a direct military confrontation with Iran and Iran’s regional allies.
To this end, right-wing Zionists are carrying out a smear campaign against Corbyn and his supporters, with the aim whipping the Labour leader firmly into line, or, if possible, replacing him altogether.
The demonstrations and accusations are portrayed in the media as representing the “voice” of the “mainstream Jewish community.” This is a lie—and not only because it treats Jewish people as a single, monolithic bloc.
The organisations leading the attack are the Board of Deputies of British Jews (BoD) and the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC). The 250-year-old BoD is elected by the synagogues and Jewish charity organisations. But given its admission that about half of all…