The Observer view: Labour leadership is complicit in
antisemitism
The Panorama programme revealed a toxic culture that merely
reforming the party’s processes will not solve
Observer editorial
Sun 14 Jul 2019 06.00 BST
‘It absolutely breaks my heart to say, but I do not think
the Labour party is a safe space for Jewish people any more.” Thus spoke Izzy
Lenga, a Labour member interviewed in last week’s Panorama documentary on
antisemitism in the party. Her words echo sentiments expressed by many Jewish
MPs, members and supporters in recent months, and are a dreadful indictment of
Labour’s failure to confront and root out antisemitism within its ranks.
The documentary brought to light fresh allegations about
interference from Jeremy Corbyn’s office in disciplinary procedures supposed to
be independent of the party’s leadership. It found that, as recently as this
spring, 1,000 complaints about antisemitism had yet to be dealt with, and so
far only 15 people have been expelled as a result. But the most powerful
moments of the programme were in the brave testimony of party members and staff
who spoke of their experience of dealing with antisemitism and its impact on
their mental health.
Before the programme was broadcast, Labour dismissed the
whistleblowers – one of whom told the programme he had suicidal thoughts while
he was working for the party – as “disaffected former officials” with
“political axes to grind”, and threatened to sue them for breaking
non-disclosure agreements. As reported in today’s Observer, these
whistleblowers are taking legal action against the party leadership for defaming
them.
Labour’s official response denied that there was a problem
with its disciplinary procedures, and asserted that the rate at which
antisemitism cases are being dealt with has increased fourfold, without
providing any evidence.
This response marks a new low, but it is not out of
character. Corbyn has been under scrutiny for the way his party deals with
cases of antisemitism for more than three years: in 2016, the home affairs
select committee was damning about Labour’s disciplinary processes. Yet he has
failed to get a grip on this, appearing not to care sufficiently to have made
it a priority.
Serious questions remain about the lack of action taken
against high-profile Corbyn allies accused of antisemitism.
Last month, Chris Williamson MP had the Labour whip
reinstated after being suspended for suggesting the party was “too apologetic”
about antisemitism, when a panel ruled he should only receive a reprimand (the
suspension was reinstated following a backlash from MPs and peers).
In May, Pete Willsman was suspended for alleged antisemitism
for the second time in 10 months when a recording emerged of him accusing the
Israeli embassy of “whipping up” complaints against Labour. The investigation
into Willsman is pending and he remains a member of Labour’s national executive
committee. This contrasts starkly with the speed with which Alastair Campbell
was expelled from the party after saying he didn’t vote Labour in the European
elections: it took just two days.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is conducting a
statutory investigation into antisemitism in the party, but it is likely to be
months before it reports. Labour must act now. As a minimum, it must introduce
an independent disciplinary process that is transparent about the number of complaints
it is dealing with, the rate at which they are being processed, and their
outcomes.
But reforming processes is not enough: Labour’s antisemitism
problem is one of culture, not just procedure. Of course antisemitism is not
limited to the left. But the nature of antisemitic tropes that paint Jewish
people as a malign, controlling influence of the world means that some on the
left have been particularly susceptible, even as they loudly proclaim
themselves anti-racists. And in among his vows that Labour stands against “all
forms of racism”, and the implication that Labour’s problems with antisemitism
are merely a product of the fact that it exists in society at large, Corbyn has
failed to acknowledge this. The chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, last week said
that the Labour leadership was directly complicit in the scourge of
antisemitism. It is to Labour’s great shame that he is right.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário