Antisemitism on the far-left now exceeds antisemitism on the far-right. The leader of the once fiercely anti-racist Labour Party is now the candidate of choice for anti-Jewish racists, and 84% of British Jews feel that he is a threat specifically to Jews. Two in five British Jews have considered leaving the UK over antisemitism in the past two years alone, 85% of them because of antisemitism in politics, with two thirds expressly mentioning the Labour Party or its leader as their reason.Digging into the details, we see that he survey asked seven questions of its respondents to indicate if they have antisemitic attitudes; the first five measuring positive answers and the last two negative answers.
“British Jewish people chase money more than other British people.”
“Having a connection to Israel makes Jewish people less loyal to Britain than other British people.” “Jewish people consider themselves to be better than other British people.”
“Compared to other groups, Jewish people have too much power in the media.”
“Jewish people talk about the Holocaust just to further their political agenda.”
“Jewish people can be trusted just as much as other British people in business.”
“I am just as open to having Jewish friends as I am to having friends from other sections of British society.”
Note that none of these questions are about Zionism and Israel - each of these exposes traditional antisemitic stereotypes.
58% of those who strongly liked Jeremy Corbyn held two or more antisemitic views, and 35% held four or more such views, compared to around 40% and 20% respectively among those who strongly liked each of the other three party leaders....The leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, appears to be the candidate of choice for many antisemites.The survey also asked about examples of anti-Zionist attitudes that fit under the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism. While the report didn't break down those results by political party affiliation, the results for British people altogether are most concerning, and multiplied by those who consider themselves far-Left. The worst example:
“Israel treats the Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews.”
Almost one third of Britons believe that Israel treats the Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews, which is an explicit example of antisemitism according to the International Definition.
The comparison invokes a double standard, as there is no objective justification for the claim and other states are rarely characterised in this manner. Moreover, it associates the Jewish state with what many consider to be the most evil regime in history and, above all, the comparison draws a parallel between the state that murdered half the Jews in Europe and the state to which the survivors and other
persecuted Jews fled.
This antisemitic belief has not been captured in previous surveys, yet it is held by 31% of the British population. Merely 26% of respondents rejected the antisemitic proposition. Still more worryingly, this statement was believed to be true by a staggering 60% of members of the ‘very left-wing’ boost sample.
This is a damning survey, not only for Labour Party followers but also for how bad things are in the UK altogether for Jews.