In one of the most bitterly and closest fought elections in recent memory, the United Kingdom went to the polls Thursday, to select new members of parliament. Many were uninspired by the choice in front of them; either a Boris Johnson-led Conservative Party government or a Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour Party one.
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A snapshot of the tweets and opinion pieces from British Jews reveals the dread that the community feels about the potential prospect of the latter. Allegations and evidence of outright anti-Semitism have swirled around both the party – its MPs and councillors – and the leader himself over the last few years. The fact that Corbyn is still the leader of the Labour Party and is in with a shout of sneaking the UK's top political position is deeply upsetting.
In fact, the front page of the Jewish News encapsulated the mood with a front page imploring voters to not vote Labour.
The Israel Advocacy Movement, tweeted footage of a group of Jewish anti-racist activists subjected to a torrent of anti-Semitic abuse at Jeremy Corbyn's closing party.
Watch in horror as a group of anti-racist Jewish activists are subject to a torrent of antisemitic abuse at Jeremy Corbyn's closing party.
A kinder, gentler politics.#NeverCorbyn pic.twitter.com/Nyr9o7VGcz
— Israel Advocacy Movement (@israel_advocacy) December 12, 2019
Labour Against Anti-Semitism tweeted that in its opinion, the Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour Party was institutionally anti-Jewish and that it was unfit for government.
This morning we reiterate our belief that the overwhelming scale of institutional anti-Jewish racism renders Jeremy Corbyn unfit for power and the Labour Party unfit for government.
- Our message to the British electorate remains "ABC: anyone but Corbyn".#NeverCorbyn #GE2019 https://t.co/2BitFWELN2— LAAS (@LabourAgainstAS) December 12, 2019
Michael Dickson, a former UK resident and now executive director of Israel advocacy group StandWithUS tweeted his appreciation to non-Jewish British friends, who have reached out to him to express solidarity with the beleaguered Jewish community.
Thank you to British friends who are not Jewish and have reached out to tell me that they are standing with the beleagured UK community and will never vote for Corbyn! The morality of your vote and your solidarity is so appreciated! https://t.co/aeDbQnOzK4 #GE2019
— Michael Dickson (@michaeldickson) December 12, 2019
Author and weekly Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland, whose mother was a Holocaust survivor, tweeted about the status of a heavily Jewish constituency – Finchley and Golders Green. He acknowledged there were two things there that people agreed upon; admiration for the bravery of Luciana Berger, the Liberal Democrat candidate who was hounded out of the Labour Party for being an unrepentant Jew and that it is barely credible that this is even an issue in a UK election in 2019.
Much debate among Corbyn-wary Jewish voters in Finchley & Golders Green on how to vote. But two things most agree on. 1) Admiration for a brave Jewish woman @lucianaberger, hounded out of her party by antisemites. 2) Sadness that such a thing shd even be a factor in a UK election
— Jonathan Freedland (@Freedland) December 11, 2019
And David Collier, who is an anti-Semitism campaigner online, tweeted that 280 characters were not enough to put into words what his feelings were. He identified that whatever the outcome, he would never feel the same about the country of his birth again.
I can't put into 280 characters what I am feeling. However this turns out my relationship with the country of my birth will never be the same. Millions of Brits see me as alien, as other, as not truly British.
I think Corbyn will lose - but there's still no joy in that for me.
— David Collier (@mishtal) December 12, 2019
Ben Ari, writing in the Evening Standard, remarked that he is Jewish and his wife's family is Muslim-Iranian. He declared his intent to spoil his ballot paper, ending a 100-year chain of voting for Labour, but no longer, and all because of anti-Semitism.
"Jewish families in Britain, my own included, need the NHS, social care, affordable housing and better job opportunities as much as anyone else, yet it feels like we are the only ethnic minority being forced to make a choice between our identity and our politics," he wrote.
The polls suggest that the Conservatives lead over Labour is down into single digits – and that the result may just be too close to call. Will Johnson and the Conservatives get over the line?
Will Corbyn come from behind and lead a Labour victory?
Will there be a hung parliament, with neither of the two main political parties having a majority? Or, will there be another coalition government – possibly the Scottish National Party and Labour? Everyone, but possibly the Jewish community most of all, is waiting with bated breath.
