Thank the Lord – and it's still hollow joy. Jeremy Corbyn, who was head of Britain's Labour Party and nearly became British prime minister, has been suspended. When he was elected party leader, British Jews started voicing concern. They pointed not only to his pro-Palestinian positions, including his support of academic and economic boycott of Israel, but also their fear of systematic racism in the party itself. Only a few believed these claims, and they were accused of personal attacks against the new leader because of his criticism of Israel.
But by a certain stage, no one could deny it any longer: there was a problem of anti-Semitism. More and more evidence from within the party and from Corbyn's inner circle began to surface, and that led to a wave of resignations by Labour MPs. Others were suspended, and the party's Israeli counterpart announced it was cutting ties with Corbyn.
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That doesn't seem to have perturbed Corbyn particularly. He continued his campaign toward No. 10 Downing St. But then something amazing happened: the Jewish community united and led a campaign to expose the dark side of the Labour leader to Britain and the world. Corbyn led his party to its worst defeat in 30 years, but remained at its head until April 2020. Last week, he was officially suspended after a report determined that he had ignored and failed to address anti-Semitism in the party. His response? That the accusations of anti-Semitism were overblown. No regret whatsoever.
But Corbyn's suspension is not enough. As the report reveals, anti-Semitism has trickled down through the party's institutions, and if it wants to shake off Corbyn's problematic legacy it will have to clean house. The party must get rid of the anti-Semitism in its ranks, and neutralize all the mechanisms that allowed for discrimination and racism disguised as "criticism of Israel" and "solidarity with the Palestinians." If Labour ever wants to be a political home for Jews, it owes them wide-reaching changes – with all due respect to the important suspension of its former top official, who is no longer relevant, anyway.
But this story illustrates yet again how powerful the Jewish community can be when it pulls together. There can be no doubt that many outside the community took, and are still taking, part in the mission to eradicate anti-Semitism in the party, but without an unequivocal and unwavering stance by the Jewish community – zero tolerance for anti-Semitism – it's doubtful that things would have turned out this way.
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