Contents- please click on link to jump to paragraph header:
Corbyn and the Mural
Jeremy Corbyn pretty much sealed his fate when he apologised for supporting the London mural picturing rich bankers feasting on the backs of the poor. Zionists declared that he supported the antisemitic trope that these were rich Jewish bankers; Corbyn immediately apologised and the mural was destroyed.
With a little research Corbyn might have stood up to the Zionists and saved his future. He essentially handed them victory from that time on. So who were the images in the so-called “antisemitic” mural based upon?
In fact, only two out of the six were Jews. The mural portrayed rich people, two of which happened to be Jewish. (Jews have historically been well-represented in banking, as My Jewish Learning explains). This was a mural about rich bankers- not about Jews. By accepting the claim that all were Jews, the media and Corbyn together handed victory to the Zionists in round one of the tarring of Corbyn. It was downhill from here for Jeremy Corbyn, the politician most maligned through bogus antisemitism charges.
Corbyn and the Banner
Corbyn has always been an incredible supporter of anti-apartheid work both in South Africa and in Israel. The attacks on him hit the headlines when in July 2018 he was called an ‘f****** racist and antisemite‘ in the Commons by fellow Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge. The relentless bogus antisemitism attacks over the following year weakened his resolve to protest his innocence, as he and his supporters in the PLP faced an onslaught in the press.
But Corbyn was seen as a hero for his commitment to democratic socialism, social justice and his support for Palestine. Artist Carlos Latuff was so impressed by Corbyn standing up against Israel in the face of vicious attacks that he created the cartoon at the top of this page. Pete Gregson (a Labour member of some 38 years) used the image as part of his campaign to get the Labour Party to abandon the IHRA definition of antisemitism. At the 2019 Labour Conference in Brighton, Zionists slashed his banner with the Latuff cartoon on it. The police initially did not intervene, but when the Zionists gathered en masse, they took the banner away to Police HQ. Corbyn astonished many when he subsequently declared the banner antisemitic in a tweet. The artist, Latuff, was dismayed when he learnt of Corbyn’s reaction. The banner had been made by Gregson; read his account of the attack in Off-Guardian. Corbyn’s condemnation was covered in many publications – see links to their coverage here.
After you’ve read the Off-Guardian piece… As an update: Gregson decided not to prosecute the police for accommodating the Zionists- although he could have, for the Police had broken the law, by undermining his freedom of speech. But what they would have come back in court with was that the banner’s removal was necessary to prevent a riot, and Gregson suspected the judge may have sided with them on that. After he’d found a barrister to consider the case, Gregson learnt that if he had won he might have secured just a few hundred pounds in damages. But if he’d lost, and been called upon to pay the police legal costs, that could have run to hundreds of thousands of pounds. It’s this threat, of having to pay the opposing party’s costs, that stymies many who would seek redress in the courts. So Gregson decided not to proceed.
At Labour Conference the year prior, in Liverpool, the police had stopped Pete from putting up the banner- they were able to do so, because Conference in Liverpool takes place on land owned by Liverpool Council and is technically “private land”. Unlike in Brighton, where the street outside Conference is public. Read Gregson’s account of his efforts to prosecute the police in 2018 here.
For information on those who’ve gone to court over bogus antisemitism- see our page Legal Battles- Lost and Won
Support Corbyn
In spite of his capitulation over the banner, Corbyn deserves our ongoing support- most particularly over his stance on the deeply flawed EHRC report on Labour. The report claimed there were “serious failings in the antisemitism complaint handling system”, “significant failings in the way the Labour Party has handled antisemitism” and “serious failings in leadership”. These are all rubbish- Corbyn appointed Jennie Formby who did a fair job of overhauling the processes- and whilst there were plenty of investigations and suspensions while Corbyn was in charge, there were few expulsions, because the flimsy nature of most antisemitism charges did not justify them. As soon as Starmer took over, they skyrocketed.
Corbyn knew there was not much real antisemitism in Labour
In spite of Corbyn’s 2019 declaration that Labour was a party for both Zionists and anti-Zionists, the Zionists, in the form of the Jewish Labour Movement (see more here) continued to pursue him. He resigned his leadership in Jan 2020 after losing the General Election- but following the flawed EHRC report on antisemitism in Labour, Corbyn pointed out that the scale of antisemitism had been dramatically overstated by politicians inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media. Keir Starmer then suspended him from Labour. Supporters have rallied round him, but in January 2022, Labour’s NEC voted (by 23 votes to 14) against reinstating Corbyn to the Party. Sir Keir and much of the PLP fear another Zionist attack on Labour in the press if they do otherwise.. And Starmer is, officially, a Friend of Israel to boot.
Corbyn’s views are backed up by academics and judges. Illan Pappe noted in 2018: “It is not the Labour Party that is infested with anti-Semitism; it is the British media and political systems that are plagued by hypocrisy, paralysed by intimidation and ridden with hidden layers of Islamophobia and new chauvinism in the wake of Brexit.”
In the same year, Stephen Sedley, a former Court of Appeal judge, dismissed the charge that the Labour Party was “institutionally” or “culturally” antisemitic. He wrote that “an undeclared war is going on inside the party, with pro-Israeli groups such as the Jewish Labour Movement seeking to drive out pro-Palestinian groups like the Jewish Voice for Labour by stigmatising them, and Corbyn with them, as anti-Semitic.” He believes that outside bodies like the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council – “neither noted for balanced criticism of Israel” – weigh in, aided by “generous media coverage”.
[There are sections about Labour’s Antisemitism Data and the Impact of the IHRA on Labour on our IHRA page here. ]
The ferocity of the media’s attacks on Corbyn contrast with the sympathy emoted by the attempted smearing of Starmer over Savile by Boris in early 2022. Read Jonathan Cook’s piece “Why is there uproar at the smearing of Starmer but not Corbyn?“
23rd June 2022: Just in- Corbyn finally points the finger at Israel! EXCLUSIVE: JEREMY CORBYN ON THE ESTABLISHMENT CAMPAIGN TO STOP HIM BECOMING PM at https://declassifieduk.org/exclusive-jeremy-corbyn-on-the-establishment-campaign-to-stop-him-becoming-pm/
21st Feb 2023: Corbyn is told by Starmer he cannot stand as a candidate in the next general election. The Observer piles in Observer hack attacks Jeremy Corbyn – and triggers a war of words | Vox Political (voxpoliticalonline.com)
May 2023: Asa Wistanley’s new book is published “Weaponising Anti-Semitism: How the Israel Lobby Brought Down Jeremy Corbyn”