1/ Michael - I'm going to give this one more go. I am not an expert in antisemitism. I am not a Tory voter or supporter. I am a Labour voter, save for in the 2017 election when I voted Lib Dems. I don’t have any axe to grind about Labour or Corbyn.
2/ I am a human rights lawyer and a Jew. I started writing about this issue in Spring as I was really worried - for the first time in my life - about the level of antisemitism which was bubbling up and a lot appeared to be coming from the left and the movement around Corbyn.
3/ This isn’t my job and I don’t spend my time looking for antisemitism in different parts of society - others do that. I decided to get involved with this because I saw a real problem which I thought I could help with in and add some light not heat.
4/ As I looked more at the issue, I came to the realisation that it wasn’t just a few isolated incidents, it was something pervasive. Not that all Labour members are antisemitic - of course not - but it was more than a few bad apples. see harpers.org/archive/2018/1…
5/ Some in the upper echelons of the Party were painting the issue as a kind of Jewish conspiracy - Trump fanatics etc - and making the issue worse, creating a hostile atmosphere for Jews. And Corbyn himself seemed to be unable to handle the issue with insight and sensitivity.
6/ I have never denied there is antisemitism or racism in the Tory Party. In fact, I spent the past 8 years or so consistently criticising them for their approach to human rights. But I think it’s OK for me to choose an issue which I see as important and focus on it.
7/ Let me give you an analogy. Tories have a problem with Islamophobia. Johnson’s comments, the approach to Kahn. It may be institutional. I don’t expect everyone who talks about that issue to also, at the same time, devote an equal amount of attention to Labour or the Lib Dems
8/ And I don’t think it’s always an answer to say to people who, having identified Islamophobia in Tory Party, that they haven’t ‘applied the same standards’ to Labour, or the Lib Dems, or the Greens. The issues can be *different* even though they involve similar institutions
9/ Yes, of course people should be consistent. But that doesn’t mean being *the same*.
So to take your IHRA example. I have written extensively on the IHRA and the process by which Labour attempted to edit it and then adopt it.
So to take your IHRA example. I have written extensively on the IHRA and the process by which Labour attempted to edit it and then adopt it.
10/ I wasn’t advocating it to be adopted before Labour attempted to do so. At that point, I wrote that it wasn’t perfect, and Labour’s attempt to edit it weren’t terrible, but on balance they should adopt it for Labour-specific reasons, no more than that
11/ I never said it was a panacea. In fact, I have very clearly said it isn’t - that Labour’s problem is institutional. The IHRA won’t fix it - and it may not help at all if not backed up with cultural change
12/ To conclude - I agree there hasn’t been as much of a focus on Tory antisemitism. I see the reason for that as different, though - it just isn’t as big a problem as it is in Labour. I’m sure we will never agree on that point, but I don't know how to persuade you tbh
13/ But just as I don’t think Islamophobia is a big problem in Labour, so newspapers haven’t focussed on it as a regular story. I don’t think that undermines their coverage of Tory Islamophobia. It's not an answer for Tories to say "you haven't focussed on Labour Islamophobia"
14/ So when you say to me: what do you think of the Tory Party not adopting the IHRA examples? First, I’m not sure that’s right, though I accept there are arguments both ways. Second, if it’s right I’m sorry but I don’t think it proves what you want it to prove.
15/ It doesn’t necessarily prove that the media is biased, because the IHRA definition issue was very Labour-specific, about how they went about the process and in the context of a terribly strained relationship with the Jewish community.
16/ I don’t think it proves I am biased (see above) though will think what you like about that. I also don’t think - as I have said many times before - that it is an answer to the problems in the Labour Party to say the the Tories are as bad or worse. Racism is bad full stop.
17/ Having said all of this, I will make sure to focus my attention as much as I can on Tory antisemitism, and keep a careful eye. The thing that depresses me is that I think the ‘balance’ you are demanding is really for me to ‘lay off’ the Labour Party.
18/ And I’m sorry, but until Labour sorts this problem (which the senior people in the Party, unlike others, are taking seriously) I will keep talking about it. And insofar as I can support people doing good things, like Momentum, I will. Where I am wrong I will admit I'm wrong.
19/ Peace out, Michael. /end
