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The Times have also reposted @RachelRileyRR's speech on modern antisemitism thetimes.co.uk/article/rachel…
@RachelRileyRR Obviously not all people sending abuse to Rachel and many others (especially Jewish women) are Labour members or officials. But having followed this closely for a year or so it is my strong view that the Labour Party have brought this on themselves...
... It was clear 3 years ago there was a rising tide of antisemitism at the grassroots level but also within the Corbyn-led mass movement. The Baroness Royale, Chakrabarti and Home Affairs Committee reports were published by Autumn 2016. Royale's was limited but was squashed...
... by the press office. It made a number of recommendations which have not been implemented. Chakrabarti's was a poor effort and stained by her swift elevation to the Lords but some of the recommendations were useful. Almost none have been implemented...
... Home Affairs Committee was very clear - Chakrabarti did a bad job and Corbyn in particular and party in general had not - in the slightest - managed to get a grip on the issue. This was followed by a good faith attempt by the Jewish communal orgs to engage but to no avail
... the IHRA definition was accepted but through the most gritted of gritted teeth, and Corbyn himself never really signed up. Meanwhile - and this is perhaps the worst part - the disciplinary and grievance system which is necessary to make any definition of antisemitism work...
... is totally broken, by all accounts, internal and external. The entire team filtering complaints apparently left and it doesn't sound like any progress is being made. It's a massively politically biased process, as revealed by whistleblowers...
... in the meantime, another key thing which could have been done - education to ensure that Labour rank and file and officials don't inadvertently express antisemitic views - has not been done. At all. So, as I said, this is on Labour. Can't see how it can get better.
... Politics moves on. Unfortunately it is now up to a very small number of UK Jews (such as @RachelRileyRR) to cry out , but since Labour have effectively endorsed the 'this is all anti-Corbyn smear' line (by utterly failing to educate or discipline) all they get back is abuse
@RachelRileyRR ... and sometimes it gets messy, as how are people meant to respond to abuse where the institution which should be preventing it has abrogated that responsibility and therefore effectively authorised it? It's a scandal and I'm sad to say it's the party's fault.
@RachelRileyRR ... And the buck of course stops at Corbyn, who is incapable for a number of reasons for getting a grip on this issue. And the sensible people in the movement around him *know this*. And I know they know this because they have told me!
... Despite everything, Corbyn's interviews and actions show he still doesn't get it. He doesn't get how to distinguish between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. He doesn't get that own past actions are problematic. Crucially he has a blindspot re his political fellow travellers.
... Within the party, he has presided over a shambles of an NEC disciplinary and grievance process, a lack of crucial political education (which he perhaps needs most of all) and a fingers-in-ears approach to genuine Jewish concerns. It's a travesty.
... I have acted in 3 public inquiries which were about institutional culture. One about NHS and two about the Army. Through an institutional culture lens, what has happened in the Labour Party was preventable and will, in the long term, reflect incredibly badly on the leadership
... Moving forward, the only thing which I think will be able to break through the stubborn and insidious lack of action to address this (which will take 5 years at least as it's deeply ingrained) is some kind of properly independent intervention. What it would be, I don't know.
... For those saying "this is all fake or trumped up" - just do a little google search for the number of *Labour Party officials" - elected councillors, heads of party committees etc. who have been disciplined for antisemitism. And that's not even starting with the membership
... That's *officials*. People who are running things. It's unbelievable - inexcusable - that the party hasn't got a grip on it, and allowed the further and plainly antisemitic myth to develop that it's smears, Blairites and splitters who are doing it.
... The lightning rods for vicious culture which has developed are Jewish women by the way, such as @RachelRileyRR, @TracyAnnO, @lucianaberger, @RuthSmeeth, who have the steel to stand up. Shows something.
@RachelRileyRR @TracyAnnO @lucianaberger @RuthSmeeth ... And ultimately it shouldn't be for Jewish TV presenters, actors or isolated MPs to have to litigate this publicly and on their own. They should have the full and unconditional backing of the party itself, as victims. But. They. Don't.
@RachelRileyRR @TracyAnnO @lucianaberger @RuthSmeeth ... It has been an object lesson on how not to handle a sensitive issue of racism in a political party. People will look back and say "we must avoid making any of these errors and omissions". Meanwhile, Jews have to fight the lonely, dispiriting fight against trolls on Twitter.
