Whilst some of the Board of Deputies' #TenPledges to end the #antisemitism crisis are problematic and arguably contradictory, the ferocity of the response from many on the Labour left is unwarranted and reflects discriminatory attitudes towards Jewish community advocacy. /1 
The BoD is being accused of arrogance and interference in the Labour Party's internal affairs as if the central issue highlighted by the pledges - antisemitism and our leadership's failure to tackle it - had absolutely nothing to do with the communities it represents. /2
From all the fuss, we might imagine the #TenPledges to be an initiative without precedent, but challenging political parties and election candidates to sign up to commitments of this type is a campaigning tactic used by many community bodies and campaign groups. /3
Pledge documents really are commonplace these days. There were lots of them circulating during the 2019 general election. /4
The Muslim Council of Britain issued one too, calling upon political parties and election candidates to back its 'Ten Key Pledges to Support Muslim Communities'. /5
Whilst those pledges were directed at all parties, the MCB did much to highlight the specific problem of #Islamophobia in the Conservative Party and its leadership's reluctance to address the matter.
The MCB hasn't confined itself to cross-party initiatives either. /6
The MCB hasn't confined itself to cross-party initiatives either. /6
The MCB intervened in the Tory leadership election to support Sajid Javid's call for an investigation into Islamophobia in the party and criticised Boris Johnson's racist remarks. It demanded that named Conservative local associations be suspended for anti-Muslim racism. /7
After he won the leadership election, the MCB welcomed Johnson as new prime minister and expressed hope that he'd be able to unite the country. Yet it hasn't been accused of supporting the Tories in the way that some on the left have portrayed a similar statement from the BoD. /8
The MCB's positivity there has not stopped it from maintaining critical pressure on Johnson over the Islamophobic sentiments that are endemic in his party. /9
The BoD document focuses on the internal processes of the Labour Party rather than areas of public policy. However, that simply reflects the party's failure to get its house in order and the wider societal impact of that - ie, increasingly radicalised hostility towards Jews. /10
The #TenPledges, however imperfect they may be, are a reasonable response to what has happened in our movement and its failure to drive out antisemitism. If we don't like the BoD proposals, then we have to come up with something better rather than attacking the messenger. /11
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