Labour leader attended meeting of Jewdas, which is at odds with mainstream
Jewish groups over alleged antisemitism in the party
Jeremy Corbyn has been criticised for attending a Passover event with a leftwing Jewish group highly critical of mainstream Jewish communal bodies, including describing the protests against the Labour leader as “faux-outrage greased with hypocrisy and opportunism”.
Corbyn attended a Passover seder, the traditional meal of the Jewish festival, in his Islington constituency run by Jewdas, which last week accused the Jewish Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and Jewish Labour Movement of “playing a dangerous game with people’s lives”.
The group – which runs alternative Jewish parties, events and a satirical website – said in a statement last week over the Enough Is Enough protests that much of the furore over antisemitism in Labour was “the work of cynical manipulations by people whose express loyalty is to the Conservative party and the right wing of the Labour party”.
A spokesman for Corbyn said he attended the event in a personal capacity and not in his official role as Labour leader, after his attendance was revealed by the Guido Fawkes blog. “He wrote to the Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council last week to ask for an urgent formal meeting to discuss tackling antisemitism in the Labour party and in society,” the spokesman said.
Jewdas, a collective that describes itself as “radical voices for the alternative diaspora”, says its members as “synagogue-going Jews, most with either paid or voluntary positions within our communities”. The group has been highly critical of the Israeli government, but has also published pamphlets for pro-Palestinian demonstrations advising activists how to avoid antisemitism in campaigning.
In a piece for the pro-Labour website LabourList, Charlotte Nicols, one of the attendees of the Jewdas seder, said Corbyn had stayed for four hours and been an active participant in the rituals.
“Many of last night’s attendees are absolutely part of the ‘mainstream community,’” she wrote. “It is untrue to say that there is any one narrative, political or otherwise, within Jewdas. It is a collective space where we can have uncomfortable conversations – what unites us all is the fact that we are Jewish.
“It is not for non-Jewish people, in criticising Corbyn’s attendance, to determine what is and isn’t a legitimate expression of the Jewish faith. For those in the community who want to paint Jeremy’s attendance as an act of provocation, rather than an attempt to listen, engage, and share our festival with us, it’s actually just alienating many young Jewish people further and validating Jewdas’ very existence.”
However, the Campaign Against Antisemitism described Corbyn’s attendance as “a very clear two-fingered salute at mainstream British Jewry”.
“It is hard to imagine how this duplicitous man can claim to be remedying antisemitism within the Labour party. The party must consider the message that is sent to British Jews and other minorities by him remaining as leader.”
The Labour MP John Woodcock said Corbyn’s attendance at the meeting was “irresponsible and dangerous” and said it was “deliberately baiting the mainstream Jewish community days after they pleaded with him to tackle antisemitism”.
Another Labour MP, Angela Smith, said Corbyn’s attendance at the Jewdas seder “reads as a blatant dismissal of the case made for tackling antisemitism in Labour”.
In a Twitter post, Jewdas said its members were “proud to be Jews and proud of everyone who attended, whether they were Jewish or not. We want everyone to know – we’re leaving Mitzrayim (Egypt). Change is coming. Revolution will come.”
The Jewish comedians David Baddiel and David Schneider said MPs and others should not immediately dismiss Jewdas.
“They are just Jews who disagree with other Jews ... To make out that it’s somehow antisemitic for him to spend Seder with them just because they’re far left is balls,” Baddiel wrote on Twitter.
Schneider tweeted: “‘Boo! Corbyn needs to get out and meets some Jews!’ (Corbyn spends Passover with some Jews at Jewdas) ‘Boo! Not those Jews!’”