Jeremy Corbyn Accused Of Being ‘Unquestionably Anti-Semitic’ By Major Jewish Leader
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(JTA) — British Labour Party head Jeremy Corbyn holds “anti-Semitic views” which could drive Jewish Britons out of the country if he becomes prime minister, a senior Jewish leader said.
Jonathan Arkush, the outgoing president of the Board of Deputies of British Jewry, told the British newspaper the Daily Telegraph that British Jews are for the first time asking “do we have a future here?”, which he blamed on the Labour leader’s failure to rid his party of anti-Semitism.
Arkush, who was one of two Jewish leaders to meet in April with Corbyn to discuss anti-Semitism in the party, said in the interview that Corbyn’s views on Israel are born out of anti-Semitism.
“Delegitimizing the state of Israel is anti-Semitic,” Arkush told the Telegraph. He “was a chairman of Stop the War, which is responsible for some of the worst anti-Israel discourse.”
The group protests what it calls unjust conflicts and often protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank.
“If he shares the prevalent discourse about Israel, then that view is unquestionably anti-Semitic,” Arkush asserted.
Arkush said Corbyn would need to tell Jews that he “will not accept a discourse which denies the existence of their own land to the Jewish people … I think we are all entitled to some clarity on his real views about Israel.”
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