Is Jeremy Corbyn a racist? Absolutely not
It is difficult to label Jeremy Corbyn as racist and antisemitic when it’s a paradox to the Labour leader’s core values.
The antisemitism row that has plagued the party and Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership show no signs of quieting down. Antisemitism does exist internally. There is no doubt about it. The hard-left politicians who remain unscathed from discipline highlight the weakness in Corbyn’s management. His silence is deafening, but we must not get confused. Jeremy is not an anti-Semite, nor a racist, he is just feeble.
How can a man, who has categorically attacked any bout of racism, be revealed as a racist? A man who has ardently defended the anti-apartheid movement through demonstrations and protests. A famous image of Corbyn in 1984, a year into his MP role, shows him being arrested for protesting against the apartheid that was ensuing in South Africa. He has been well-received for his political activism, prolifically highlighting the damage caused in racial hatred societies. During the Windrush scandal that wreaked havoc on the Tories in recent months, he has shown sympathy and civility for immigrants affected. He criticised Theresa May and her former position as the home secretary, for ‘pushing (her) hostile environment policy through parliament’. He has called for justice for the Windrush generation and compensation for the jeopardization of their British lives.
Now, this where Corbyn’s anti-racist stance becomes complex. The Arab-Israeli conflict that has perpetuated through the Middle East and the western world has resulted in many western leaders aligning with Israel. They perceive Israel as a significant ally in the calamitous Middle East crisis that the U.K and U.S will not leave be. As we all know, the nation of Israel became the Jewish holy land to atone the persecution of Jewish communities under Nazism after the second world war. Consequently, the Arab population of Israel have been degraded, displaced and brutalised by an authoritative Israeli government. Due to this, Corbyn has always stood with Palestine.
This is truly cutting a long and inexplicable story short. But any unification with Palestine has become embroiled in a link with antisemitism. There’s one definitive example in the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) which defines antisemitism but that Corbyn cannot yet accept. The seventh rule in the vastly supported IHRA is; “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour”. It does not seem to bode well with the hard-left’s continuous critique of Israel’s militant tactics against Palestinian territories. This is where the linkage between Corbyn, antisemitism and the Labour party is distinctive.
To prove he is completely against all forms of racism, Corbyn must act now. Before the resignation, he should have been quick to remove Ken Livingstone from the party completely. Livingstone’s comments comparing Zionism to Hitler has no place in a party that has fought endlessly to abolish discrimination. Moreover, Corbyn should take on board the controversy surrounding the seventh example of the IHRA by precisely stating the blatant differences between condemning a polemic Israel government to being antisemitic. He should join with all Jewish communities and boards across the country to express utmost sorrow for the pain his party has caused. Finally, he must suspend all party members who have expressed outrageous antisemitic views and continue to state that they have no place in leftist politics.
Jeremy Corbyn is not a racist. We must not forget the battles he has fought to end it. But, you do not have to be a racist to enable racism to flourish. Expressing his outspoken anti-racist views could not be more appropriate. Like he keeps telling voters, Labour are “for the many, not the few”.
