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EHRC verdict proves why British Jews were so distressed, say communal groups
Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and the Community Security Trust give their reaction
October 29, 2020 10:39
Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and the Community Security Trust give their reaction
October 29, 2020 10:39Thursday’s bombshell Equality and Human Right Commission (EHRC) report into the Labour Party offers a “damning verdict” on antisemitism, Jewish groups said.
The report, which found three breaches of the Equality Act 2010, “proves why British Jews were so distressed and it disgraces those who attacked us,” the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council and the Community Security Trust said in a joint statement.
The equality body described a culture within the party which “at best, did not do enough to prevent antisemitism and, at worst, could be seen to accept it.”
It also said that it found 23 instances of political interference by staff in the Leader of the Opposition’s Office and set out recommendations to improve the party’s processes and culture.
“Our Jewish community never wanted this fight, but we had to defend ourselves and are proud to have done so. We thank all those who stood with us, despite the abuse they received as a result,” the groups said.
“Jeremy Corbyn will rightly be blamed for what he has done to Jews and Labour, but the truth is more disturbing, as he was little more than a figurehead for old and new anti-Jewish attitudes. All of this was enabled by those who deliberately turned a blind eye.
“Now, the task of cleaning out the problem lies with the current leadership. We welcome the start that [Labour leader] Keir Starmer has made, but the scale of the challenge that lies ahead should not be underestimated.”
The party's Jewish affiliate, the Jewish Labour Movement, said: "The blame for this sordid, disgraceful chapter in the Labour Party’s history lies firmly with those who held positions of leadership - those who possessed both power and influence to prevent the growth of anti-Jewish racism, but failed to act."
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said the impact of the report extends beyond "antisemitism or the Jewish community, by sending a powerful message that the politics of scapegoating and hatred will never succeed."
Rabbi Mirvis said he was "encouraged" by Sir Keir's response to the report and said the Jewish community will work with him to rid the party "of the poison of antisemitism."
He also praised those who spoke out against antisemitism. "They placed the cause of challenging prejudice ahead of their own interests and many of them paid an exceptionally high price for doing so.
"My hope is that all those who have suffered such painful discrimination and abuse will draw strength from the findings of this report and that we will all see, under new leadership, a very different Labour Party in the years to come."
Gideon Falter, chief executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said the report "utterly vindicates Britain’s Jews who were accused of lying and exaggerating, acting as agents of another country and using their religion to ‘smear’ the Labour Party."
Rabbi Jonathan Romain, who urged congregants to vote tactically against the Labour Party at the 2019 election, said he felt "totally vindicated" by the report.
"I knew I was crossing a red line between religion and politics when I urged people to vote for whichever party in their constituency was most likely to defeat Labour in the last general election, and was criticised for doing so in some circles, but I feel totally vindicated by the EHRC report.
"This was not about being for or against a political party, but the moral direction of the country as a whole, should Corbyn have become prime minister," the Maidenhead synagogue minister said.
