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Five days on and still no response from the Guardian over Corbyn letter complaint
August 26, 2015 14:40
The Guardian has not responded to a complaint about a letter which claimed that Jews who questioned Jeremy Corbyn’s links to Holocaust deniers and antisemites may be acting under the influence of “their Israeli contacts”.
The editor of the JC, Stephen Pollard, made the complaint when the letter was published five days ago. The Guardian acknowledged receipt, but has yet to provide a full reponse.
The letter, one of several printed on Mr Corbyn and reports of his links to extremists, was sent by three “members of a Jewish family”, Lydia, Joel and Andrew Samuels.
They wrote: “Influential sections of the Jewish community, maybe guided by their Israeli contacts, are frightened that a notable critic of Israel’s policies and actions might attain a position of prominence in British politics.”
Mr Pollard contacted Guardian readers’ editor Chris Elliott about the claim.
Mr Pollard wrote: “I am sure I do not need to point out to you that this is one of the oldest, most explicit antisemitic memes in existence – the idea that Jews are guided by, and owe their allegiance to, a foreign power (Israel, in the modern world).
“I am, quite obviously, one of those who is accused, since my newspaper has led the way in asking questions of Jeremy Corbyn.
“I should point out that not once have we accused him of antisemitism. Nor have we mentioned the word Israel.
“Not one of the stories we have published has been about Israel; they have all been about antisemitism on the part of his associates.”
The Guardian describes its readers’ editor as its “internal ombudsman”.
Mr Elliott’s job is “to collect, consider, investigate, respond to, and where appropriate come to a conclusion about readers' comments, concerns, and complaints in a prompt and timely manner, from a position of independence within the paper".
It says complaints are dealt with “as soon as possible”.
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