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MP Alex Sobel discusses abuse and being in Labour despite antisemitism crisis

He tells the JC his party has taken 'too long' to deal with Jew hate within its ranks

June 24, 2018 08:00
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ByLee Harpin, Lee Harpin Political Editor

3 min read

Softly spoken Alex Sobel may not have attracted the sort of headlines afforded to his more vociferous Labour colleagues, but that is no reflection on the impact he is making as a parliamentarian.

Mr Sobel, who became Britain’s newest Jewish MP when he was elected in Leeds North West a year ago, has been the driving force behind political opposition to the Polish government’s new Anti-Defamation Law, which he criticises as being both revisionist and a green light for a new wave of antisemitism.

The Polish government claims the law, passed in February, is justified to penalise the use of phrases such as “Polish death camps” to describe Nazi facilities, including Auschwitz, which operated in war-torn Poland.

But suggestions of Polish responsibility for Nazi war crimes are punishable by up to three years in jail.

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