Wharfedale MP calls for Labour rethink on antisemitism

OTLEY'S MP has taken his own party to task over its handling of antisemitism.

Alex Sobel (Lab, Leeds North West) is calling for Labour to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism in full.

Labour's failure to do so - its national executive committee chose (NEC) instead to adopt the IHRA definition in part and create its own code of conduct - has angered large parts of the Jewish community.

Mr Sobel is a Jewish MP who has long voiced criticisms about the actions of the Likud Government in Israel.

He believes that failing to adopt the full IHRA definition of antisemitism means Labour cannot be taken seriously when making legitimate critiques of Israeli policy.

Mr Sobel elaborates on that point in an opinion piece, co-written with the founder and director of Yachad*, Hannah Weisfeld, that appeared in The Guardian newspaper on Thursday, August 9. (Source: https://www.theguardian.com/global/commentisfree/2018/aug/09/labour-antisemitism-credible-critic-israel).

Their article states that: "The NEC’s decision not to adopt the IHRA definition in full has created a scenario where, no matter what rationale is given for the decision, trust is so rock-bottom that mainstream Jewry believes that it is an attempt to whitewash many of the examples of antisemitism that have come to the surface."

It adds: "It also means that there is almost zero chance of the Labour party ever being able to make any kind of meaningful contribution to influencing the direction of political travel inside Israel.

"Because why would a country, of which most of its Jewish population are either refugees themselves, or second or third-generation refugees as a result of antisemitism in its most extreme form, listen to a political party perceived not to take antisemitism – in all its forms – seriously?"

Mr Sobel discussed Labour's antisemitism problems earlier this year with the Jewish Chronicle, when he said the party had 'taken too long' to deal with the issue.

His office told the Wharfedale & Aireborough Observer that the MP's long-held view on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been that he wants to see an independent Palestine living alongside an independent Israel with both countries 'thriving as neighbours'.

*Yachad works to build support in the Anglo-Jewish community for a political resolution to the conflict.