I was going by the article he wrote for The Times, especially where he says "It is a failure of leadership. A new poison – sanctioned from the top – has taken root in the Labour Party."
Arguably, he's right. Of course, I'd also argue that it's part of a general nationalist trend in this country, for which Corbyn isn't particularly complicit (but the likes of Johnson and Farage are), which is evidenced in the general reported rise in racist incidents.
There is criticism of actions against anti-Semitism plus a couple of (disputed) figures about cases - but dismisses Labour claims: "The claims that the party is “doing everything” it reasonably can to tackle anti-Jewish racism and that it has “investigated every single case”, are a mendacious fiction"
I don't know enough about the internal workings of the Labour to be able to judge that claim, but I do feel that sometimes Corbyn's tendency to buck the absolute confidence that other politicians blithely (and disingenuously) portray doesn't help him in this instance.
He then goes on to say:
Many members of the Jewish community can hardly believe that this is the same party that they called their political home for more than a century. It can no longer claim to be the party of equality and anti-racism.
How far is too far? How complicit in prejudice would a leader of Her Majesty’s opposition have to be to be considered unfit for office? Would associations with those who have incited hatred against Jews be enough? Would describing as “friends” those who endorse the murder of Jews be enough? It seems not.
I expect it is the association between Corbyn and the Palestinian cause and the support for Labour within the Muslim community that is at the heart of this.
See, I have a slightly different take on that. To me, that reads like he doesn't expect anything better from the Tories (and others) but he does feel like he should be able to expect better from Labour - it's a sense of betrayal, rather than a sense of an injustice divorced from any personal history.
Of course, given the political leanings of the current Labour leadership, and the exploits of the current Israeli leadership, a degree of tension in light of the inevitable criticisms of the regime seems unavoidable.
O.
