The Labour Party in the UK is in an unpleasant spot as its anti-semitism is now being called out not only from expected denominations like the Hindus and the Jews but also a section of Muslims and Christians. British Hindu leaders have joined the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Muslim Council of Britain in backing Britain’s Chief Rabbi today after he condemned Labour over its anti-Semitism crisis. The main contention is Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi led Congress had espoused recently.
Ephraim Mirvis, the Jewish Rabbi had made scathing and unprecedented intervention against the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn. He said that a vast number of British Jews were gripped with fear and anxiety at the thought of Corbyn being elected.
He accused Jeremy Corbyn of allowing the ‘poison of anti-Semitism’ to take root in Labour, saying it could no longer claim to be the party of diversity, equality and anti-racism. Urging voters to examine their consciences in the polling booth, he warned: ‘The very soul of our nation is at stake.’
The Hindu Council also backed Rabbi Mirvis and said that the Labour party was the festering ground for anti-Hindu prejudice. Anil Bhanot, the Hindu Council’s director for interfaith relations, said: ‘It is a sad state of affairs that a major political party in our country which used to be a progressive socialist voice has veered towards what is almost a fascist ideology.’ Bhanot wrote a letter to the Jewish Rabbi supporting his intervention. In his letter, he said, “Labour has increasingly become anti-Semitic and anti-Hindu”. Anil Bhanot is a founding member of the Hindu Council in the UK.
The letter by the Hindu Council clearly states how Jeremy Corbyn is fanning anti-Hindu sentiments. The letter says that he remained silent as the most important festival of Hindus, Diwali, saw anti-India protests that culminated into anti-Hindu sentiments, fanned by Labour Party. It also says that the Labour Party hobnobs with terror outfits and has dumped the Hindu community from its candidate selection.
The letter also mentions Jeremy Corbyn’s ridiculous stand in Kashmir and says that Article 370 essentially discriminated against people and the same special status, Kashmiri Hindus were cleansed ethnically from the state.
“Jeremy Corbyn always speaks against Islamophobia, whereas any anti-semitic and anti-Hindu position remains unchallenged”, the letter says.
The Rabbi had taken Corbyn on for supporting terrorists who murder Jews and describing them as ‘friends’.
Another Rabbi, Rabbi Julia Neuberger has warned that Jews may have to leave the UK if Jeremy Corbyn becomes the Prime Minister.
She said, “Since Jeremy Corbyn has been the leader of the Labour Party there has been this insidious anti-Semitic tone to quite a lot of what’s happened and an unwillingness to really face it. There’s been an unwillingness at the top and people of the Jewish community have seen that unwillingness and thought ‘what’s going on? A major political party – what is going on here? Why are they not gripping it?”
“People will look for ways of moving or having a place somewhere else, or whatever they can possibly do to mitigate what feels oppressive, uncomfortable, dangerous”, she added.
While antisemitism and the anti-Hindu political bent of the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn are not new revelations, the Hindus and Jews found support from unexpected quarters.
The Muslim Council and the Archbishop of Canterbury have also extended their support to the Hindus and the Jews. The Muslim Council has said ‘some politicians have shown courage but too many have sat silent’ when confronted with racism. The group has said that ‘Today’s announcement by the Chief Rabbi highlights the real fear many British Jews have, regarding the unacceptable presence of anti-Semitism in Britain and politics today. However, the Muslim Council furthered its own agenda while extending support as well. They also lashed out at Tory’s party for their apparent failure to deal with Islamophobia.
According to reports, the Archbishop and the Jewish Rabbi have been faced with vicious abuses because of their stand against Jeremy Corbyn and antisemitism of the Labour Party. The Jewish Rabbi was even viciously called a ‘sewer rat’ and while the anti-semites complaints of ‘Israeli interference’.
Some Labour party members have also come out and expressed their understanding of what the Rabbi is saying.
Amidst all of this, Jeremy Corbyn has refused that racist, anti-Jew sentiments have risen in his party since he has become its leader and has refused to apologise.
Jeremy Corbyn has an extremely chequered past with him extending support to violent Islamists including Hamas and Hezbollah, rhetoric against Jews and Hindus, and support to Radical Left. Recently, he has also tried his best to support the Islamists in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir who have been waging a Jihad in the state for decades and have also been responsible for the ethnic cleansing of the Hindus of the state.
