The origins of Labour antisemitism in 12 steps

A guest post by Tweezerman

Labour’s NEC (National Executive Committee) is the governing body of the party. For the second time in 12 months, NEC member Pete Willsman was caught on tape saying things that were, according to any measure, clearly antisemitic – including accusing the Labour antisemitism crisis of being ‘all lies’, party staff members of being linked to the Israeli embassy, and that an article by 68 rabbis criticising Labour’s handling of the scandal had been ‘obviously organised’ by Israel.

A few years ago a senior member of the Labour Party casually making such accusation without so much as a slap on the wrist would have caused outrage.

Not so today

A friend of mine had, like many ordinary members of the public, read and heard some of the news articles about Labour’s antisemitism issue, had become increasingly concerned, but still had little real idea of how widespread the issue had become. She said she had been shocked upon reading about Willsman. I told her that as Labour Against Antisemitism activists we see several ‘Willsmans’ a day; it’s no longer shocking to us, we just have to carry on with finding and reporting these people and keep our heads down.

Many of us in the British Jewish community no longer feel comfortable living in the UK. Granted, the activists among us spend more time than is healthy looking at page upon page of Holocaust denial, extreme antisemitism, even violent threats, all coming from people in the Labour Party and on the left. But even so. There is more hatred of Jews out there than people can even begin to realise. The situation is very, very bad – and getting worse daily.

“How on earth has it come to this?”

…my friend asked, her face a picture of disillusionment. “Please can you explain it to me?” I hope this may help some who, like my friend, would like a basic breakdown of how we got here.

The origins of Labour antisemitism in 12 steps

1. Left-wing antisemitism is not a modern phenomenon 

Despite left-wing antisemitism being perceived as a contemporary phenomenon, in reality it is nothing new. Hostility to Zionism began to take on a clear form in post-war USSR in the late 1940s. Its use was political: the Soviet Union would have liked Israel as an ally to weaken British influence, however Israel didn’t cooperate, and was seen to be aligning itself with the ‘imperialists’.

Pre-existing antisemitism

Not wishing to come across like the Nazis, whom they had fought in World War II, the Soviets used antizionism as a cover for the thinly veiled, pre-existing antisemitism that lay just beneath the surface. For example, ‘zionology’ sounded scientific but in reality was antisemitic propaganda using a few token Jews for cover. 

What has been coined by David Hirsh as the ‘Livingstone formulation’ today, or the accusation that Jewish people raise false claims about antisemitism in order to silence criticism of Israel, originated in one of the earliest antisemitic tropes: that Jews are essentially untrustworthy and disloyal to their country of residence.

2. Equating Zionism with fascism

Communist antisemitism shared a common characteristic with Nazi and fascist antisemitism in its belief in ‘Jewish world conspiracy’.

Following the war, the Soviet Union suppressed Nazi crimes towards Jews. An antisemitic campaign against ‘rootless cosmopolitans’ followed, and the Soviet press began a widescale anti-Jewish campaign that portrayed Zionism as ‘fascist’ and a bedfellow of Nazism.

3. The Six Day War

Twenty or so years later, the defeat of Soviet-supported Arab troops in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war triggered a massive 20-year antizionist propaganda campaign, which even had its own department.

“Antisemitism was central to this Soviet propaganda.” 

Its arsenal was enormous – it included broadcasts, books and articles, and placed KGB agents into key institutions in the West to disseminate antizionist, anti-imperialist ideology. Antisemitism was central to this Soviet propaganda. 

During this time top Corbyn advisers Seumas Milne and Andrew Murray were coming of age politically, along with many people on the today’s hard left. They would undoubtedly have been exposed to antisemitic Soviet propaganda.

4. Turning the public against Zionism: key methodology

One of the objectives of the campaign was to firmly turn the public consciousness against Zionism by saying that it was an outgrowth of Judaism, and as such an assertion of Jewish racial superiority. The Soviets repeated this message over the years, including at the UN, as they pushed for the adoption of the ‘Zionism Is Racism’ resolution.  

The ‘Zionism is Racism’ resolution was adopted by the UN in 1975. It was eventually revoked in 1991 – by which time the ideology had firmly taken root within contemporary left-wing thought.

5. Using a flexible approach: matching the Jews to Public Enemy no. 1

Another key element of the propaganda was its flexibility: at at its centre was the rhetoric of a ‘Jewish threat’, which could then be matched to the location of the place where the propaganda was being disseminated, e.g. for Britain the Jews were US imperialists, whereas in Africa they were apartheid Zionists. 

During the 1960s–70s, when post-colonial guilt emerged as another key concern for the contemporary Left, Israelis began to be portrayed as the ultimate white colonialists. Over time this portrayal was extended to all Jews.

6. The human rights movement: how antisemitism became cool

During the post-war years until today, the human rights movement became a strong force for change, comparable with a new religion – particularly within left-wing circles. Mainly due to the Soviet campaign, the ‘Zionism is racism’ slur became embedded within discussions around human rights and antiracism, becoming a conduit for the exclusion of Jews from left-wing circles. This exclusion was especially felt within academia and the arts, where the human rights movement was particularly strong.

Simply put, it’s become cool to be antisemitic, however unknowingly.

Students and young people concerned with social justice have consistently been the specific target of this insidious campaign, leaving the minds of entire generations indoctrinated with a conception of Zionism and Judaism that is intrinsically antisemitic. Simply put, it’s become cool to be antisemitic, however unknowingly.

7. Brothers in arms

The political struggles of the ‘70s and ‘80s – such as the anti-apartheid movement and support for Irish republicanism – were seen as ‘freedom-fighting movements’ with a shared cause.

“Hard-left organisations such as the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) require enemies to fight to maintain a sense of moral crusade. It is a key part of their recruiting strategy”

As such, many of these movements made easy bedfellows with the pro-Palestinian campaign, absorbing some of its antisemitic dogma (see below). 

Hard-left organisations such as the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) require enemies to fight to maintain a sense of moral crusade. It is a key part of their recruiting strategy. The anti-apartheid campaign, which had proved to be a successful recruiting tool, ended when Nelson Mandela was released. To compensate, much of the rhetoric of the apartheid struggle was simply transferred and transposed onto Israel.

8. The PLO, Arab nationalism and Islamic fundamentalism

In the 1960s, the PLO had begun a campaign to delegitimise and negate the idea of Jewish nationhood by denying the historical and biblical links between Judaism and Israel, erasing it from any ‘peace process’ maps and combining antisemitic motifs such as conspiracy theory, blood libel and Holocaust denial with incitement to violence. Mimicking Soviet propaganda techniques, the PLO alongside other Arab nationalists portrayed Jews as rootless imperialists who invaded Palestine to conquer the land through violence, in order to ‘ethnically cleanse’ it of its natives.

Islamists see themselves as called to fight a war against the Jews, as can be illustrated by Hamas’ charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel.

9. The Western pro-Palestinian movement

Gripped by post-colonial guilt yet retaining the paternalistic attitudes of colonialism, the left tends to view the Palestinian people as without agency – i.e. as victims, rarely perpetrators.

Having adopted the full package of the original PLO movement and largely turning a blind eye to the terrorism, jihadism, and anti-Jewish stereotypes found within, the European/US pro-Palestinian movement appears to be primarily a vehicle against Israel, using the banner of human rights in order to provide cover for antisemitic views and policies such as the BDS campaign – so much so that we now take it for granted that being pro-Palestinian automatically means being against the very existence of Israel, and believing that Israel is an apartheid state. 

10. Durban: portraying the Jews and Israel as the enemies of antiracism

In 2001, at the Durban World Conference Against Racism (WCAR), or ‘Durban’ as it became known, campaigners against antisemitism were horrified to encounter a vicious campaign to construct Zionism not only as racist, but as the most racist movement in the world. 

“the largest antisemitic hate fest since the Shoah”

At the event, described by Ronald Eissens of the Internet Centre Anti-Racism Europe (ICARE) NGO as ‘the largest antisemitic hate fest since the Shoah’, Jews were called colonists, oppressors and Nazis. Genocidal slogans and banners against Israel, grossly antisemitic cartoons and copies of the infamous ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’ were on open display.

Eissens remembers: ‘Organisers of the NGO Forum attached to the conference and the Palestinian and Arab caucuses had decided to use it to launch a global campaign against Zionism and Israel, which “automagically” became an antisemitic event.’ At Durban, Jews were successfully framed as ‘white’; Israel as a racist endeavour. Any support for Jews who supported the existence of a Jewish homeland (i.e. the vast majority) was portrayed as incompatible with antiracist principles.

11. An obsession with Israel at the UN

The UN General Assembly takes an extremely one-sided stance against Israel, in line with many of its own member states’ aggressive anti-Israel agendas. A number of countries hold Israel to a unique standard, use unreliable data to attack Israel, commit far worse human rights violations themselves, and lobby and use the media to demonise Israel very effectively. The effect is skewed perceptions of Israel as the world’s worst human rights violator. 

“EU states voted for 16 out of 21 resolutions singling out Israel”

For example, in the current session of the UN General Assembly (2018–2019), EU states voted for 16 out of 21 resolutions singling out Israel. Yet these same EU states failed to introduce a single UNGA resolution on the human rights situation in China, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Belarus, Cuba, Turkey, Pakistan, Vietnam, Algeria, or on 175 other countries. Iran, Syria, North Korea, Crimea, Myanmar, and the U.S.(for its embargo on Cuba) all received only one resolution each. 

12. Brexit

During the Brexit debate and shortly after, many Russian and Iranian bots invaded social media with antisemitic, Islamophobic and pro-Brexit messages, ostensibly in order to disrupt and weaken the democratic process by sowing discord in the UK. 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing

If we do want to understand today’s situation, it is necessary to return to history and look at the very calculated nature of what we are now seeing. When we do look, we see a frightening picture of how our judgement has been tampered with by those who would have us hate the Jews to serve their own purposes. 

If you consider yourself left wing, a free thinker and ‘antiracist’ but hold negative opinions about Zionism, there’s a very strong chance that your perceptions are less independent and more racist than you realise. 

See the excellent writings of David Hirsh, Dave Rich, Robert Fine, Nick Cohen and others for more information on this subject.