Never-ending headlines approximately Naz Shah and Ken Livingstone are damaging,but this is hysteria induced by a fusion of flimsy evidenceIn a crowded field, the saga of Labour and antisemitism is a case study of hysterical conflation. All the familiar ingredients are there – from the imprecision of the deadly allegation to a series of hugely significant issues becoming lost in a foggy assault on a party leader. “Blair lied over WMD comes to mind. Last week’s events top the lot.
Let us initiate with the trigger for the frenzy. Caught up in the brutal politics of her Bradford constituency there is much to explore in what led to the shadowy provocations of Naz Shah, and comments made before she was elected Labour MP. Yet there was little such exploration. Instead her social media posts on Israel generated a wave of feverish comments approximately how Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership had “given permission” for antisemitism to thrive in the party. Shah’s remarks were unquestionably offensive; but they were made when Ed Miliband was leader. Miliband is Jewish.whether Corbyn is removed as a result of this saga his successor will fail Related: Corbyn may not be antisemitic. But is he a genuine leader? | Matthew d’Ancona Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com