Between 2015 and 2020 the Labour Party was riven by allegations that the party had tolerated antisemitism.
For the Labour right, and some in the media, the fact that such allegations could be made was proof of a moral collapse under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. Sections of the left, meanwhile, sought to resist the accusations by claiming that the numbers of people accused of racism were few, that the allegations were an orchestrated attack, and that those found guilty were excluded from the party. This important book by one of Britain’s leading historians of anti- fascism gives a more detailed account than any yet published of what went wrong in Labour. Renton rejects those on the right who sought to exploit the issue for factional advantage. He also criticises those of his comrades on the left who were ignorant about what most British Jews think and demonstrated a willingness to antagonise them.
This book will appeal to anyone who cares about antisemitism or left- wing politics.
Author(s): David Renton
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2021
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Preface
1 Introduction
Notes
2 The Uniqueness of Antisemitism
What Is Different About Antisemitism?
What Is the Same?
The Ihra Definition: Origins and Controversy
Where Else to Begin
Notes
3 Naz Shah and the Cause of Palestine
Shah and the Cause of Palestinian Freedom
Where Israel Comes From
Supporting Palestinians – Through Indifference to Jews
Israel and Shah
Notes
4 Ken Livingstone and the crimes of Zionism
Livingstone and Hitler’s “support” for Zionism
Were Livingstone’s Remarks Antisemitic?
Notes
5 Jews and the Slave Trade
The Slave Trade in England, North America, and Brazil
Internalised Antisemitism
Notes
6 Seeing No Evil: Trump and the US Right
Citizens of Nowhere
Trump, Philosemitism, Antisemitism
Trump and His British Critics
Trump and His British Allies
Notes
7 Seeing No Evil: Corbyn and the Mear One Mural
Conspiracies, Jewish, and Otherwise
Notes
8 Jewdas and the Figure of the Bad Jew
Notes
9 The Labour Left and the Israel Lobby
The Israel Lobby
Online as Well as Offline
Fighting Against Socialism
Notes
10 The Labour Right and anti-Zionist Jews
Speeding Up the Pace of Investigations
Notes
11 The Bullying of Luciana Berger
Notes
12 Fighting the Rich, Without fighting Jews
2015–20 and the Pre-History of Fascism
Occupy and Mear One
Anti-capitalism Left and Right
Populism – Sentimental or Socialist?
Voters and Members
A Homage to the Absent Marxists
For Jews; for Capitalism
Notes
13 From the Edge of the Anti-War Movement
Corbyn and the Palestinians
Raed Salah and the Blood Libel
Notes
14 Israel’s Eastern European Allies
Israel and Its European Allies
Israel and the Global Far Right
Vocal About Antisemitism, Silent About Israel
Notes
15 On Gatekeeping
EHRC Report
Aftermath
The Frustration of Socialists With Jews
Notes
16 Antisemitism and Black Emancipation
Notes
17 Conclusion
Notes
Index
