The Corbyn Anti-Semitism Problem Marches On

July 30 2019

You could fill many little red books with the words written about the U.K. Labor party’s anti-Semitism problem since the socialist Jeremy Corbyn became the party’s leader four years ago. As Tanya Gold writes, it is “obvious that anti-Semitism has been slowly overwhelming Labor.” And yet Corbyn and his allies continue to deny that fact, hurling slurs at anyone who dares point it out.

The most recent chapter in this depressing story involves a BBC documentary about the scandal, which added party insider testimony and texture, and which the party is attempting to suppress:

Panorama investigators had new material: testimony from non-Jewish Labor staffers who worked in Labor’s complaints department, which is supposedly entirely independent of the leadership. Eight former members of staff were interviewed, four of whom broke nondisclosure agreements to do so. Although Labor, which is, after all, supposed to be the party of laborers, generally supports whistle-blowers, it is currently threatening its former employees with legal action.

The response to the testimony given on Panorama was as interesting a lesson in pathological denial as the program itself. . . . The Labor press team tweeted this denial: “These disaffected former officials include those who have always opposed Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, worked actively to undermine it, and have both personal and political axes to grind. This throws into doubt their credibility as sources.”

The story continues to unfold, writes Gold, because

Corbyn cannot conceive of himself as a racist. He has no aptitude for self-reflection and, in the impact of his own incompetence, he sees only the sabotage of his enemies. His mantra is: “I oppose anti-Semitism and all forms of racism.” The second part reads like a rebuke to a Jewish minority that supports a “racist state” and will not share the Shoah.

Corbyn did issue a seemingly strong statement about anti-Semitism in the party last week. But at this point who can believe him?

Read more at Jewish Review of Books

More about: Anti-Semitism, Jeremy Corbyn, Labor, Labor Party (UK), Politics & Current Affairs

Egypt Is Trapped by the Gaza Dilemma It Helped to Create

Feb. 14 2025

Recent satellite imagery has shown a buildup of Egyptian tanks near the Israeli border, in violation of Egypt-Israel agreements going back to the 1970s. It’s possible Cairo wants to prevent Palestinians from entering the Sinai from Gaza, or perhaps it wants to send a message to the U.S. that it will take all measures necessary to keep that from happening. But there is also a chance, however small, that it could be preparing for something more dangerous. David Wurmser examines President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi’s predicament:

Egypt’s abysmal behavior in allowing its common border with Gaza to be used for the dangerous smuggling of weapons, money, and materiel to Hamas built the problem that exploded on October 7. Hamas could arm only to the level that Egypt enabled it. Once exposed, rather than help Israel fix the problem it enabled, Egypt manufactured tensions with Israel to divert attention from its own culpability.

Now that the Trump administration is threatening to remove the population of Gaza, President Sisi is reaping the consequences of a problem he and his predecessors helped to sow. That, writes Wurmser, leaves him with a dilemma:

On one hand, Egypt fears for its regime’s survival if it accepts Trump’s plan. It would position Cairo as a participant in a second disaster, or nakba. It knows from its own history; King Farouk was overthrown in 1952 in part for his failure to prevent the first nakba in 1948. Any leader who fails to stop a second nakba, let alone participates in it, risks losing legitimacy and being seen as weak. The perception of buckling on the Palestine issue also resulted in the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat’s assassination in 1981. President Sisi risks being seen by his own population as too weak to stand up to Israel or the United States, as not upholding his manliness.

In a worst-case scenario, Wurmser argues, Sisi might decide that he’d rather fight a disastrous war with Israel and blow up his relationship with Washington than display that kind of weakness.

Read more at The Editors

More about: Egypt, Gaza War 2023