Jeremy Corbyn has apologised for what he called “pockets of antisemitism” in his party, as Jewish leaders issued an extraordinary open letter accusing the Labour leader of “siding with antisemites”.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council urged supporters to stage a show of solidarity outside parliament on Monday as LabourMPs hold their weekly meeting — which Corbyn is not planning to attend.
They were spurred into action by the latest row over antisemitism in the party, which saw Corbyn express regret for apparently showing support for the creator of an antisemitic mural in London’s East End six years ago.
In the strongly worded letter, Jewish leaders claim the mural row was just the latest evidence that the Labour leader “cannot seriously contemplate antisemitism, because he is so ideologically fixed within a far-left worldview that is instinctively hostile to mainstream Jewish communities”.
“Again and again, Jeremy Corbyn has sided with antisemites rather than Jews. At best, this derives from the far left’s obsessive hatred of Zionism, Zionists and Israel. At worst, it suggests a conspiratorial worldview in which mainstream Jewish communities are believed to be a hostile entity, a class enemy,” they say.
As well as the mural, the signatories, Jonathan Arkush, the president of the Board of Deputies, and Jonathan Goldstein, the chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council, cite what they claim is Corbyn’s friendship with Hezbollah and Hamas, and his opposition to the extradition of controversial Muslim cleric Raed Salah.
Corbyn issued his own statement last night, saying he was “sincerely sorry for the pain which has been caused”, by what he called “pockets of antisemitism”.
“Our party has deep roots in the Jewish community and is actively engaged with Jewish organisations across the country,” Corbyn said. “We are campaigning to increase support and confidence in Labour among Jewish people in the UK”.
But the chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust said Corbyn’s apology “might be too late”. Karen Pollock told BBC Radio 4’s The Westminster Hour: “When there were examples of Labour party members saying ‘Jews kill and kidnap their way around the world’ or referring to the Holocaust Educational Trust as the ‘Holocaust Indoctrination Programme’ … was that not enough to make the leader of a Labour party say it’s disgusting and this has to stop?
“I spend time with Jewish people who are concerned about this sort of rhetoric and our leaders shouldn’t have to be put into a corner to say sorry and to say it has to stop.”
Several Labour MPs have said they would like to hear an explanation from Corbyn directly, after Facebook posts emerged in which he appeared to show his support for a antisemitic mural in 2012.
The Labour MP Wes Streeting said: “We can’t have a situation where one of Britain’s political parties is seen as a no-go area for one of Britain’s faith groups.”
Corbyn is not expected to appear in person at the parliamentary Labour party’s regular Monday evening meeting, the last before parliament rises for Easter recess, but he said he would be meeting with Jewish leaders in the coming days and weeks.
On Sunday, the Jewish Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council issued what they described as a “call to action”, urging “members of our community and all those who oppose antisemitism” to gather in Parliament Square on Monday as Labour MPs meet inside.
This week, the Office for National Statistics has added ready-made mashed potato to the UK’s official shopping basket, which it uses to measure inflation, and people are up in arms. Who buys a pre-chopped onion that costs three times as much as a whole one? How lazy do you have to be to choose a frozen omelette over a couple of eggs?
These kinds of convenience foods are an easy target. But for the 13.3 million people in Britain with disabilities – and those living with arthritis, chronic illness, recovering from injury or surgery, or undergoing cancer treatment – convenience foods aren’t just convenient: they are a lifeline.
This is an issue close to my heart. I’m a professional cook, but I also have a chronic pain condition, and there are occasions when I can’t even hold a knife. In times like those, I’m never going to opt for the impenetrable whole butternut squash over one that has already been diced for me.
right lmao the selection is super limited but it’s better than nothing. getting over “this product is not designed for me personally therefore it is useless and wasteful” is some decent person 101 shit
I think some people don’t know what a “psyop” is and are like…reflexively objecting to the idea that a Russian psyop A.) happened, or B.) worked and people disbelieve it which is also how you know it was successful.
a psyop is a psychological operation. It’s a tactic, usually from a government, enacted upon a group of individuals (of varying sizes, kinds, etc).
I don’t see anything wrong with looking at wiki’s definition of what a US PsyOp is defined as:
planned operations to convey selected information and indicators to audiences to influence their emotions, motives, and objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of governments, organizations, groups, and individuals.
People seem to mistakenly believe that people (buzzfeed?) is claiming that Black Lives Matter was a Russian Psyop. That’s not the case (not in the Buzzfeed article, and not seriously anywhere I’ve seen).
RATHER, it seems that the Russian PSYOP targeted BLM. BLM is not the psyop itself. The psyop just happened to target that movement (as well as other social justice/liberal movements).
The people who seem to object to the idea that this was a Russian psyop are also often reasoning this can’t be a Psyop because…the CIA/FBI successfully infiltrated liberal movements (particularly Black-led ones) before?
Historically, our very own government used psyop and infiltration tactics to do the exact same thing to similar US populations that people are uncovering about Russia. Seeing people claim that this whole psyop thing is “people are saying BLM is a Russian Psyop!!” is like people trying to say “they claimed the Black Panthers was a CIA/FBI psyop!!!”
When the reality is that the psyops/infiltration targeted BLM, or targeted the Black Panthers. It seems…really important that people know that! and it’s like…i keep seeing the SAME people who seem aware the FBI/CIA fucked over groups in the civil rights movements ALSO deny these bloggers were Russian psyops which is weird?? Both things can be true.
This isn’t an accident, it’s super intentional. The whole point is to choose a group of people to target to influence, then assimilate into said community, and then influence or undermine it. It’s effective if you choose a group which is marginalized. It’s more effective if that group would stand to lose something by being publicly undermined. It’s really effective when the end result is a lot of people going “calling this a psyop is a psyop! It’s not their government undermining us, it’s our government doing that.”
Eliciting that response is tactically clever, because you aren’t even wrong for criticizing our government, but also you become complicit in covering up the tracks of the original [outside] influence because you are more willing to blame whatever would normally be the cause of the problem.
Also: this is one of the ways the USA and Russia undermined regimes that might potentially be friendly to the other side during the cold war. (Along with arming regimes or movements they liked.) Basic strategy is to get in with someone who is AGAINST the party or policy you want to happen and undermine them from the inside.
If the take-away message of the bots being exposed is “BLM was fake!” that suits Russia’s purpose perfectly, but if you start distrusting the media that exposed them instead? ALSO perfect for Russia, and they can keep working on their original target.
Urocyon's Jaunts 2.0 
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