[rad-green] The Contract on Corbyn -- Gideon Levy in Haaretz

*https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-the-contract-on-corbyn-1.8192769
<https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-the-contract-on-corbyn-1.8192769>Haaretz
         Nov 28, 2019The Contract on CorbynCorbyn is not an anti-Semite.
His real sin is to fight against injustice in the world, including the
version Israel perpetratesBy Gideon Levy  *

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[image: British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis]*British Chief Rabbi Ephraim
Mirvis gives a speech as he attends a Holocaust Memorial Day Ceremony at
Central Hall Westminster, Tuesday Jan. 27, 2015, in London.AP*The Jewish
establishment in Britain and the Israeli propaganda machine have taken out
a contract on the leader of the British Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn. The
contract was taken out a long time ago, and it was clear that the closer
Corbyn came to being elected prime minister, the harsher the conflict would
get.

On Tuesday it reached its climax in an article by the chief rabbi of
Britain, Ephraim Mirvis, in an article in The Times. Mirvis has decided
that the anxiety of British Jews over Corbyn is justified and he is not fit
to be prime minister. He called on Jews not to vote for Labour in the
election on December 12.

Born in South Africa and a graduate of Har Etzion Yeshiva in the settlement
of Alon Shvut, Mirvis is the voice of British Jewry. In Capetown,
Johannesburg and Har Etzion, he should have learned what apartheid was and
why one should fight it. His parents did so, but one doubts that he learned
the moral lesson from the regions of disenfranchisement in which he lived
in South Africa and the West Bank.

As opposed to the horrid Corbyn, Mirvis sees nothing wrong with the
continued occupation; he does not identify with the struggle for
Palestinian freedom, and he doesn’t sense the similarity between the South
Africa of his childhood, Har Etzion of his youth and Israel of 2019. That
is the real reason that he rejects Corbyn. The Jews of Britain also want a
prime minister who supports Israel – that is, supports the occupation. A
prime minister who is critical of Israel is to them an exemplar of the new
anti-Semitism.

Corbyn is not an anti-Semite. He never was. His real sin is his staunch
position against injustice in the world, including the version Israel
perpetrates. Today this is anti-Semitism. The Hungarian Viktor Orban, the
Austrian Freedom Party and the extreme right in Europe are not the danger
to Jews. Corbyn is the enemy. The new and efficient strategy of Israel and
the Zionist establishment brands every seeker of justice as an anti-Semite,
and any criticism of Israel as hatred of Jews. Corbyn is a victim of this
strategy, which threatens to paralyze and silence Europe with regard to
Israel.

British Jewry might not be faking its anxiety, but it is certainly
magnifying the danger. There is anti-Semitism, though less that what is
presented, certainly on the left. About half of British Jews are
considering fleeing if Corbyn is elected. Let them flee. The survey that
showed this could actually encourage anti-Semitism: Are the Jews of Britain
conditionally British? To whom is their loyalty?

The future of all British Jews is much more secure than the future of any
Palestinian living under the occupation, and even more secure than that of
any Arab living in Israel. Jews are persecuted and are victims of
discrimination and racism less so than the Palestinians in the Israel they
hold dear. Moreover, Islamophobia in Europe is more common than
anti-Semitism, but people talk about it less.

Mirvis presents no evidence of Corbyn’s anti-Semitism. It sufficed for him
to note the fact that Corbyn described as “friends” those who “endorse the
murder of Jews” – a reference to Corbyn’s comments on Hezbollah and Hamas.
Corbyn is indeed a very harsh critic of the occupation, supports the
boycott and compares the closure of Gaza with the siege of Stalingrad and
Leningrad. These are anti-Israeli positions, but not necessarily
anti-Semitic. The Jews of Britain are blurring this difference as are many
Jews throughout the world, intentionally. One can (and should) be a harsh
critic of Israel without being anti-Semitic.

If the Jews of Britain and their chief rabbi were more honest and
courageous, they would ask themselves: Isn’t Israel’s brutal occupation
policy the strongest motive for anti-Semitism today? There is
anti-Semitism, it must be fought, but it must also be recognized that
Israel supplies it an abundance of excuses and motives.

The Jews and Israel’s true friends should hope that Corbyn is elected. He
is a statesman who can change international discourse about the occupation
and the struggle against it. He is a ray of hope for a different world and
a different Israel – and what more could we want.

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