“Enough is enough”

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Last night, Jeremy Corbyn issued a statement saying he was “sincerely sorry” for the “pain and hurt” caused by antisemitism occurring in “pockets” of the party. It’s made headlines as some believe the apology doesn’t go far enough.

The Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council have jointly written a strong letter and organised a call to action at 5.30pm in Parliament Square, where they will be joined by at least a couple of Labour MPs. They’re sending a clear message: “Enough is enough”.

Antisemitism exists in the Labour Party. That is an undeniable and shameful truth. From Labour MPs such as Luciana Berger to Jon Lansman while running for general secretary, an alarming number of well-known Jewish figures in the party have received abuse online. But these experiences are not limited to Twitter.

In my constituency of Hampstead and Kilburn, concerns about antisemitism in the party come up on the doorstep. That isn’t helped by the ceaseless battles in the local party about it. At one point the CLP had to convene a special meeting on antisemitism, and when a comrade recently spoke up to explain why he didn’t feel our meetings were a safe space for Jewish members, he was heckled.

Proper scrutiny of the structural problems at play is needed. Why is it that complaints can be so poorly handled, for instance, sometimes taking years to process? And yet disciplinary action isn’t enough now.

A majority of party members look to Jeremy Corbyn for moral leadership. As well as meeting with members of the community, he must take further steps to be completely straightforward in condemning antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories that unfortunately pervade the Left.

There’s a lot of hurt and anger across the party, and it’s urgent that action is taken both to address immediate grievances and to heal in the long term.

Sienna @siennamarla

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