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Britain’s Labour Party tried to define anti-Semitism to satisfy critics. It didn’t go well.

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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves the stage after delivering an address at Queens University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, May 24, 2018. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves the stage after delivering an address at Queens University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, May 24, 2018. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves the stage after delivering an address at Queens University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, May 24, 2018. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

(JTA) – It’s been nearly three years since Jeremy Corbyn became the leader of Britain’s Labour Party, and he has riled British Jews more than any other politician in recent history.

Last week, Great Britain’s three leading Jewish newspapers united in publishing a front-page editorial warning that a Corbyn government would constitute an “existential threat to Jewish life in this country.” In May, the previous president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews said Corbyn has “anti-Semitic views” and that his rising popularity is making Jews ask if they have a future in the country. [Read more…]

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Councilwoman for Scottish Labour Party accuses three British newspapers of working for the Mossad

(Twitter)

(Twitter)

(JTA) – A councilwoman for the Scottish Labour Party accused three British Jewish newspapers of working on behalf of the Mossad after they posted a joint front page article warning that anti-Semitism had eroded the Labour party and posed an “existential” threat to British Jewry.

“If the purpose is to generate opposition to anti-Semitism, it has backfired spectacularly. If it is to get rid of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Leader, it is unlikely to succeed, and is a shameless piece of cynical opportunism.

“And if it is a Mossad assisted campaign to prevent the election of a Labour government pledged to recognize Palestine as a state, it is unacceptable interference in the democracy of Britain,” Mary Bain Lockhart wrote on Facebook. [Read more…]

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U.K. anti-Semitic incidents at historic high

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in London after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, June 24, 2016. (Rob Stothard/Getty Images)

British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has called Hamas and Hezbollah his “friends” and defended an anti-Semitic mural, among other scandals involving his party’s policies on anti-Semitism. (Rob Stothard/Getty Images)

(JTA) – British Jewry’s main watchdog on anti-Semitism recorded 727 hate incidents in the first half of 2018, the second-highest six-monthly total on record.

The report by the Community Security Trust, or CST, for this year’s first six months constitutes an 8 per cent drop from the corresponding period last year, CST said in the document published Thursday. [Read more…]

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Britain to lead review of incitement in Palestinian textbooks

(JTA) – The British government and other donors to the Palestinian education system will undertake a review of incitement against Israel and Jews in Palestinian textbooks.

“There is no place in education for materials or practices that incite young minds toward violence,” Parliament member Alistair Burt, a Foreign Office minister, said during a debate Wednesday in the House of Commons, the British parliament’s lower house, on incitement in Palestinian Authority textbooks. [Read more…]

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Trump says U.S. will withdraw from Iran nuclear deal

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President Donald Trump announcing his decision to leave the Iran nuclear deal in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House, May 8, 2018. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump announcing his decision to leave the Iran nuclear deal in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House, May 8, 2018. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump announcing his decision to leave the Iran nuclear deal in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House, May 8, 2018. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) – U.S. President Donald Trump said he would not waive sanctions on Iran by a deadline Saturday, effectively pulling out of the Iran deal.

“I am announcing today that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal,” Trump said, speaking at the White House Tuesday. “In a few moments, I will sign a presidential memorandum to reinstate nuclear sanctions on the Iranian regime.” [Read more…]

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J.K. Rowling is giving a master class in identifying anti-Semitism and it’s magical

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J.K. Rowling attends the 70th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) at Royal Albert Hall in London, Feb. 12, 2017. (John Phillips/Getty Images)

(JTA) – There’s an unsettling debate underway in Britain about whether the right or the left is more anti-Semitic, and videos of Jewish members of Parliament reading out some of the anti-Semitic invective they’ve suffered have gone viral.

J.K. Rowling, the non-Jewish author of the Harry Potter series, decided to weigh in on Wednesday, defining anti-Semitism for her 14.4 million Twitter followers. [Read more…]

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‘Three Billboards’ film inspires activist to shame British Labour Party for anti-Semitism

(JTA) – Inspired by an Oscar-nominated American film, activists against anti-Semitism in Britain raised thousands of dollars for erecting three billboards outside the headquarters of the Labour Party.

Days after setting up an appeal for donations on an online crowd-funding platform, the Community United against Labour Party Antisemitism, or Culpa, group raised $4,860 US out of their goal of $6,300 US for the sign campaign outside Labour’s headquarters on London’s Victoria Street. The money came from approximately 100 donors. [Read more…]

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Anti-Semitic incidents in Britain hit record high for second consecutive year

(JTA) – The number of anti-Semitic attacks recorded in the United Kingdom rose slightly in 2017, marking a new record for the second straight year, but saw a significant gain in violent assaults.

The 1,382 cases recorded in the annual report of the Community Security Trust, or CST, which is British Jewry’s largest watchdog on anti-Semitism, represented a three per cent increase in 2017 over the previous year. [Read more…]

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Amnesty International UK ‘targeting Jewish community,’ British Jewish group alleges

(JTA) – The main umbrella group of British Jews accused its local branch of Amnesty International of targeting the community following the abrupt cancellation of a joint event.

The accusation by the Jewish Leadership Council – a charity founded 15 years ago comprising 32 groups with different politics, including the Board of Governors of British Jews, the Jewish World Relief aid organization and several synagogues – came Monday following the cancellation of an event concerning Israel and the United Nations. [Read more…]

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Jews reportedly barred from UK campus lecture on Israel’s ‘reproductive sabotage’

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(JTA) – A British university distanced itself from faculty accused of barring Jews from a public lecture that they organized on campus about Israel’s alleged “reproductive sabotage” against Arabs.

A spokesman for the University of Warwick, located 90 miles northwest of London, said Wednesday’s event “was organized by group of researchers and students” and “was not organized by the University.” The university has received a complaint concerning the alleged barring by the university’s  Lisa Tilley of at least three Jews from the event, which was advertised as open to the public, the spokesman also said. [Read more…]

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