The chief rabbi doesn’t speak for me (A poison has taken root in Labour, says chief rabbi, 26 November); only I can speak for me. Tempting though it might be to put us all together as a group, each Jewish person’s response to the antisemitism issue will be unique.
My own responses are complicated and nuanced. One of my biggest fears is that all of this media coverage (which I am now contributing to) will end up fuelling antisemitism rather than eliminating it. I feel a sense of despair and frustration each time it hits the headlines again. I absolutely believe the experiences of those MPs and others who have been subjected to antisemitism in the Labour party, and these should never be minimised or dismissed.
I am also really wanting to believe that Jeremy Corbyn has taken this on board and is genuine in his declaration that further antisemitism will not be tolerated. At the same time, I have a strong and angry reaction when non-Jewish people declare that this is all a “war on Corbyn”, and when they deny the obvious truth that this has indeed been a significant, appalling and damaging issue in the Labour party. It is very hard as a Jewish woman to allow that this has happened in a party I have always voted for, and it is hard now to continue to vote for this party with the bad taste that I can’t quite get out of my mouth.
All the non-Jewish people who continually post “told you so” posts on social media with “proof” that this is all a conspiracy are missing the point. This whole issue – just the fact that it is even a topic for discussion – is extremely frightening at a primal, visceral level to very many Jewish people, and self-aggrandising social media posts miss the truth of this.
I hope that the Labour party wins the election, and I hope that time, and action, will really ring the changes on this issue.
Rachel Levy
Canterbury, Kent
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