Jeremy Corbyn has been accused by the co-leader of his new party of “capitulating” over antisemitism.
Zarah Sultana said the former Labour leader was wrong to accept the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism and said he alienated voters by “triangulating” on Brexit.
In an extraordinary attack just weeks after the pair announced the formation of Your Party, a left-wing challenger to Labour, Ms Sultana said Labour under Mr Corbyn “capitulated to the IHRA definition of antisemitism”.
She told the New Left Review: “It triangulated on Brexit, which alienated huge numbers of voters. It abandoned mandatory reselection of MPs for the trigger ballot compromise, keeping many of the party’s undemocratic structures in place.
“It didn’t make a real effort to channel its mass membership into the labour movement or tenants unions, which would have enriched the party’s social base.
“When it came under attack from the state and the media, it should have fought back, recognising that these are our class enemies. But instead it was frightened and far too conciliatory.”
In a bid to end the antisemitism crisis that gripped the party under his leadership, Mr Corbyn announced it would adopt the IHRA definition in 2018.
He had initially sought to resist calls to fully adopt the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism, including by adopting just seven of its 11 examples of antisemitic behaviour.
In her interview, Ms Sultana said the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism “famously equates it with anti-Zionism, and which even its lead author Kenneth Stern has now publicly criticised”.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the IHRA definition is supported by the overwhelming majority of the country’s Jewish population. “Calling the recognition of the IHRA definition of antisemitism a ‘capitulation’ is a grave insult,” a spokesperson added.
The spokesperson said: “Labour’s real betrayal under Corbyn was unlawfully harassing and discriminating Jews. Those who seek to delegitimise and misdefine the IHRA definition in this way prove themselves to be no friend to the Jewish community and also call into question their wider commitment to anti-racism, the wellbeing of the Jewish community and social cohesion.”
Ms Sultana’s criticism of Mr Corbyn’s tenure as leader will heighten tensions between the pair as Your Party takes shape. The name is a holding title before a conference, expected this autumn, at which activists will decide a long-term name, leadership structures and ultimately who is in charge.
Ms Sultana initially announced that the pair would be co-leaders, blindsiding Mr Corbyn who had not yet committed to the structure.
The party has so far brought together pro-Gaza independent MPs, councillors and candidates who have opposed the Labour Party’s stance on the ongoing conflict.
One MP who joined the party unseated former Labour frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth in 2024, while others almost cost senior ministers Wes Streeting, Shabana Mahmood and Jess Phillips their seats.
Others likely to join include Faiza Shaheen, who was deselected at the last minute by Labour for Chingford and Woodford Green but ran as an independent, preventing her former party from taking the seat off ex-Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith.
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