(JTA) — Britain’s Jewish Labour Movement will not campaign for Labour lawmakers in the upcoming national elections “unless in exceptional circumstances and for exceptional candidates.”
The 100-year-old organization affiliated with the Labour Party, whose activists have been campaigning for party candidates across the country, said in its announcement on Thursday that the failure of party head Jeremy Corbyn to effectively deal with anti-Semitism in the party led to the decision.
“Fighting racism, prejudice and intolerance is at the heart of our Labour values – it is the failure of the leader and his supporters to live these values which has led us to take this stance,” the statement said.
“This crisis of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party stems from a failure of leadership from Jeremy Corbyn. When the answer has been to take swift, decisive action, the reality has been equivocation and token gestures. Time and time again, the Party has not engaged in good faith to try to implement the actions that we believe are necessary to tackle anti-Jewish racism.”
The organization said it would campaign for parliamentary chair Ruth Smeeth, “and members of the Parliamentary Labour Party who’ve been unwavering in their support of us.”
It added that it continues to support Labour Party’s policies and “its historic values.”
Corbyn, a far-left and anti-Israel politician, has faced allegations that he is fomenting anti-Semitism in Labour, though he denies the assertion.
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