Jeremy Corbyn
© The Guardian/Graham Turner

Comment: The main accusations made in this hit-piece are that Corbyn is not an ardent Israeli apologist, and that he allowed a man to accuse a party member of working with the media to discredit the Labour party as being anti-Semitic. The type of infuriated language and defamation used throughout this article is completely out of proportion to these accusations. In fact, when the whole of Corbyn's actions and policies are compared to the dirty dealings and war crimes committed by Tony Blair and David Cameron, it's fairly evident that Corbyn is a decent human being. Which is the real reason for the media blitz against him. The British government cannot allow a decent human being to run things lest he act in the interest of the people and not the oligarchs.


If you were to write a history of the death of the Labour Party, you could do worse than start with the election of Ed Miliband as leader in 2010.

Choosing Ed over his big brother was the first indication we had that Labour members - and, of course, trade unionists - were growing tired of grown up politics, of the inevitable compromises that accompany being in government. We were out of government now - Great God almighty, free at last! - and it was time to let our hair down, to talk about what we wanted to talk abut, campaign on what we wanted to campaign on, and not be subject any more to the selfish whims of the electorate.

So instead of choosing someone we thought the rest of the country would see as a future prime minister, we chose someone who we saw as a Leader of the Opposition.

Shortly after Ed's first leader's speech in the same week, I spoke to a fellow member of Labour Friends of Israel (LFI), who shared our organisation's anger at Ed's words. Instead of praising Israel's record as a truly liberal, free democracy that must be defended and supported against the repressive dictatorships that surrounded it, he instead declared magnanimously only that Israel had the right to exist.


Comment: Israel's record is far from deserving any sort of praise:

Of course Israel has a right to exist. So does Britain, but you never hear any politician say so, because it doesn't need to be said. And it shouldn't need to be said about Israel either. But there is a peculiar, intolerant wing of Left-wing politics that seems to believe the fact of Israel's founding in 1948 is itself up for debate. They hide their arguments behind a façade of concern about the expansion by Israel of its borders in response to the attempt by its Arab neighbours to obliterate it in 1967. But essentially, it's Israel's existence that causes them concern, not its landmass.


Comment: Actually, Israel doesn't have the right to exist.


Fast forward five years and Labour members' love affair with opposition had intensified, proving that to many, the longer we're out of office, the less urgent is the task of winning it back.

Enter Comrade Corbyn who, as leader, couldn't even bring himself to mention the word "Israel" when he attended the LFI reception at annual conference.


Comment: Gasp! How horrible of him to not pander to and kiss the feet of Zionists!


And then, of course, along came Ken Livingstone with his helpful theories about Adolf Hitler and Zionism, and an odd spate of hateful posts on social media from Labour Party members who seem to have a bit of a problem with Jews.


Comment: See also: Zionism's roots in nationalism


In 32 years of Labour Party membership, never have I witnessed anything as shambolic and plain nasty as the launch of Shami Chakrabarti's report into anti-Semitism (and, of course, "all types of racism") in the Labour Party.

Proceedings kicked off with a rant from a self-styled, uninvited (we hope), unappointed, unelected hard-Left - and therefore self-righteous - activist in a parka who proceeded to attack Ruth Smeeth MP, who was in the audience, for conspiring with the right wing media over the issue that has done the party so much damage.

The obnoxious individual - who turned out, of course, to be a member of Momentum, Corbyn's Praetorian Guard - probably thought "job done" when Ruth, a Jewish MP, duly left the meeting in tears. The hard left are not known for their progressive attitude towards either women or Jews.

When Parkaman was duly told to shut up by attending hacks, Corbyn resumed his own comments. The room waited for his response and for his words of condemnation of Parkaman and for his words of support for Ruth.

It waited in vain.

Not only did Corbyn not defend one of his own MPs, news bulletins that evening showed him exchanging friendly words with Parkaman after the event. No one knows what was said, but who'd be surprised if it was something along the lines of "Women, eh? Tch!"

And then - because let's face it, yesterday was already a quiet news day - Corbyn used his prepared comments about how awful anti-Semitism is to compare Israel with Islamic State. Yes, he did. Whatever his supporters on social media say in his defence, he said: "Our Jewish friends (sic) are no more responsible for the actions of Israel or the Netanyahu government than our Muslim friends are for those various self-styled Islamic states or organisations."

So, no, he made no direct reference to Isil or "Islamic State", only to "various self-styled Islamic states". Apparently this, in the minds of the hard-Left, represents some kind of distinction.


Comment: The essence of what Corbyn said was that the people of any given ethnicity or religion are not as a whole responsible for the actions of any particular group or government that may be composed of the same. The most that can be said suggested from his exact language is that he may think the Israeli government has done things that are not entirely kosher. Which is indeed the case. However, to say that this is a direct comparison between Israel and Daesh is not only a stretch but a twisting of words to fit the defamation agenda.


So, in summary, an event intended to draw a line under Labour's "Jewish problem", ends up allowing a bully to publicly smear a Jewish MP for some sort of media conspiracy (mercifully, he didn't mention "Rothschilds" but it was hanging in the air) and has the Labour leader suggesting that Israel's actions to defend itself and Isil's mass torture, rape and murder can be compared.

"Well, I think that went very well, all things considered, Seamas," I imagine Corbyn saying as he walked back to his office.

I have always held to the view that Corbyn, however mad his personal politics, is a nice guy. He is unfailingly courteous, even to those who disagree with him (which is a hell of a lot of people to be courteous to, you must admit).

But yesterday's events confirm that the opposite is true. A man who sits by and allows a nasty bully to smear one of his own MPs, who watches that MP leave the room in tears and who says nothing - not a single damn word - to defend his colleague, is no man at all, let alone a nice one.

Corbyn is a coward who values the praise he gets from the wild-eyed Trots and misfits of Stop the War and the Socialist Workers Party far more highly than he values his duties as the leader of the country's (for now) second biggest political party.

If he thinks he can lead his party to government, then add stupid to the charge of cowardice. If he knows he cannot become prime minister but still refuses to resign, then add vanity and treachery to the list.

Jeremy Corbyn is neither nice nor decent. He is an embarrassment, not just to the Labour Party, but to our country.

In the name of everything that's decent, he must go.