The Jewish Chronicle has taken the extraordinary step of dedicating its entire front page to a plea to gentile readers not to back Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn in Britain’s upcoming snap election.
The London-based outlet, founded in the 1800s and the world’s longest-standing Jewish newspaper, addressed its leader article to “our fellow British citizens… to those who would not normally read the Jewish Chronicle. In other words, to non-Jews.”
Highlighting the fact that polls indicate 87 per cent of British Jews believe Corbyn is an antisemite, and 47 per cent would “seriously consider” emigrating if the 70-year-old socialist became prime minister, the Chronicle urged non-Jews to consider the “near total inaction of Mr Corbyn and the rest of the Labour leadership in dealing with antisemites in the party” and the “contempt” with which he has treated “mainstream Jewish bodies such as the Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council” when going to the ballot box.
“Throughout his career, he has allied with and supported antisemites… He has described organisations like Hamas, whose founding charter commits it to the extermination of every Jew on the planet, as his ‘friends’,” the article recalls.
“He has laid a wreath to honour terrorists who have murdered Jews. He has insulted ‘Zionists’ — the word used by antisemites when they mean ‘Jew’ because they think it allows them to get away with it — as lacking understanding of ‘English irony’.”
The leader article acknowledged that the focus of many voters is being taken up by the great issue of the day, namely Brexit, alongside perennial issues such as the National Health Service (NHS) and the education system — “But how can the racist views of a party leader — and the deep fear he inspires among an ethnic minority — not be among the most fundamental of issues?”
“If this man is chosen as our next prime minister, the message will be stark: that our dismay that he could ever be elevated to a prominent role in British politics, and our fears of where that will lead, are irrelevant,” the writer lamented.
“We will have to conclude that those fears and dismay count for nothing.”