Jeremy Corbyn and Shami Chakrabarti, who published the Labour anti-Semitism report [Image: Getty].

He is also exactly wrong where he accuses Naz Shah and Ken Livingstone of anti-Semitic behaviour.

The accusations against those people were made for entirely political reasons. Even though Ms Shah isn’t a Corbyn supporter, it was possible to use her against him because the claims about her were made after he became leader. Mr Livingstone is a long-term friend of Mr Corbyn.

Neither are anti-Semitic, but I am sure Mr Segalov is not the only person to have been taken in by the hysteria surrounding events earlier this year. These need to be analysed and clarified.

So I have written a book about it.

The Livingstone Presumption is available now as an eBook (price: just £1.99), and soon in print (see the advert below this article), and aims to set the record straight.

It cannot claim to be an exhaustive analysis of the evidence as the row is still rumbling on – a delegate at the Labour Party conference was talking about it earlier today (September 27).

But it does show exactly what is really going on and the reasons behind it.

If you have been disturbed by the allegations, counter-allegations, and media furore, I strongly recommend that you read it.

Since Corbyn’s election as Labour leader, unsupportive MPs, campaigning groups and journalists have been desperate to paint him and the movement who support him as anti-Semitic fanatics, despite knowing it’s really not the case.

I could tell you about my own experiences, how I’ve never experienced or witnessed anti-Semitism inside the party – but that’s just what I’ve seen, non-Jewish defenders of my religion will claim. My experiences, and those of countless other Corbyn-supporting Jewish members who I’ve spoken to, aren’t reflective of what’s really going on, apparently.

Now, we only need look at the most high-profile of cases to see that anti-Semitism is by no means a product of Corbyn’s supporters. Naz Shah, MP for Bradford West, was rightly suspended for sharing anti-Semitic posts on Facebook, not a Corbynite but a backer of Yvette Cooper in the last leadership election. Ken Livingstone, similarly sanctioned for his remarks about Hitler, has been a party grandee for decades. An insurgent? I think not.

For years now I’ve travelled across the UK to report from far-right, fascist and neo-Nazi rallies, and the counter-demonstrations that take place alongside. I’ve seen the real threat that faces Jews in the country, those who profess hatred for Jews and our religion, who wear swastikas as badges of honour, who’ll salute like a Nazi in front of your face… It’s the left, and Corbyn’s supporters, who’ve put their bodies on the line time and time again to protect us from these racist organisations.

That’s why these cries of anti-Semitism make a mockery of a real and present danger. Corbyn’s commitment to fighting discrimination and prejudice has been well documented for decades. His supporters are those who’ve stood alongside him. Accusing these people now of peddling prejudice is nothing but political point-scoring at its worst. It undermines real hatred, and waters down the impact of calling out anti-Semitism when it rears its ugly head.

Source: As a Jewish Labour member, I’m sick of anti-Semitism being used as a political weapon against Jeremy Corbyn | The Independent

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