My Word: Going through the anti-Israel motions

• Author: LIAT COLLINS
• Published date: 30 September 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The panels were on a broad variety of subjects but one topic dominated the gathering – antisemitism and the British Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn. COVID-19 was not known, but the spirit of ancient hatred of antisemitism was alive and kicking – in the gut.

Several attendees told me that they had rescinded their membership in the Labour Party, some of them after decades, particularly following revelations of Corbyn's social media support for a mural with antisemitic tropes. There were speakers who warned against panic, but I didn't meet anyone who completely dismissed the fears of growing antisemitism.

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But that was meant to be a thing of the past. Several top Labour figures resigned; Corbyn was ousted; and the party revamped under Sir Keir Starmer promising a new uncompromising stand on antisemitism in its various manifestations. No more photos of party figures like Corbyn laying wreaths at the graves of Palestinian terrorists associated with the Munich Olympic Massacre or calling Hamas and Hezbollah "friends."

The Labour Party Conference held this week in Brighton was meant to be a celebration of the new approach. On Sunday, the party introduced an independent process for handling complaints of antisemitism. Starmer proudly told party activists: "We have closed the door this evening to antisemitism in the Labour Party. We've turned our back on the dark chapter."

Well, that door might have made a slamming noise, but it didn't stay shut for long. Corbyn's allies saw a window of opportunity and created enough of a cold blast to blow the door wide open again.

In a classic move, antisemitism was replaced by anti-Israel hatred: No problem with the Jews, just with the one and only Jewish state.

Delegates at Brighton on Monday managed to pass a motion labeling Israel an "apartheid state," committing the party to implementing sanctions with "illegal Israeli settlements" and ending arms sales to Israel.

In the words of the opening clause of the "Israel and Palestine motion": "[The] Conference condemns the ongoing Nakba in Palestine, Israel's militarised violence attacking the Al Aqsa mosque, the forced displacements from Sheikh Jarrah and the deadly assault on Gaza."

Starmer himself did not appear to accept the motion as party policy, but it was unnervingly similar to the events in US Congress the previous week when the small...