Wiesenthal Centre to British Labour Party Shadow Home Secretary: “Adopt the EU Working Definition of Antisemitism.”

SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE-EUROPE
Tel.: +33(0)1 47 23 76 37
Fax: +33(0)1 47 20 84 01
Email:csweurope@gmail.com

“The antisemitic disease afflicting your Party warrants diagnosis, prognosis, treatment – even surgery – and eventual prophylaxis… notsatisfaction in the vapid self-serving exercise of a so-called 'investigation into antisemitism in Labour'.”

“Without more serious further measures, Labour will be rendered ‘Judenrein’ (purged of Jews) – the first such party ever,since Britain’svictory over Nazism.”

Paris, 1 July 2016

In a letter to British Labour Party Shadow Home Secretary, Andy Burnham, the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Director for International Relations,Dr. Shimon Samuels, denoted Burnham as “the Labour opposition's main address for issues of public order, security and discrimination, to express our members’ outrage at the antisemitic diseaseafflicting your Party.”

The letter duly noted Burnham's own published comments: "How did it get to this far for Labour and the Jewish community,that it feels soalienated from the Labour Party?"..."Antisemitism is repugnant,unacceptable and scars our society...Political action is needed to tackle the roots of prejudice and hatred",

The letter added,"How different from the language of your leader, Jeremy Corbyn,who systematically adds salt to the wound, as in hisscandalous parallel between the State of Israel and ISIS terrorism... That he did this at yesterday's formal presentation of the so-called 'Chakrabarti investigation into antisemitism in Labour',only substantiates the 172 to 40 no confidence vote, last week, regarding Corbyn’s leadership capacity.”

Samuels stressed to the Shadow Home Secretary that, “this vote points to a hopeful potential redemption for Labour, but certainly not inexpunging antisemitism by the application of a patently self-serving cover-up 'investigation', nor as long as Corbyn defines his own warped definition of antisemitism as Partyleader

Samuels argued that 'a disease warrants a diagnosis, prognosis, treatment – even surgery – and eventual prophylaxis.”

The Centre offered the Shadow Secretary and Labour “a very simple therapeutic instrument: Adopt what is known at the ‘European Union WorkingDefinition of Antisemitism’.”

The letter proposed that “its application will let every member of the Labour Party, whether M.P., municipal councillor, trade unionist orcivil servant to understand that verbal or physical harm to a Jew anywhere – in diaspora or in the Jewish State – is antisemitism. This will cover misuse of the Holocaust, boycotts (commonlyknown as BDS) and antisemitic terrorism”

The Centre emphasized that “those who reject the definition in order to pursue such harm can be clearly recognized as ‘antisemites’ and, assuch, a threat to the integrity of the Labour Party.”

“Mr. Shadow Home Secretary, satisfaction in the vapid exercise of the Chakrabarti 'investigation' - without more serious further measures -could render Labour ‘Judenrein’ (purged of Jews) – the first such party since Britain’s victory over Nazism,” concluded Samuels.

For further information please contact Shimon Samuels 00 33 609 7701 58, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in theUnited States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).