4 reasons the “anti-Semitism” attacks on Jeremy Corbyn are dishonest

It was inevitable, shocking but not surprising. A determined opponent of all racism, Jeremy Corbyn is smeared by pro-Israel Blairites and the same pro-Israel media that helped Blair and Israel in their war crimes. BBC 6pm news (Wednesday 19th August) started by referring to Jeremy Corbyn and his opposition to "what he says is the oppression of the Palestinians" before bringing in a Blairite supporter of the invasion of Iraq and endorser of Israeli massacres who said we all need to question Jeremy's Middle East policies.

Asa Winstanley shows in detail how the smears are unfounded:

From the start of his campaign, Jeremy Corbyn, the left-wing candidate for the leadership of the UK’s Labour Party, emphasized that he doesn’t “do personal” and has focused all along on policies.

And these policies are proving so popular that he has surprised everyone by emerging as the front-runner in the election. Voting began this week and the results will be known on 12 September.

As the right-wing of the Labour Party, exemplified by Tony Blair, comes to terms with the reality that they may have lost control of the party, the attacks against Corbyn have become ever more shrill.

Establishment media have piled on. The right-wing Telegraph and the liberal Guardian have been relentless in campaigning against Corbyn in negative editorials and attack pieces.

Some accusers are trying to paint Corbyn as anti-Semitic. But these dishonest attacks are not driven by any legitimate concern for rooting out anti-Jewish bigotry, but are due to Corbyn’s strong record of Palestine solidarity work.

It’s not hard to understand why: a key feature of the party under Blair was nearly unconditional support for Israel. As my colleague David Cronin put it, Blair “is still spoken of in reverential tones” at Labour Friends of Israel events, and Corbyn coming to power is “something of a nightmarish scenario.”

Full article here on Electronic Intifada