Bianca Rahimi
Press TV, London
Jeremy Corbyn has been described as the biggest global threat to Jews. The Jewish Chronicle has turned its front page into an open letter virtually begging British Jews to vote against the UK’s Labour party in the general election and last month Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis wrote this about Britain’s main opposition party.
He also said he was not in a place to tell any person how they should vote but he urged the public to "vote with their conscience." The online response to his comments came fast and they were by no means tepid.
Chief Rabbi has had nothing to say on Tories hostile environment and Windrush Scandal, nor on formal Tory links with anti-Semitic gov'ts in Poland and Hungary.
And people with a platform have also weighed in on the anti-Corbyn campaign. Labour peer Lord Dubs who fled Nazi persecution as a child, said the Chief Rabbi’s comments were “going too far”.
He added that he was certain Mr Corbyn himself was not anti-Semitic and would be "hurt" by the repeated accusations he faced. Teacher and Labour Activist Holly Rigby says the Chief Rabbi does not represent all of Britain's Jews and has "weaponized anti semitism to delegitimize those who want justice for Palestine.
The online backlash also suggests many suspect the Chief Rabbi was purposefully trying to whip up support for Boris Johnson who he congratulated on becoming Prime Minister. The fact that he conveniently ignores the fact that Conservative MPs have been thrown out for denying the holocaust and worse, suggest there might be some truth to that. But if anything, it seems his comments have pushed many British Jews further to the left.