A report into anti-Semitism in the UK has been published by the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee.
The report by five Conservative, one SNP and two Labour MPs made unanimous recommendations to Twitter, the police and politicians on how to tackle anti-Semitism.
Read the “Anti-Semitism in the UK” Home Affairs Committee report here (opens in new window)
KEY FINDINGS
Jeremy Corbyn
The report criticised Jeremy Corbyn for a lack of “consistent leadership” on the issue, which it said benefited people with “vile attitudes” toward Jewish people.
It says that Mr Corbyn had a proud record of campaigning against many types of racism, but did not fully appreciate “the distinct nature of post-Second World War anti-Semitism”.
Labour Party
The report found that Labour was “demonstrably incompetent” in dealing with incidents of anti-Jewish abuse, and derided the party’s internal inquiry into antisemitism carried out by Shami Chakrabarti this year as “ultimately compromised” by Chakrabarti’s subsequent peerage and elevation to the shadow cabinet.
It claims that the failure of the Labour Party “consistently and effectively to deal with anti-Semitic incidents in recent years risks lending force to allegations that elements of the Labour movement are institutionally anti-Semitic”.
It says the Chakrabarti report had failed to deliver “a comprehensive set of recommendations, to provide a definition of anti-Semitism, or to suggest effective ways of dealing with anti-Semitism”.
The report criticised Twitter, which they said hosted “vast swathes” of hate speech and abuse aimed at Jews.
Abuse on Twitter was “growing exponentially” and the company must do better at identifying abusers.
It also says the onus should not be on victims to monitor their accounts for ongoing abuse and report it to the company.
Definition of anti-Semitism
The report expressed concern about use of the word “Zionist”, saying “use of the word in an accusatory context should be considered inflammatory and potentially anti-Semitic”.
It says free speech should be allowed on the Israel-Palestinian issue, saying it was not anti-Semitic to criticise actions of the Israeli government.
National Union of Students
The report criticised NUS President Malia Bouattia for failing to take the issue of anti-Semitism sufficiently seriously on university campuses.
The committee said a 2011 blog written by Ms Bouattia which called Birmingham University a “Zionist outpost” smacked of “outright racism”.
Other key findings
- Labour MP Luciana Berger received more than 2,500 abusive tweets in three days in 2014
- Since walking out of the launch of a report on anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, the Jewish Labour MP Ruth Smeeth has reported more than 25,000 incidents of abuse
- Police-recorded anti-Semitic hate crime in England and some parts of Wales increased by 29% between 2010 and 2015, compared with a 9% increase across all hate crime categories
- A fifth of British Jewish people responding to an Institute for Jewish Policy Research study had experienced at least one anti-Semitic harassment incident during the last year, with 68% of incidents taking place online
