“Anti-Semitism is central to a wider debate about the kind of country we want to be,” it said. “To ignore it because Brexit looms larger is to declare that anti-Jewish prejudice is a price worth paying for a Labour government.”
(November 15, 2019 / JNS) Twenty-four British public figures signed an open letter refusing to vote for the Labour Party in the United Kingdom’s Dec. 12 general elections due to party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s multiple ties to anti-Semitism.
The letter to The Guardian said. “The coming election is momentous for every voter, but for British Jews it contains a particular anguish: the prospect of a prime minister steeped in association with anti-Semitism.”
“Anti-Semitism is central to a wider debate about the kind of country we want to be,” the letter continued. “To ignore it because Brexit looms larger is to declare that anti-Jewish prejudice is a price worth paying for a Labour government. Which other community’s concerns are disposable in this way? Who would be next?”
“Opposition to racism cannot include surrender in the fight against antisemitism,” it said. ”Yet that is what it would mean to back Labour and endorse Mr Corbyn for Downing Street. The path to a more tolerant society must encompass Britain’s Jews with unwavering solidarity. We endorse no party. However, we cannot in all conscience urge others to support a political party we ourselves will not. We refuse to vote Labour on 12 December.”
Signatories on the list include Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales; Oz Katerji, a journalist and filmmaker; authors John Le Carré and William Boyd; actor Simon Callow; historian Antony Beevor; and “Spider-Man: Far From Home” star Tom Holland.