The leader of the British Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, has come to the defense of a newly-elected MP who was criticized for anti-Semitic comments made on social media, saying Lisa Forbes was “a good woman” and “not a racist in any way.”
Forbes, who won the Peterborough by-election on Thursday, liked a Facebook video saying British Prime Minister Theresa May had a “Zionist Slave Masters agenda” alongside a video expressing solidarity with victims of the terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March.
In a separate incident, Forbes said, “I have enjoyed reading this thread so much” on a post that repeated the conspiracy theory that the CIA and Israel’s foreign intelligence agency Mossad were behind the Islamic State terrorist group.
The newly-elected MP was also revealed to have signed a letter last August urging Labour to oppose the adoption of the full IHRA definition of anti-Semitism and instead appeared to call for the dismantling of the Jewish State.
The letter, circulated by the pro-Corbyn fringe group Jewish Voice For Labour, said Israel was not “democratic” but an “apartheid state.” It called for a one-state solution “in the form of a democratic state that grants equal rights to everyone lawfully residing within its borders.”
The Jewish Labour Movement condemned the election of Forbes and said a candidate under formal investigation for alleged acts of anti-Semitism should never have been allowed to run in an election.
A JLM spokesperson called her “a perfect example” of how the party allows those who “shared racist material and rejected the IHRA definition of antisemitism not only to be a member but [to] advance politically and seek public office.”
The movement also slammed “moderate” Labour MPs, who previously signed letters in support of the Jewish community, for traveling to Peterborough to support Forbes’ local campaign. “This shows how urgent and necessary the EHRC’s investigation into Labour’s institutional racism is. The party is simply incapable of rooting out hate by itself.”
A Labour source said the complaints against Forbes were being “processed.”
[Photo: Guardian News / YouTube]