Labour video on protecting minorities ‘does not mention Jewish community’

The Labour Party’s campaign video about celebrating diversity produced ahead of next week’s election and shared by Jeremy Corbyn at the weekend features no mention of the Jewish community.

The clip, unveiled at the launch of the Labour Party’s race and faith manifesto last week, contains a speech by Dawn Butler, the shadow equalities and women minister, expressing solidarity with several minority groups, including travellers, “black, white or Asian”, as well as Sikh, Muslim and Christian communities.

“You have a future and you are worthy. Worthy. Worthy of equality. Worthy of dignity. And worthy of respect. And a Labour government will value you,” the video tells the viewer.

After it was shared on social media, Jonathan Goldstein, the chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council, was among those criticising the video for failing to mention the community.

“To deliberately create and promote a video which talks about minority communities in this current climate and not mention the jewish community really shows the blind spot that the Labour Party has,” he told the Jewish Chronicle.

“It shows they don’t regard the jewish community or antisemitism as equal to other communities or racism of other types. You can not think anything other than that is chilling,” he added.

When approached for comment, a Labour Party spokesperson said: “This video launched our Race and Faith Manifesto, which includes policies to guarantee the security and wellbeing of the Jewish community, defend and celebrate Jewish way of life, and combat antisemitism in Britain and across Europe.

“A Labour government will maintain real-terms funding for the Community Security Trust, make attacks on places of worship an aggravated offence, and force the tech giants to tackle antisemitism on social media. We will also protect the religious rights and freedoms of Jewish people and ensure public services meet the needs of Jewish people, from coroner services conducting quick burials to proper provision of religious and culturally sensitive social care and youth services.

“We will also ensure wider teaching about antisemitism in schools so that the next generation are better equipped to recognise and challenge these prejudices.”