OPINION: Lessons learned from the Corbyn wars have hardened into a playbook
The art of Anglo-Jewish diplomacy should be about more than scoring partisan headlines and dunking on the tiresome Owen Jones. The loudest voices aren't always the wisest
Over its fairly long and mostly peaceful history, British Jewry has been blessed with two critical attributes: strong institutions and strong ambassadors. Today however, when we badly need both, they are in short supply.
In 1970, when our community scribe Chaim Bermant published Troubled Eden, his survey of British Jewish history, he was able to marvel at the “number and vigour” of institutions such as the United Synagogue, the Board of Deputies, the Welfare Board and of course the Jewish Chronicle, the newspaper that he became synonymous with.
Which of these institutions is still flourishing today? Membership of United Synagogue shuls has almost halved since I was born in 1987 and currently hovers around 37,000. The Board of Deputies, meanwhile, no longer plays the central organising role that it once did and its leader is not a household name for British Jews. And the Jewish Chronicle? Well, it’s reasonable to say that questions over its opaque ownership and hardline stance over Israel have alienated a few of its readers.
In fairness to our shuls, newspapers and venerable communal forums, this problem of institutional decay stretches well beyond British Jewry. Many “legacy” institutions are struggling in this era of liquid modernity, as technological disruption draws attention spans elsewhere.
From Bermant’s list, only the care and charity sector, including Jewish Care – which evolved out of the Welfare Board – appears to be flourishing, with donations as high as ever. In this category one might include the Community Security Trust, which does admirable work taking threats to British Jews very seriously, but staying level-headed in the process.
And what of our ambassadors? We no longer have great court Jews in the mould of Moses Montefiore or the Lords Rothschild, but there are certainly many fine ambassadors still with us, who play an important bridging role between the Jewish community and the British establishment. Off the top of my head I can think of Tory grandees such as Danny Finkelstein and David Wolfson; the author Howard Jacobson and media personalities such as Emma Barnett and Jonathan Freedland. Others, often from the business community, play an influential but quieter role behind the scenes.
In recent years, however, a new type of Anglo-Jewish ambassador has arisen. Forged in the bitter Corbyn antisemitism wars, prominent on Twitter but also shaped by its zero sum culture warfare, this group includes the actor Tracy-Ann Oberman; Jewish Chronicle editor Jake Wallis Simons and the Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Gideon Falter. It is far less mediated or moderated by the ailing institutions of old.
While I share this new generation’s loathing of antisemitism, I fear that some of the wrong lessons have been learned from the Corbyn wars. It was right and proper that the former Labour leader’s long flirtation with antisemites – and antisemitism – was exposed. However, the style and tone of that battle – which involved hyperbolic Twitter combat and finding ideological allies on the right wing of the media – has now hardened into a playbook.
In my view, the art of Anglo-Jewish diplomacy should be about more than scoring partisan headlines in the tabloid press, fastest finger first Twitter warfare – which often results in crass mistakes – and dunking on the tiresome Owen Jones.
Too often, moderate voices are drowned out. But the loudest voices in the room are not always the wisest and moderation has long been the successful Anglo-Jewish way. Communal diplomacy in this country has traditionally been about institutionalism and careful relationship-building across political lines, so that when difficult moments come an open door and a sympathetic ear can be found.
I believe that most people and most institutions in this country remain pretty fair-minded on these febrile and dizzying issues of identity and conflict.
In the fierce heat of the current Israel debate, too often parts of the community find themselves at war with important figures and institutions, such as the Jewish Chronicle‘s crusades against the BBC or former defence secretary Ben Wallace. Or, most recently, Falter’s battle with the Metropolitan Police, which was the apogee of this new approach. In calling for Sir Mark Rowley, the head of the Met, to lose his job because of the way the marches have been policed, Falter overplayed his hand. His campaign has fallen foul of an abiding political truth: never call for someone’s head if it’s firmly attached to their neck.
Don’t get me wrong, neither the BBC, nor Ben Wallace, nor the Met is beyond criticism. Far from it. The Met’s position on the marches has been muddled and there have been clear instances of BBC bias over their Middle East reporting. However, these are vast and essential British institutions full of people who are not antisemitic nor hateful towards Israel, but trying to do complex jobs in a ludicrously fractious environment. Declaring war on them does the community no favours long term.
The counter to my argument is that these are not moderate times and the enemies of British Jews do not deal in moderation, so they must be met and defeated on their own terms – as they once were at Cable Street. There is some truth to this, but I believe that most people and most institutions in this country remain pretty fair-minded on these febrile and dizzying issues of identity and conflict. To help keep them that way, however, we mustn’t discard the traditions that brought our community to this point in history in quite remarkably good nick.
• Josh Glancy is News Review editor at the Sunday Times. You can read more of his Jewish News columns HERE
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