Analysis

Voice of the Jewish News: To fight hatred, we must stand together

This week's double editorial firstly focuses on the shooting in San Diego last Shabbat, before turning to Corbyn, who must be brought to book

3 May 2019, 2:29 pm

Two people hug as another talks to a San Diego County Sheriff's deputy outside of the Chabad of Poway Synagogue, following the deadly attack in April 2019, in Poway, Calif. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

Some people hate Jews, some people hate Muslims, and some just seem to hate everyone. So it seems for the terrorist who walked into Chabad of Poway Synagogue in San Diego on Saturday armed with a semi-automatic rifle.

The suspect, John Earnest, has been charged not only with one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder at the shul, but also with one count of arson in connection with a fire at a mosque in Escondido in March. He is alleged to have poured petrol on the building while worshippers inside were preparing for morning prayers.

The fact he went after Muslims one month and Jews the next is a reminder that both communities face a common enemy, fuelled by a common ideology of hate. It is vital that this common threat is faced together.

We wish a long life to the family of Lori Kaye and a speedy recovery to
the injured.

Corbyn must be brought to book

Another skeleton in Jeremy Corbyn’s closet, more terrifying than most. Back in 2011 the Labour leader wrote a gushing forward to an updated edition of
an infamous book in which the author suggested global finance was controlled in Europe by “men of a single and peculiar race”.

If anyone should have spotted the glaring tropes, it would surely be a lifelong anti-racist. Yet, he said nothing to qualify his praise at the time. Only when this sickening episode was revealed in the media was a spokesman forced to do so this week.

It’s just the latest revolting revelation that beggars belief, but likely won’t make a jot of difference. Once again, the Labour leader will pay no political price. Just like his decision to question the removal of an antisemitic mural, his comments on British Zionists and irony and his welcome for the psychopaths of Hamas as friends.

As the Jewish Labour Movement noted, any rank and file member who had written a similar forward would most likely have been suspended – but not so Corbyn. Even with this latest news, the trickle of MPs leaving for Change UK has failed to become a torrent. He could yet be prime minister with months.