Racism is horrid, it's totally understandable that a person gets upset or angry when confronted with racism. Antisemitism is another branch of this intolerant tree. Having a name for racism against a particular member of society in a way isolates that member and gives them a bigger ground to stand on than others in similar positions. When we say antisemitism, images of holocaust suffering crop up in our minds, when we say racism, perhaps we tend to think of Africans or Muslims. It's unusual that a group has a definition all to themselves, I accept my ignorance as to why it is this way.
The Labour Party in the UK has been in the midst of a huge antisemitism row for months. When it began, their leader failed to notice the symbol of Jewish faith in a propaganda image online. The image portrayed a group of Jewish people as the enemy. We can all agree that Jews are not the enemy. It was perhaps unfortunate and embarrassing for Jeremy Corbyn to miss the faux pas. When in positions such as his, we have to be extra vigilant as to the kind of message we are portraying. Just because we feel a certain way and we know that we're not carrying bad intentions, others are not privy to this information. They can only go on what they see, and they are going to take things literally. They can't feel the happy edge you may be feeling while you pen your colourful words. They just see the text, the image, the tone.
It was right that an investigation into antisemitism and racism was taken, every party who aims to govern the country must be continually investigated for criminal activity. Members of the party found to be actively protecting criminal activity or even doing it themselves, of course, have no place in the governing roles they aspire to. They ought to have no influence on our society.
There comes a point when we are in a position of power and we have issues around the world that we must comment on. It is important that a person in power or in influence feel free to talk about a nation's government, policy, or behaviour in the world, in any light they see fit. We understand that the government of a nation may represent all people from that place however we also know that it's unfair to lump them all together. We have the right to discuss, condemn, and brand wrong, any actions or policy that fits the description. Israel, America, Great Britain, France, Syria, Russia, we are all in the spotlight and we all have to be prepared to be spoken about on a national scale in all manner of ways.
This is why, in my opinion, that it is right for Labour to write the rules on racism and antisemitism in the way that they did. It would be counterproductive to ringfence all talk about Israel as racist. There must be in place a system that allows international politics to carry on unimpeded. There has never been an issue with antisemitism when it comes to British policy, the individual cases have been highlighted and dealt with. I think it is about time that those who want to find fault on the grounds of antisemitism took their crosshair away from Jeremy Corbyn and into the many other voices who are not as graced with attention as he.
