The Labour Party Was Once a Haven for British Jews—What Happened?

For most of the 20th century, most British Jews voted for the Labour Party. It seemed like a natural fit. This was a party that championed religious minorities, emphasized workers’ rights, and condemned anti-Semitism—all stances that appealed to a Jewish population that grew along with immigration from Europe. Yet now, a spate of anti-Semitic scandals is plaguing the left-wing party, and many British Jews are fed up with its leadership’s perceived failure to address the problem.

Frustration over the Labour Party’s handling of anti-Semitism within its own ranks dates back years, but reached a boiling point this week following two back-to-back scandals, one of which implicated the party’s own leader, Jeremy Corbyn. Last week, a Facebook comment Corbyn made in 2012 resurfaced, in which he defended a mural, the mural depicts a group of Jewish bankers playing Monopoly on the backs of the working class. Corbyn issued a statement Sunday apologizing for his comment, that he should have “studied the content of the mural more closely.”