Instinctively I’d say that Labour, the Lib Dems, the Green Party and UKIP all have a worse recent track record when it comes to problems with antisemitism than the Conservatives. However I expect many readers will already have seen or read about Patrick Mercer’s appalling remarks about a young soldier he encountered in Israel. You can see the clip over on the Commentator.
It’s interesting to look at Mercer’s past associations with Israel. From this post on the Harvard Alumni site, it is clear that he invited Ambassador Dore Gold to speak at the House of Commons back in 2009.
Just last year he was asserting how proud he was that the Holocaust Museum was in his own constituency at a pro-Israel lobbying event.
When antisemitism rears its head in the more left wing parties, it almost always manifests itself as the ‘new’ antisemitism, via anti-zionism. Superficially at least, interestingly, UKIP Friends of Palestine is pretty indistinguishable from its leftist counterparts in this regard.
So it’s salutary to be reminded that older forms of antisemitism are still present, and that antisemitic views and statements are compatible with (apparent) support for Israel. More florid examples of this combination include Nick Griffin and Audronius Azubalis.
Hat Tip: The Commentator and Gene.
