Stephen Kinnock’s remarks on Israel

The leadership of the Labour party cannot conflate individual’s views on human rights and foreign policy with an attack on Jewish people.

Stephen Kinnock, a Labour MP and member of the shadow foreign office, accused the Israeli government during a September debate that Israel was guilty of actions “tantamount to profiting from the proceeds of crime” and continued by saying the UK should “ban all products that originate from Israeli settlements in the occupied territories”. Neither of these things seem particularly controversial, and in my view are a perfectly reasonable stance to take; and one I’d concur with.

We now hear Kinnock has been given a “dressing down” by Lisa Nandy (she said this to British Jewish leaders), his superior. This is odd in a number of ways. If the Labour party can’t defend the rights of Palestinian people and fight that fight for international justice, and at the same time tackle the vile scourge of antisemitism, then they aren’t defining antisemitism correctly, and are conflating it with political views on Israel.

Buying into the myth that criticising Israel’s actions is attacking Jewish people (something this leadership is enthusiastically doing) emboldens bad faith political actors and does absolutely nothing to tackle antisemitism. In fact, it makes it politically untenable to say anything about the Israeli-Palestinian occupations.

The leadership is laying a trap for itself; when it does say something critical about the actions of the Israeli government, it’s opened the door to be immediately condemned as antisemetic.

We can tackle the vile racist poison of antisemitism, while being steadfast defenders of the rights of the Palestinian people: they have no connection, and anyone who says they do is acting in bad faith, not genuine antiracist concern. Let’s recommit to tackling antisemitism outside and inside the Labour party, while also recommitting to not letting go of the fight for the Palestinian people. They aren’t connected, there is no connection, Lisa Nandy is wrong, Stephen Kinnock is right.