On June 5th 1987, it was reported that, in response to a question concerning the United Nations resolution equating Zionism with racism, Ms Abbott described the resolution as “Obviously wrong”, adding that “One of the problems with a lot of the anti-Zionist debate and rhetoric, even on the Left…is that sometimes it is a mere vehicle for anti-semitism [sic].”
On 1st May 2016, it was reported that Ms Abbott’s response in [1] had caused dismay amongst many members of the parliamentary Labour Party. Ben Bradshaw, the former culture minister, reportedly said that Labour members were furious at how allegations of antisemitism had been handled.
On May 18th 2017, it was reported that orthodox Jews within Ms Abbott’s constituency were reconsidering their support for her in the light of the Labour leadership’s failure to deal with antisemitism within the Party. Rabbi Avraham Pinter, a former Labour councillor, said that, for the first time in more than 30 years, he “might not vote” at all because of the “pain” and “anguish” caused by what he called Ms Abbott’s unwillingness to recognise Labour’s antisemitism problem. He also claimed that repeated attempts to speak to Ms Abbott had failed, saying that, whilst she had an exemplary record on fighting racism, she had yet to recognise there was a problem in her Party.
On 29th March 2018, it was reported that Ms Abbott had responded to claims of her having described protests against antisemitism as being an orchestrated attack on Jeremy Corbyn [4] by saying: “No-one [sic] who was at the meeting could accurately suggest that I dimissed [sic] the accusations of antisemitism. On the contrary, I reported to the Home Affairs team the discussion of the earlier Shadow Cabinet. There was unanimity in both meetings to take antisemitism with the utmost seriousness and determination to tackle it head-on. Any other suggestion is false.”
On April 18th 2018, it was reported that Ms Abbott had been criticised for her actions during her closing speech in the previous day’s parliamentary debate on antisemitism in the commons, initially refusing to allow Alex Sobel MP, who is Jewish, to speak, then failing to address his concerns. Dame Louise Ellman MP reportedly accused Ms Abbott of making a “grave misjudgement” with her remarks, whilst Wes Streeting MP said he feared the wider Jewish community would be “horrified by the response from our front bench to this debate today”. It was reported the following day that Ms Abbott had apologised to Mr Sobel.
On 27th January 2019, Ms Abbott reportedly told LBC radio that the Labour Party was working “really hard” to address complaints of antisemitism, but admitted that there had been a problem with the time taken to investigate when the number of complaints had risen the previous year.
On 1st March 2019, it was reported that Ms Abbott had been in attendance at a meeting of her constituency Labour Party where a motion was passed which denied the assertion that the party was institutionally antisemitic. Ms Abbott had reportedly failed to speak out against the motion. The Jewish Chronicle reported having been told by a source who had been present that some Jewish members had been “extraordinarily upset” by the motion. The source reportedly added: “I just don’t understand why it was necessary. We have a lot of Jewish members. Obviously it was going to cause a lot of people a lot of upset, and that’s what it did. There were a lot of people in tears. Some said they wouldn’t be coming back again.”
On 28th March 2019, it was reported that Ms Abbott had spoken at the launch of a report by Spinwatch, one of a number of projects headed by Bristol University’s Professor David Miller, who had previously been suspended from (and readmitted to) the Labour Party for alleged antisemitic discourse. He has condemned Ken Livingstone’s treatment by the Labour Party as “absurd” and a “disgrace”, said there was nothing “historically inaccurate” about Livingstone’s comments about Hitler and Zionism, and dismissed the fears of Jewish students on campus as “propaganda”.
On 18th September 2019, it was reported that Ms Abbott was scheduled to speak at a Labour Party conference fringe event alongside a leader of the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions) movement Omar Barghouti, who has made statements which breach the International Definition of Antisemitism.
On 6th November 2019, on the BBC’s Today programme, Ms Abbott was challenged to answer the accusation that the Labour Party doesn’t listen to the victims of antisemitism, and that “Every spokesperson for the Jewish community says you haven’t done enough”. Ms Abbott stated: “We are still doing everything we can, and it’s not every element of the Jewish community that believes Jeremy [Corbyn] is an antisemite.” Further challenged by the suggestion that “every major Jewish newspaper says it; every major representative Jewish body says it,” she responded: “Yeah, well, the Hasidic community in Stamford Hill doesn’t say that.”
However, Ms Abbott’s remarks were contradicted by a senior member of Stamford Hill’s charedi community, who suggested that she was “totally out of touch with the reality” of how Jews in her constituency felt about antisemitism. Former Labour councillor Rabbi Avraham Pinter reportedly said: “I don’t know who she is talking about. Because there is no question that the majority of the people I talk to in the community are talking about antisemitism in the party, it is a concern in the community, we have others, but to suggest that we are not concerned about what has happened in the Labour Party or think they have done enough is false.” He also reportedly said that she should know better than “to use the Charedi Jewish community for political gain.”
In November 2019, Campaign Against Antisemitism put this matter to Ms Abbott, but did not receive a response.
On 30th April 2020, it was reported that Ms Abbott had participated in the inaugural meeting, held online, of a new far-left group – “Don’t Leave, Organise”. The meeting had also been reportedly attended, and in some cases addressed, by activists who had been expelled from the Labour Party in connection with antisemitism, including Tony Greenstein and Jackie Walker. It was further reported that Ms Abbott had remained in the meeting while a succession of speakers either denied or downplayed antisemitism claims.
A spokesperson for the Labour Party reportedly said: “The previous comments made by some of the individuals on this call are completely unacceptable. These are not people who support the values of the Labour Party. This is being made clear to the Labour MPs who attended the call in the strongest possible terms and they are being reminded of their responsibilities and obligations.”
On 23rd April 2023, a letter by Ms Abbott was published in the Observer, in which she claimed that Jews and other “types of white people” may experience prejudice, but not racism. Her letter also included the historically inaccurate implication that Jews did not suffer discrimination in pre-civil-rights-era America. The letter was widely condemned on social media, and Ms Abbott issued a retraction, claiming that the letter was an “initial draft” which had been sent in error. It was later reported that the Labour Party had nevertheless suspended the whip from Ms Abbott pending an investigation. A Labour Party spokesman was reported as saying: “The Labour Party completely condemns these statements, which are deeply offensive and wrong.”
On 24th April 2023, it was reported that, on being pressed on the matter, Sir Keir Starmer said: “In my view, what she said was to be condemned, it was antisemitic”. Ms Abbott does not appear to have responded publicly to this allegation.
