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 âObviously wrongâ, adding that âOne 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].â
On 1st May 2016, it was reported that Ms Abbottâs 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 Abbottâs constituency were reconsidering their support for her in the light of the Labour leadershipâs 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 âmight not voteâ at all because of the âpainâ and âanguishâ caused by what he called Ms Abbottâs unwillingness to recognise Labourâs 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: âNo-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 dayâs 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 âgrave misjudgementâ with her remarks, whilst Wes Streeting MP said he feared the wider Jewish community would be âhorrified by the response from our front bench to this debate todayâ. 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 âreally hardâ 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 âextraordinarily upsetâ by the motion.The source reportedly added: âI just donât 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 thatâs what it did. There were a lot of people in tears. Some said they wouldnât be coming back again.â
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 Universityâs Professor David Miller, who had previously been suspended from (and readmitted to) the Labour Party for alleged antisemitic discourse. He has condemned Ken Livingstoneâs treatment by the Labour Party as âabsurdâ and a âdisgraceâ, said there was nothing âhistorically inaccurateâ about Livingstoneâs comments about Hitler and Zionism, and dismissed the fears of Jewish students on campus as âpropagandaâ.
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.Â
On 6th November 2019, on the BBCâs Today programme, Ms Abbott was challenged to answer the accusation that the Labour Party doesnât listen to the victims of antisemitism, and that âEvery spokesperson for the Jewish community says you havenât done enoughâ. Ms Abbott stated: âWe are still doing everything we can, and itâs not every element of the Jewish community that believes Jeremy [Corbyn] is an antisemite.â Further challenged by the suggestion that âevery major Jewish newspaper says it; every major representative Jewish body says it,â she responded: âYeah, well, the Hasidic community in Stamford Hill doesnât say that.â
However, Ms Abbottâs remarks were contradicted by a senior member of Stamford Hillâs charedi community, who suggested that she was âtotally out of touch with the realityâ of how Jews in her constituency felt about antisemitism. Former Labour councillor Rabbi Avraham Pinter reportedly said: âI donât 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.â He also reportedly said that she should know better than âto use the Charedi Jewish community for political gain.â
We do not know whether disciplinary action has been taken by the Labour Party against Ms Abbott, and at the time of writing, on 24th November 2019, we have no record of any. However, the circumstances and outcomes of any such action would remain unknown, owing to the conditions of secrecy imposed by Baroness Chakrabartiâs report on antisemitism in the Labour Party.
In November 2019, Campaign Against Antisemitism put this matter to Ms Abbott, but did not receive a response.