''The Left's Jewish Problem: Jeremy Corbyn, Israel and Anti‑Semitism'' is a 2016 book by
Dave Rich
Dave Rich is Head of Policy at the Community Security Trust and is a leading expert on left-wing antisemitism, according to ''The Jewish Chronicle''. The book argues that
new antisemitism
New antisemitism is the idea that a new form of antisemitism has developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, tending to manifest itself as anti-Zionism and criticism of the Israeli government. The concept is included in some definitions ...
is "masked as
anti-Zionism
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestin ...
" in left-wing politics.
Rich began writing the book in 2011 as his doctoral thesis at
Birkbeck, University of London
, mottoeng = Advice comes over nightTranslation used by Birkbeck.
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £4.3 m (2014)
, budget = £10 ...
and his studies were funded by his employer, the
Community Security Trust
The Community Security Trust (CST) is a British charity whose purpose is to provide safety, security, and advice to the Jewish community in the UK. It provides advice, training, representation and research.
Founding and mission
The Community Sec ...
.
Rich traces the origin of contemporary left-wing anti-Semitic and anti-Israel rhetoric, and of
antisemitism in the Labour Party
Allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party of the United Kingdom (UK) have been made since Jeremy Corbyn was elected as leader of the party in September 2015. After comments by Naz Shah in 2014 and Ken Livingstone in 2016 resulted in t ...
to the early 1970s when
Peter Hain
Peter Gerald Hain, Baron Hain (born 16 February 1950), is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2005 to 2007, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2007 to 2008 and twice as Secretary of State ...
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
described
Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...
as a colonialist and imperialist project imposing
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
on the indigenous Palestinian people. Rich argues anti-Zionism turned into anti-semitism and is used to hide it under the guise of the first.
Philip Spencer, Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at
Kingston University
, mottoeng = "Through Learning We Progress"
, established = – gained University Status – Kingston Technical Institute
, type = Public
, endowment = £2.3 m (2015)
, ...
, in reviewing the book, accuses the left of inverting reality to blame Jews, "the victims of the most murderous racism, were now the real racists, inverting the Holocaust."
Nick Cohen
Nicholas Cohen (born 1961) is a British journalist, author and political commentator. He was a columnist for ''The Observer'' and a blogger for ''The Spectator''. Following accusations of sexual harassment, he left The Observer in 2022 and bega ...
described the book as an "authoritative history of
left antisemitism
New antisemitism is the idea that a new form of antisemitism has developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, tending to manifest itself as anti-Zionism and criticism of the Israeli government. The concept is included in some definitions ...
but that "If Rich has a fault, it is that as a rational historian, he cannot speculate on the psychological appeal of left antisemitism"
described it as "an important one that should be read by all those seeking to understand the New Left’s obsession with anti-Zionism and its inability to recognize, let alone deal with, its own antisemitism" and
Benjamin Ramm
Benjamin Ramm FRSA (born 12 June 1982) is a writer and journalist for the BBC and openDemocracy. He is former editor of ''The Liberal'' magazine.
In December 2005, as editor of ''The Liberal,'' Ramm organised a "Kennedy Must Go" campaign to unsea ...
wrote that "...as a guide to a contemporary malady that is undermining the integrity of the left, Rich’s book is essential reading"