Weighing the evidence: Corbyn, anti-semitism and the Christian response

Despite his long career in parliament, and association with the anti-War movement, very little was known about Jeremy Corbyn before he stood for the leadership of the Labour Party in the summer of 2015.

Over the course of that contest there was a drip-feed of stories that indicated that Mr Corbyn had shared a number of platforms with, and made various comments in support of, a rather distasteful set of characters.

This included his 2011 invitation of Raed Salah to have tea on the terrace of the UK parliament. Salah is a hate preacher who was at one point proscribed from entering the UK as a result of him inciting terrorism and promulgating the blood libel. There was also Mr Corbyn’s long (and lucrative) association with Press TV, the propaganda arm of the Islamic Republic of Iran, where Mr Corbyn had hosted a television show despite the channel being a platform for Holocaust deniers and advocates for suicide bombings, including the one against the Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires which killed 85. Sadly, Mr Corbyn had also supported Reverend Stephen Sizer who was banned from social media by his bishop after posting a link to an article claiming Israel was behind the 9/11 attacks.

Despite these association gaining some attention, they were generally seen within the context of Mr Corbyn’s slightly odd and alternative campaigning history and not as indicative of his fundamental beliefs.

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See also: Bishop condemns Labour anti-Semitism and demands immediate expulsions, by Archbishop Cranmer