Jeremy Corbyn in fresh anti-Semitism row over book foreword

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn embroiled in latest anti-Semitic row
PA

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has come under fire after it emerged that he wrote a foreword to a century-old book which argued that banks and newspapers were controlled by Jews.

The Jewish Labour Movement said Corbyn should “consider his position” for writing the foreword for JA Hobson’s Imperialism: A Study, a book that was originally published in 1902.

In a 2011 edition of economist JA Hobson's Imperialism: A Study, published, the then backbench MP described the work as "brilliant, and very controversial at the time" and "a great tome".

Labour has denied that his comments amounted to an endorsement of sections of the book which are widely regarded as anti-Semitic.

The Jewish Labour Movement told the BBC: “Once again, Labour members find that their leader has endorsed anti-Semitic propaganda.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn 
PA

In the book, Hobson suggested that finance in Europe was controlled "by men of a singular and peculiar race who have behind them many centuries of financial experience" and "are in a unique position to control the policy of nations".

Mr Corbyn wrote in his foreword: "Hobson's railing against the commercial interests that fuel the role of the popular press with tales of imperial might, that then lead on to racist caricatures of African and Asian peoples, was both correct and prescient."

Former Labour MP Ian Austin, who quit the party earlier this year in protest at Mr Corbyn's handling of anti-Semitism allegations, said: "Jeremy Corbyn endorsed a book that peddles racist stereotypes of Jewish financiers and imperialism as 'brilliant' and a 'great tome' ... He is completely unfit to lead the Labour Party."

The president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Marie van der Zyl, called on the Labour leader to explain how he came to write his foreword, saying the book contained an "obvious anti-Semitic message"

In an open letter to Mr Corbyn, she said of the book: "This is pure and unequivocal racism and there can be no apology for it."

But historian Tristram Hunt, who quit Labour in 2017 to take up the post of director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, said it was "reductive" to see Hobson purely as an anti-Semitic figure, arguing that he was "an important figure, worthy of study, within the 20th century liberal tradition".

A Labour Party spokesman said: "Jeremy praised the Liberal Hobson's century-old classic study of imperialism in Africa and Asia.

"Similarly to other books of its era, Hobson's work contains outdated and offensive references and observations, and Jeremy completely rejects the anti-Semitic elements of his analysis."

Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey told Sky News that she had not read Hobson's book, but added: "The guy in question was a political thinker of his time, whether you agree with his opinions or not.

"Numerous Labour and Conservative colleagues have commented on him, whether that's negatively or positively, taking certain parts of his thinking into consideration.

"But in no way would the Labour Party or Jeremy Corbyn condone any anti-Semitic comments in any way."

Additional reporting by PA.

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