This past Tuesday, yet another Labour member of the United Kingdom’s Parliament resigned from the party. After 45 years, Bridget Prentice, a former member of Parliament (MP) for Lewisham East, called it quits in a letter to the acting general secretary of the Labour Party.
Prentice’s letter offered a stinging rebuke of the devolution of the Labour Party under the auspices of Jeremy Corbyn. Unsurprisingly, among Prentice’s top concerns, in addition to the party’s anti-Europe swivel, was Labour’s inability to address concerns about anti-Semitism. Prentice’s letter is a dark omen of what the future may portend for the American Democratic Party, which, similar to the Labour Party, has been reeling from accusations of anti-Semitism.
Prentice writes, “Over the past three years I have watched in horror as Jewish members have begged for support against the growth of anti-Semitism both within and out with the Party.” She criticizes Labour’s “slow, reluctant and inadequate” response to claims of anti-Semitism and the mere “slap on the wrist” that was supposed to reprimand such bigotry.
Luciana Berger was a prominent Jewish MP who left Labour earlier this year due to repeated and unpunished harassment. In reference to her departure, Prentice censures the general secretary, “For a pregnant woman MP to [be] bullied out of the party is shameful and embarrassing.”
The Cult of Corbyn
Prentice accuses Corbyn of demonstrating absolutely terrible leadership. “Leaders stand to be counted. They root out the evil, they show that such racism will not be tolerated. They don’t twist and turn to find ways of keeping their supporters on board when those self-same supporters have been shown to be racist, anti-Semitic and bullies.” Prentice then points to the whitewashing of the problem via a report the party had issued, which largely downplayed instances of anti-Semitism within the party.
Prentice criticizes the “cult” of Corbyn, which won’t make room for necessary and healthy criticism: “Anyone questioning the leadership’s position is vilified; complaints sent in to the disciplinary panel like something out of a North Korean rulebook that disloyalty to the leader is a criminal offense.” She alludes to the fact that “enthusiasm” and “idealism” brought Corbyn to power but says he has failed to perform on such sentiments, ignoring the needs of his constituents in favor of “attend[ing] marches [and] show[ing] solidarity with regimes which are murdering their own people, harassing women and LGBT communities, and destroying their economies.”
Prentice finally ends by noting that the party no longer represents the larger aims of “social justice” and fairness,” having abandoned its “open and welcoming view of the world.” She concludes by stating, “This is no longer the Labour Party. You should change its name.”
The U.S. Parallels Are Growing
As I have written in the past, the Corbynization of the U.K. Labour Party contains numerous parallels to the rise—and acceptance—of anti-Semitism within the American Democrat Party, which similarly has refused to take any meaningful steps to address claims of anti-Semitism within its ranks.
Just a few days ago, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D–MI) engaged in Holocaust revisionism, ignoring the fact that Palestinian Arabs brutally slaughtered Jews fleeing the Holocaust and that the leader of the Palestinian Arabs had actually collaborated with Adolph Hitler. How did Nancy Pelosi, leader of the House Democrats, respond? She demanded that those who criticized Tlaib’s venomous lies apologize.
Pelosi’s acceptance of such brutish behavior is sadly unremarkable. Prior to Tlaib’s comments, Pelosi introduced a radical imam to perform the noon prayer in Congress, an imam who has expressed a vitriolic hatred of Israel, labeling Zionists “enemies of God,” lauding the potential Third Intifada, and posting a video comparing Israelis to Nazis.
Advocating for the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state, home to half the world’s Jews, is not a remotely reasonable policy position. There is criticizing a nation-state’s policies, and then there is supporting genocide. The latter is the ultimate conclusion of this imam’s anti-Zionist position.
Over the past several months, we have been subjected to comments from Rep. Ilhan Omar (D–MN) accusing Americans who support Israel of having “dual loyalty”; we learned of prominent House Democrats repeatedly meeting with Jew-hating Louis Farrakhan; we watched House Democrats loudly refuse to vote for a resolution condemning anti-Semitism explicitly and singularly; we witnessed the vast majority of the tens of 2020 Democrat contenders (save four, one of whom came out against Israel) remain silent as the jihadist terrorist group Hamas hurled more than 600 rockets towards Israeli homes, targeting Jews; and now, we are told that Holocaust revisionism is acceptable—that denying the systematic murder of Jews fleeing Hitler is a reasonable activity because to say otherwise is “Islamophobic.”
The Gaslighting Must End
In much the same way that Corbyn and his ilk continuously gaslight defectors, claiming that their criticisms are “plainly untrue” (despite nearly a dozen resignations citing all the same allegations), we as a society are facing similar pernicious denials emanating from Pelosi and her cohorts, who easily take the American public—and American Jews—for absolute imbeciles.
Prentice’s letter offers a blueprint for the possible defections that might occur in the American Democrat Party, as Democrats continue to deny the rise of anti-Semitism within their party and attempt to silence those who offer any sort of meaningful criticism.
Much like the cult of Corbyn and its perversion of the U.K. Labour Party, there is a cult of unimpeachable progressivism poisoning the American Left. The Democrat Party has demonized any objection to the cult by using a litany of “-isms” to denigrate much-needed critique. Omar (D–MN) has accused Rep. Liz Cheney (R–WI), Rep. Lee Zeldin (R–NY), and anyone else who dares to criticize her or Tlaib (D–MI) of anti-Semitism as “Islamophobic.”
This tactic is useful because it allows the leftist-dominated media to feel guiltless as they rush to protect and rationalize the actions of those accused of anti-Semitism. A glance at the Washington Post’s headlines (here and here) might very well make your stomach turn. Watching Seth Meyers conduct damage control for Omar might make you wonder when, if ever, we’ll reach the disgusting crescendo where popular media figures will no longer excuse anti-Semitism. The actions of those within the mainstream media subversively suggest that anti-Semitism is capable of rationalization. It is not.
The U.K. Labour Party’s slow collapse should offer warning bells to Pelosi, who has allowed the far-left to dictate the course of her party. I am not sure what level of Holocaust revisionism or Farrakhan-cavorting it might take for Democrats to realize their party is ill. I can only hope that there are Democrats who are willing to change the party from within in—and if not, are willing to leave the party itself.
As Bridget Prentice suggested in her letter, there comes a point when a party mutates so greatly that it no longer deserves its original name. Perhaps for the American Democratic Party, this is now the case.
