Media Lens in a piece last year probed beyond the surface chatter in the Anti-Semitism imbroglio that engulfed the Labour Party of Jeremy Corbyn. and which this week led to an admission of liability on the part of the BLP.

One of us had a discussion with an elderly relative:

‘He can’t be allowed to become Prime Minister.’

‘Why not?’

‘It’s so awful…’

‘What is?’

‘The way he hates the Jews.’


The last comment was spoken with real anguish, the result of continuous exposure to just two main news sources: the Daily Mail and the BBC.

What is astonishing is that, just four years ago, essentially no-one held this view of Jeremy Corbyn.

Corbyn first became an MP in 1983. He stood for the Labour leadership 32 years later, in May 2015. We searched the ProQuest database for UK newspaper articles containing:

‘Jeremy Corbyn’ and ‘anti-semitism’ before 1 May 2015 = 18 hits

‘Jeremy Corbyn’ and ‘anti-semitism’ after 1 May 2015 = 11,251 hits

None of the 18 hits accused Corbyn of anti-Semitism. For his first 32 years as an MP, it just wasn’t a theme associated with him.

Continue reading @ Media Lens

The Fake News Nazi – Corbyn, Williamson And The Anti-Semitism Scandal

Media Lens in a piece last year probed beyond the surface chatter in the Anti-Semitism imbroglio that engulfed the Labour Party of Jeremy Corbyn. and which this week led to an admission of liability on the part of the BLP.

One of us had a discussion with an elderly relative:

‘He can’t be allowed to become Prime Minister.’

‘Why not?’

‘It’s so awful…’

‘What is?’

‘The way he hates the Jews.’


The last comment was spoken with real anguish, the result of continuous exposure to just two main news sources: the Daily Mail and the BBC.

What is astonishing is that, just four years ago, essentially no-one held this view of Jeremy Corbyn.

Corbyn first became an MP in 1983. He stood for the Labour leadership 32 years later, in May 2015. We searched the ProQuest database for UK newspaper articles containing:

‘Jeremy Corbyn’ and ‘anti-semitism’ before 1 May 2015 = 18 hits

‘Jeremy Corbyn’ and ‘anti-semitism’ after 1 May 2015 = 11,251 hits

None of the 18 hits accused Corbyn of anti-Semitism. For his first 32 years as an MP, it just wasn’t a theme associated with him.

Continue reading @ Media Lens

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