Why Jeremy Corbyn is good for Jews!

by Shlomo Gareth Anker (Twitter: Hapoel Orient) . We know Jeremy Corbyn has protested against Israel. Some of us may hate him for this, some might love him for it. Lets look at the details. Israel & Palestine Corbyn is not always right but he is not a supporter of Hamas or Hezbollah and he is a true champion of peace. Or to put it in other words, he is not George Galloway. Nevertheless, Jeremy Corbyn does support Palestinians and heavily attacks what the Israeli government has done. But does that mean he hates Jews? I would say no, and in fact I would say that this makes him a friend of Israel. WHAT!!!! I think Corbyn is a friend of Israel!! Well, yes, he is a friend of Israel, in fact he is one of Israel’s best friends. Let me explain with an analogy: Let’s say I am drunk. I am drunk and I want to drive. I am so drunk that I start getting agitated, swearing at my friends and start hurting people. What would a good friend do? Would a good friend of mine tell me how wonderful I am and even give me the keys to my car? NO!!! a good friend is one who would criticise me. The American Government, and pro-Israel allies in the Labour & Tory parties, are bad friends of Israel. Israel’s government is drunk with a nasty right-wing government that has included two far right parties (HaBayit HaYehudi & Yisraeli Beitanu). So by telling Israel how wonderful they are and giving them support, they are actually hurting Israel. While we have such a nasty government in Jerusalem, we need to criticise the bad things they are doing. This is why Corbyn is a good friend of Israel- But that does not mean I agree with everything Corbyn says. He ignores that Jewish people are extra-sensitive and his rhetoric disregards that. Jews have suffered more than anyone and most of us have grandparents who suffered horrible injustice in Germany and even in Arab countries. Corbyn and the Left are not supporters of Hamas & Hezbollah but they are weak in attacking the Anti-Semitic ideas in Hamas’ constitution and the threats by Hezbollah against Israel. But Corbyn is at fault not because he is a bad person but due to lack of knowledge. This is the problem of the Left in the UK. They love to act like they are experts on Israel, especially if they have had a two-week trip to the West Bank, but actually most do not really what Zionism is yet love to shout the word Zionist all the time. However, their heart is in the right place, even if they are annoying. Economics We as Jews have a bit of an Israel obsession. Although to be fair, Muslims have a Palestine obsession. Due to this we forget the major issues that threaten all of us. These issues are about Money, Economics and Austerity. I am not going to write about why Austerity is bad, but if you have time I would recommend to go to YouTube and take a look at my fellow Jews, Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz’s thoughts on Austerity. I will just give one short example. Among North London Middle Class Jews, we are going through an epidemic of over-work, stress and high level of death via Heart Attacks. Far too many people are working over 50 hours a week and often have little money left to properly save. This is directly related to the Conservative Party agenda that goes back to the 1980s where the goal of life is to sacrifice all to be financially "successful" and other forms of success like, spirituality or friendship are seen as irrelevant. If we are going to improve the lives of all Jews, we need to support the socialist ideas of Jeremy Corbyn and start to work towards a more socialist country.