Corbyn Applies For Exemption From IHRA Antisemitism Definition

“The IHRA definition now forces me to choose between political morality and political oblivion.”

Credit: Chris McAndrew via Wikimedia Commons

London, June 13 – The leader of Britain’s Labour Party wrote this week to the organization with the most widely-accepted parameters for deeming statements or attitudes Judaeophobic, requesting the group make an exception for him because he really, really needs political support he would lack without resort to statements and policies that meet the organization’s criteria for Jew-hate.

Jeremy Corbyn contacted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Wednesday and asked to apply for an exemption to the IHRA definition of antisemitism. Her Majesty’s Opposition Leader informed the inter-governmental organization that while he respects the definition and even shares its distaste for antisemitism, he requires special dispensation that will permit him to continue to condone the rampant use of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery among his followers and political allies while allowing him to maintain that he has “fought bigotry and racism his entire political career.”

“I appreciate your organization’s efforts and considerations in arriving at the working definition of antisemitism,” the letter reads. “At the same time, however, my political survival, let alone success, hinges on alliances with groups and polities that do not share my sensitivity vis-à-vis anti-Jewish rhetoric. This holds especially true with regard to statements or actions that challenge the legitimacy of Jewish sovereignty in the ancestral Jewish homeland, a notion that many of my followers and allies reject, and which for reasons I cannot fathom tends to invite remarks about Jews in general, not merely Israel.”

“The current IHRA definition of antisemitism puts me in a difficult position,” Corbyn continued. “If I accept it without reservation, I alienate my political allies and my friends in Hamas and Hezbollah. Those groups and my other allies can offer numerous explanations as to why and and how their positions do mot meet the criteria for antisemitism, and I take them at their word. The IHRA definition now forces me to choose between political morality and political oblivion, since, as you can appreciate, without the support of these like-minded demographics, nothing distinguishes me from the thousands of other British politicians with national leadership aspirations.”

“I therefore request an exemption from the definition,” the letter concludes. “Only with the imprimatur of the IHRA stating that my attitudes fall outside the parameters of antisemitism will I be able to deflect our opponents’ accusations and sway enough of the British electorate to back Labour in the next general election. Once I hold the office of Prime Minister, I will of course continue to combat bigotry as I have my whole life.”

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