Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison recently met in London with Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain’s Labour Party.
“Awesome day in London, especially meeting with Rt. Hon. Jeremy Corbyn—a true grassroots organizer,” Ellison wrote on Twitter July 2 along with a picture of him posing with Corbyn.
Awesome day in London, especially meeting with Rt. Hon. Jeremy Corbyn – a true grassroots organizer. pic.twitter.com/Jl6HhyVNxY
— Keith Ellison (@keithellison) July 2, 2019
Ellison evidently met with some of Corbyn’s political allies, too.
“Insightful discussion with Keith Ellison, Attorney General of Minnesota, on fighting inequality and taking on Trump’s politics of scapegoating and prejudice,” Richard Burgon, a member of Parliament and self-described “socialist,” wrote on Twitter. “Movements backing Bernie Sanders in the USA and Jeremy Corbyn here are part of the same struggle for the many not the few.”
Insightful discussion with @keithellison, Attorney General of Minnesota, on fighting inequality & taking on Trump’s politics of scapegoating and prejudice.
Movements backing @BernieSanders in the USA and @jeremycorbyn here are part of the same struggle for the many not the few! pic.twitter.com/hzR3l7tPtD
— Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) July 4, 2019
Corbyn was mostly a fringe figure in British politics until his ascension to leader of the Labour Party. Since then, he’s faced numerous allegations of anti-Semitism, so much so that the BBC had to publish a “guide to Labour Party anti-Semitism claims.”
In perhaps the most notorious instance, Corbyn described leaders of the terrorist organization Hamas as “friends” after inviting them to a 2009 meeting in Parliament.
According to The Algemeiner, Corbyn praised the reissued edition of a book that claims Jews control the banking industry and the media, and wrote a foreword to a 2011 edition of a book that makes similar claims.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is investigating whether the Labour Party “unlawfully discriminated against, harassed or victimized people because they are Jewish,” and received testimonies from 100 witnesses, The Guardian reports.
Mike Gapes, a Labour member of Parliament, resigned in February because of the ongoing controversy.
“I am sickened that Labour is now perceived by many as a racist, antisemitic Party,” he wrote in his resignation letter, according to The Algemeiner. “But there has been considerable reluctance since then to seriously deal with hundreds of cases of antisemitism and several prominent antisemites have been readmitted to the Party.”
A September 2018 poll found that 40 percent of British Jews would “seriously consider” leaving the country if Corbyn were to become prime minister.
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
