Labours support of Zionism, throughout most of the last century, is something that is not often discussed or acknowledged, especially of late as the focus has been upon Corbyn, his far-left clique and anti-Semitism. The MSM and conversations rarely acknowledge that the resettlement and immigration of Jews to Palestine in the 1930s posed a grave concern for the Tory government. They had feared an uprising of the Palestinian Arabs and neighbouring states, as a vocal concern that the increasing number of Jewish settlers posed the threat of a gradual takeover of Palestine by Jewish migrants. To placate the Palestinians the Torys had proposed a ‘Legislative Assembly’ to ensure that the Palestinians had a voice in all matters regarding the future of the country. To Labour and the Zionists, this proposal opened the possibility for the Palestinians to have a real influence which posed a threat, at least until the Zionists were in a majority and so opposition to this institution was led by the Labour party - something that is not widely discussed.
This traditional Labour view was contrary to the likes of the Communist Party and far-left view. The UK Communists followed the view that Zionism and settlement was a part of the UK and American imperialism.
There is also the debate of influence within the far left and whether Marx was an anti-Semite. Though I’m not sure that there is a definitive he was certainly not sympathetic as bore out in quotes such as;
“What is the worldly religion of the Jew? Huckstering. What is his worldly God? Money. Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist. Money degrades all the gods of man – and turns them into commodities….”
If I am not mistaken, post WW2, dissent against Israel came from a small number of pro-Arab MPs from the more left of left persuasion which was much the case until the back end of the last century. In the 1980s with that round of far-left entryism from Communists and Militants attempt to hijack the party and shift it to the peripheries of the left, Labour moved its support of Israel to a view considering Palestinian rights.
This should be balanced against the growth of right-wing politics in Israel, and also growing support from British Jews towards conservatism, but, the key variable was entryist activity and the growth of the far left within the party. I am not suggesting that identification with Palestinian nationalism did not resonate to certain degrees across the party and all parties in some respects but the Palestinian struggle was packaged, aligned and coopted with a new breed of far-left activism and unilateralism.
I think it was Alderman who described the descent of the Labour party into war with the Jews during the early ’80s. Some may disagree with this observation but for the moderates, it was a concern and sympathy for the Jewish cause remained if not for Likud. Corbyn, Lansman, Murphy, Milne and co brought the latest entryist attempt to move the party toward their ideals and with them sadly but not surprisingly, came a rise in anti-Semitism which is thankfully now being dealt with.
