At the Holocaust Memorial in the European Parliament, the former president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Charlotte Knobloch, accused the British Labor Party and its chairman of anti-Semitism. "The Labor Party (...), chaired by Jeremy Corbyn over the past few years, has become one of Europe's most blatant problem cases of political anti-Semitism," Knobloch said. Under Corbyn's leadership, Labor had "left the political center far behind".
Critics accuse Corbyn of a unilateral Palestinian support in the Middle East conflict. Last August, he publicly admitted in a video that his opposition party had a problem with anti-Semitism. Disciplinary proceedings against anti-Semitic party members were too slow and too timid. The police are investigating some members for "anti-Semitic hate crimes".
Last week, Knobloch had criticized the AFD at a commemorative event for the victims of National Socialism in the Bavarian state parliament for the downplaying of the Holocaust. Members of the right-wing populist party then left the plenary hall.
In the European Parliament in Brussels, Knobloch warned that hatred of the Jews raises "his ugly head" in all social classes and political spectrums. "Forces such as the AfD, the representatives of the anti-Semitic BDS campaign and radical Muslims may have little in common - only anti-Semitism unites them all," said Knobloch. BDS stands for "boycott, disinvestment and sanctions" against Israel.
Knobloch, who is also chairman of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, appealed to the MEPs and members of the EU Commission to oppose any form of hatred of Jews. "The freedom and democracy we enjoy today is only as strong as the use of democracy for them, and the willingness of the majority to defend it against an energetic, hateful minority."