Members of the Jewish community hold a protest against Britain’s opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn and anti-semitism in the Labour party, outside the British Houses of Parliament in central London on March 26, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Tolga AKMEN (Photo credit should read TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images) (JTA) — Britain’s Labour Party has failed to investgate and discipline hundreds of anti-Semitism cases, according to a leak of party emails.
The Sunday Times reported that of 863 complaints overall made by March 8m 2019, 454 are unresolved, including 249 where the party has not yet opened an investigation, as well as 176 ongoing investigations.
Among party members who have not yet been suspended are members who posted online comments including “Heil Hitler,” “F**k the Jews” and “Jews are the problem,” the London-based Jewish Chronicle reported.
The leaked emails are from a hard drive obtained by the Sunday Times that also contains a confidential database, and party documents.
According to the report, at least one Labour official who should have been punished was not because he was at the time standing for reelection.
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s office involved itself in at least 101 complaints, though the opposition leader said he would remain hands off.
Of the cases in which a decision was reached, 191 members faced no further action, 145 received a formal reprimand, and 29 were expelled. Some voluntarily left the party.
The Labour Party has disputed the figures reported by the Times, and a spokesperson told the Jewish Chronicle that only parts of some emails were leaked, which misrepresents their entire contents.
Margaret Hodge, a Jewish lawmaker for the Labour Party, who has been critical of the party’s handling of anti-Semitism in its ranks, said: “The scale of the abuse, the depth of the hatred and the total lack of action by the Labour Party is astonishing.”
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