One of seven Jews standing for the party says he is fighting to show it is 'a lot bigger than its current leadership and the front bench'
December 4, 2019 11:28
In past elections, 24-year-old Joshua Garfield says, Labour would have stood “a lot more Jewish candidates" like him but that was before the party, which has always been a political home for Jews, was marred by alegations of institutional antisemitism.
Mr Garfield, who is taking on Tory Chairman James Cleverly in Braintree, is one of seven Jews standing for the party after an exodus of members, many of whom he considers “friends”, and the departure of two of the party’s highest-profile Jewish MPs.
Mr Garfield, who was among the whistleblowers on the BBC Panorama episode about Labour antisemitism, says: “I don’t think Labour have had so few Jewish candidates in a long time, but that is a sign of the times.”
Mr Garfield, a Jewish Labour Movement officer who sits on Newham Council and hopes to dent Mr Cleverley's 18,422-majority, tells the JC he is often called a hypocrite for standing for a party whose serious problem with antisemitism he has acknowledged.
“On the one hand, people view you as an enabler of the abuse you’ve spoken out about and, on the other hand, people view you as a torch bearer for the Labour values that are remaining,” he says.
He adds he is fighting to show people “the Labour Party is a lot bigger than its current leadership and the Labour front bench", adding there is still a “massive diversity of opinion" within the party, contrasting this with the Conservative Party's “hard Brexit” candidates.
“There are literally dozens of Labour candidates who are re-standing, many of whom are likely to win, some of whom are on a knife edge, who have been brilliantly outspoken in the past few years on antisemitism and we still need those MPs in the party or we have lost it,” Mr Garfield says.
He dismisses the argument made by some Corbyn supporters that the fact he is standing is evidence it is a "safe" place to be Jewish.
He still encounters people within the party “not willing to accept things are antisemitism and are totally unaware things they are saying are antisemitic.”
He bristles at how the party chose filmmaker Ken Loach, who has dismissed claims of antisemitism as smears and once said "history is for all of us to discuss" when asked about questioning whether the Holocaust was real, to take centre stage at the unveiling of Labour’s arts manifesto last month.
"There was no way I could go," Mr Garfield says. “Unfortunately a lot of colleagues did go and one of them even shared a platform with Loach.”
The candidate says this shows many are "choosing to turn a blind eye for what they deem to be the greater good, while Jews in the party get thrown under the bus".
“They didn’t have to invite him. They had other artists but they invited someone who immediately made the space unsafe for Jews.”
He says he has stopped going to his local West Ham Constituency Labour Party (CLP) because the meetings are “awful, absolutely awful.
“I recently complained about someone who said they were appalled that someone ‘wonderful and great like Chris Williamson was no longer a candidate, but Labour had promoted one of the chief witch hunters in Braintree'.’”
He has heard nothing about his complaint. “That says everything you need to know".
But he feels uplifted by Labour colleagues in Braintree.
“I feel so safe and appreciated and happy when I campaign with people... It is so well run and run by wonderful people who have really been head-on with the issue.
“They make sure that there is none of these uncomfortable feelings at meetings. They don’t let people walk in with copies of [far-left newspaper] the Morning Star, whereas in West Ham the Morning Star is probably the only paper let into the meetings.”
He adds: “The only way to regain the party and make it a safe place for us [Jews] is for us is to take our space and be as loud as possible.”
He points to the fact he was selected as a candidate after speaking out on antisemitism is evidence some in the party still agree.
If he and other Jewish candidates and members go, he believes Labour “stays being run by people who have no interest in re building trust with our community.
“I think there is a role for people inside and outside the party.”
Mr Garfield insists he understands why people have left “but I am not going anywhere until I know I have done absolutely everything I can and standing is one of the things.”
When antisemitism comes up on the doorstep, he says "I’m Jewish and I’m not going to make any apologies for it. There is a problem.
“But we can’t solve it just by leaving and giving up, so I am fighting within and I will always stand up to the Labour leadership when they have got it wrong.”
