• Disrupting Power Since 2015
  • Donate
  • Login
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
  • Login
  • Register
Canary
MEDIA THAT DISRUPTS
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
MANAGE SUBSCRIPTION
SUPPORT
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
Canary
No Result
View All Result

Jewish historian recalls when Jeremy Corbyn saved a Jewish cemetery… from Margaret Hodge’s council

James Wright by James Wright
10 May 2019
in Analysis, UK
Reading Time: 3 mins read
245 19
A A
1
Home UK Analysis
490
SHARES
3.8k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Jewish historian Geoffrey Alderman recalled an anecdote about Jeremy Corbyn on 8 May. Back in 1987, the Labour leader successfully campaigned to stop property developers taking over a Jewish cemetery.

Fighting a Hodge-led council to save a Jewish cemetery

And it turns out that Margaret Hodge, who has smeared Corbyn as an antisemite, was leader of Islington Council at the time. Although Hodge’s personal view is unspecified, under her leadership the council approved “destroying the gravestones and digging-up and reburying the bodies” to build for-profit properties.

Alderman, who’s authored many books on Jewish history, wrote that the 176-year-old cemetery was of “great historic and architectural interest”.

At the time, West London Synagogue had already agreed to sell off its graveyard to the property developers. But Alderman writes that, for orthodox Jewish people, the “deliberate destruction of a cemetery is sacrilegious”. This sparked the successful campaign, which Alderman and Corbyn were both a part of, to overturn the council’s decision.

Corbyn: “philo-Semitic”

Tackling smears against Corbyn further, Alderman also wrote:

The fact of the matter is that Corbyn has an impressive record of supporting Jewish communal initiatives. For instance he was recently supportive of Jewish efforts to facilitate the speedy issue of death certificates by the north London coroner. In 2015 he took part in a ceremony in his Islington constituency to commemorate the founding of the North London Synagogue. In 2010 he put his name to an Early Day Motion (tabled by Diane Abbott) calling on the UK government to facilitate the settlement of Yemeni Jews in Britain. Indeed I could fill this entire article with a list of philo-Semitic EDMs that Corbyn has signed since he was first elected as Labour MP for Islington North in 1983.

Corybn’s leadership is a turning point

Alderman also pointed out that, historically, Labour has been “riddled” with prejudice, including antisemitism. But Corbyn leads the party now. And he’s a long-term supporter of Jewish people and other minority communities, illustrated by instances like his lone defiance of former leader Tony Blair’s whip to support LGBTQI+ rights in 1997. This tells us the opposite of what the smear artists allege. In reality, Corbyn’s leadership is a turning point for the party – away from discrimination, not towards it.

People say that the ‘true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching’. And Corbyn’s decades of pro-equality work, such as Alderman’s revelation, went largely unreported. With that in mind, it’s difficult to argue that the Labour leader hasn’t passed that test.

Featured image via Tony Honickberg /YouTube and Sky News/ YouTube

Share196Tweet122
Previous Post

Danny Baker’s final apology, and what the reaction to it tells us about racism

Next Post

Victory for climate activists proves direct action ‘wins in a court of law in front of the British public’

Next Post
Roger Hallam and Dave Durant

Victory for climate activists proves direct action ‘wins in a court of law in front of the British public’

A photo of Ireland from space alongside a photo of a power plant's smoke stacks

Ireland becomes the second country in the world to declare a ‘climate and biodiversity emergency’

A photo of Chelsea Manning and Donald Trump

Chelsea Manning temporarily freed, but Trump's war on whistleblowers continues

death fast

Political prisoners begin 'death fast' in Turkey to demand rights for imprisoned Kurdish leader

facebook kurdish solidarity

Facebook accused of purging UK accounts speaking up for Kurdish human rights

Please login to join discussion
DWP open source banking
Analysis

The DWP is quietly trying to get a private company to connect it to disabled people’s bank accounts

by Steve Topple
20 May 2025
gideon's chariots Gaza
Analysis

Gideon’s Chariots: leaked plan shows Israel intentionally pushing Gaza to famine and forced displacement

by Alaa Shamali
20 May 2025
Gideon's Chariots Gaza
Analysis

“عربات جدعون.. مخطط إسرائيلي يقود غزة نحو مجاعة مُمنهجة وتهجير قسري

by Alaa Shamali
20 May 2025
Our friends at Pauzeradio have got the perfect Reggae clothing line for this summer
Lifestyle

Our friends at Pauzeradio have got the perfect Reggae clothing line for this summer

by Steve Topple
20 May 2025
trade unions protest
News

Trade unions urged “to take the lead in forming a new working-class party”

by Ed Sykes
20 May 2025
  • Contact
  • About & FAQ
  • Get our Daily News Email
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

The Canary
PO Box 71199
LONDON
SE20 9EX

Canary Media Ltd – registered in England. Company registration number 09788095.

For guest posting, contact [email protected]

For other enquiries, contact: [email protected]

The Canary is owned and run by independent journalists and volunteers, NOT offshore billionaires.

You can write for us, or support us by making a regular or one-off donation.

© Canary Media Ltd 2024, all rights reserved | Website by Monster | Hosted by Krystal | Privacy Settings

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion

© 2023 Canary - Worker's co-op.

Before you go, have you seen...?

DWP open source banking
Analysis
Steve Topple

The DWP is quietly trying to get a private company to connect it to disabled people’s bank accounts

gideon's chariots Gaza
Analysis
Alaa Shamali

Gideon’s Chariots: leaked plan shows Israel intentionally pushing Gaza to famine and forced displacement

Gideon's Chariots Gaza
Analysis
Alaa Shamali

“عربات جدعون.. مخطط إسرائيلي يقود غزة نحو مجاعة مُمنهجة وتهجير قسري

Lifestyle
Steve Topple

Our friends at Pauzeradio have got the perfect Reggae clothing line for this summer

ADVERTISEMENT
Analysis
Nathan Spears

Vote for the Press Photograph of the Year 2024

Image by Burkard Meyendriesch from Pixabay
Feature
Nathan Spears

Why Santiago Ways is the Leading Choice for Walking the Camino de Santiago

Environment
Nathan Spears

EU elections point to growing public desire for new policymaking approach in Brussels