Published by European Jewish Press on 22 March, 2025.
By Tomas Sandell
Several high profile leaders in the pro-Israel community, among them Labour peer Lord Mann and former German Green MP Volker Beck, have according to news reports decided to boycott the upcoming International Conference on Combating Antisemitism which will take place in Jerusalem next Wednesday and Thursday.
The reason for withdrawing is that several Members of Parliament from the far-right will be speaking at the conference. This raises a serious question. Is their concern really about the combat against antisemitism or do they have another agenda?
For a layman the logic for combating antisemitism appears to be quite simple and straight forward. The more people who want to stand with the Jewish people at this critical time and together combat antisemitism the better. Furthermore, the broader and politically more diverse this group of friends is, the more effective.
Apparently not. The protesters who have their political home on the political left have decided to target those on the political right who they consider disqualified to stand with the Jews. Instead of expressing their concerns over the decline of support for Israel in their own ranks, that is among the progressive left, they try to discredit those who have chosen to speak out publicly for Israel and as a consequence have been invited to the conference.
Now imagine if those on the political right would be equally intolerant. They could have their own doubts about whether the progressives are really sincere in their support for Israel since most of them have been quiet after October 7. Why is it then not the right which is boycotting the left and not the other way around?
