(JTA) — Talks between Jeremy Corbyn and the Jewish Museum in London on a speech by the leader of the British Labour Party have broken down.
The party, beset by allegations of anti-Semitism, approached the Jewish Museum with a plan to host a speech on the issue, the London-based Jewish Chronicle first reported on Thursday. Corbyn also has been fighting accusations of harboring anti-Semitic sentiments.
But on Friday, the Chronicle reported that the speech was off following a disagreement over who would be invited to attend.
Last month, the party’s ruling body and leadership endorsed a code of conduct that is based on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism, but excluded several of the definition’s examples concerning Israel.
The party has come under fire from Jewish members of Labour and the British Jewish community for not adopting the full definition.
Labour under Corbyn, a hard-left politician who has called Hezbollah and Hamas his “friends,” has come under intense scrutiny in the media over anti-Semitic rhetoric by party members as well as its leader’s own anti-Israel rhetoric. In 2016, an interparliamentary committee accused Labour of creating a “safe space for those with vile attitudes towards Jewish people.”
Corbyn has maintained that Labour will not tolerate racist rhetoric by its members. Dozens were kicked out over anti-Semitic statements. However, the party has kept on many Labour members whom Jewish community leaders said engaged in anti-Semitic hate speech.
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