LONDON—British Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn has sparked outrage for releasing a Rosh Hashanah video that features an activist who last year led a public Jewish mourning prayer for dead members of Hamas, The Jewish Chronicle reported.
In the video, which sidelines the festival’s central message of self-reflection and repentance, the opposition leader visits a greengrocer in his constituency in London, where he discusses the Jewish New Year symbols of honey and apples as a way to promote Labour’s “Green Industrial Revolution” programme.
Entering the shop alongside Corbyn is Rob Abrams, a Jewish anti-Zionist activist who in May 2018 led a Kaddish in Parliament Square for the 62 Palestinians killed on the Israel-Gaza border, at least 50 of whom were Hamas terrorist operatives.
In the video Abrams tells Corbyn: “The apple is the fruit of the Earth.. and it brings us back to one of the most important elements of Judaism, the guardianship of the Earth.”
In a statement at the end of the video, Mr Corbyn says: “Learning more about Rosh Hashanah has given me hope that we’ll defend our green future…We must do everything in our power to combat the climate emergency through a Green Industrial Revolution.”
In response, David Collier of the Campaigner Against Antisemitism wrote: “There is no way you are not aware much of the Jewish community were outraged when this person explicitly led a prayer service for dead Hamas terrorists.
“Which makes your actions here deliberate. Your spiteful nature highlights you are a real danger.”