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What Is Jewdas? A Group’s Provocative Approach Starts With Its Name

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What Is Jewdas? A Group’s Provocative Approach Starts With Its Name

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Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of Britain’s Labour Party, at his home in London on Tuesday. His decision to celebrate Passover with the group Jewdas has drawn heavy criticism. Credit Toby Melville/Reuters

LONDON — Jeremy Corbyn’s decision to celebrate Passover with Jewdas, a self-described radical leftist Jewish group, has been heavily criticized in Britain, where his opposition Labour Party has been accused of tolerating anti-Semitism.

The group’s very name — a play on Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus Christ — is a provocation, one that has angered many of those encountering the group for the first time. Some critics say that Jewdas’s name, and antics, risk stoking age-old myths and hatreds that have led to anti-Semitic violence.

Created in London more than a decade ago, Jewdas is a group of left-wing activists who are at odds with most of Britain’s mainstream Jewish organizations. Its members say they are opposed to capitalism and fascism, but the group may be best known for its vociferous criticisms of Israel and its policies toward Palestinians.

“It’s a radical diaspora Jewish group that has taken an explicitly non-Zionist stance, alongside satirizing the many absurdities of the British Jewish community and throwing excellent parties,” according to a founder of the group, Joseph Finlay.

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While there is a long and rich tradition of Jewish leftist thought, as well as Jewish criticism of Zionism and of the policies of the state of Israel, some critics say that Jewdas goes too far, and chooses outrage over advocacy.

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In a tweet the group posted at the end of last year, it called Israel a “steaming pile of sewage.” The group has also drawn criticism for disruptive activities, including protests in Trafalgar Square and events aimed at satirizing more established Jewish groups.

Some press accounts have taken a more charitable view of Jewdas and its use of satire and anti-establishment antics, describing the group as “Jewish hipsters” and “left-wing activists.”

Thread: When I got involved in Jewdas four years ago, I had all but given up my Judaism. I felt excluded from the community I grew up in because of my views on Israel, and I was fed up of having to follow ‘I’m jewish’ with ‘but I’m not a Zionist’ in lefty groups…

— Annie Kehune (@annsplaining) April 2, 2018

The group does not seem to take itself seriously. Its website states: “Probably you’ve clicked here because you’re rather baffled by the rest of the site.” There is also a joking reference about a “Book of Jewdas,” supposedly discovered in the back of a kebab shop in the Dalston section of East London.

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Members of London’s Jewish community — including some who support Mr. Corbyn and others who oppose him — clashed at a protest outside Parliament last week. Credit Andy Rain/EPA, via Shutterstock

East London is known today as a hipster haven, a hub of public housing and a home to tech and design companies. But like the Lower East Side of Manhattan, it was also traditionally the home of numerous immigrant communities, including many Eastern European Jews who moved to Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Have any of the ‘good jews’ in @BoardofDeputies etc considered that maybe J-Corbz came to us because WE THROW THE BEST SEDERS? pic.twitter.com/xSuZJko9St

— jewdⒶs // יידהודה (@geoffreyjewdas) April 3, 2018

The Seder Mr. Corbyn attended was in line with Jewdas’s community events, which tend to celebrate Jewish identity with a contrarian attitude. “Everything about it is heretic,” the group says of itself on Facebook. “Nothing that the rabbis would allow.”

The Seder was held in an Anglican Church known for its ecumenical approach; the meal was vegan.

The group also sponsors numerous community events, like outdoor Torah study, an interfaith feminist brunch, swimming classes and even a “Queer Purim Cabaret.”

You can argue about whether it was wise for Corbyn to go to this Seder but it also shouldn’t need saying that the mostly young, engaged, observant left-wing Jews in Jewdas have as valid views as anyone else in the community

— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) April 3, 2018

But the group’s use of satire has antagonized other Jewish organizations in Britain.

In 2006, four Jewdas members were arrested on charges of “handing out anti-Semitic literature at a celebration in Trafalgar Square,” The Jerusalem Post reported.

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In 2009, members of Jewdas sent out spoof emails in the name of the Board of Deputies, a leading Jewish organization, telling supporters that a scheduled rally had been called off.

And in 2015, three Jewdas members were thrown out of a conference organized by We Believe in Israel, a pro-Israel grass-roots movement in Britain, for distributing anti-Israel leaflets.

Members of the group have previously taken part in protests against Israeli attacks on Gaza, but have also helped organize protests against the British government’s austerity program and in favor of migrants’ rights.

Jeremy Corbyn won’t meet the Board of Deputies. He won’t meet the Jewish Leadership Council. He won’t meet the Chief Rabbi. He will spend years dodging questions from the Jewish Chronicle and the Jewish News. But of course, Corbyn finds plenty of time for Jewdas. #EnoughIsEnough

— Oliver Cooper (@OliverCooper) April 2, 2018

The controversy over the Seder with Mr. Corbyn comes amid growing criticism of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party and a broader debate over whether Israel should face an international boycott, and even economic sanctions, because of its policies toward Palestinians and the occupied Palestinian territories.

In a blog post about the issue, Jewdas blamed the mess on several mainstream Jewish organizations and politicians.

“What has happened over the last week is anything but an attempt to address anti-Semitism. It is the work of cynical manipulations by people whose expressed loyalty is to the Conservative Party and the right wing of the Labour Party,” the group wrote. “It is a malicious ploy to remove the leader of the opposition and put a stop to the possibility of a socialist government.”

Follow Palko Karasz and Iliana Magra on Twitter: @karaszpalko and @Magraki.

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