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As Jeremy Corbyn makes political waves, let’s not waste the chance to make real change

July 24, 2015 at 3:50 pm

There is an extraordinary level of excitement about Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party leadership challenge. It has given hope to many who thought that such politicians had ceased to exist. It has also given a shock to those who advocate the centre samey — samey policies of the Tories and New Labour. They are now waking up to the incredible possibility of a genuine “conviction” politician emerging onto the political landscape and becoming the people’s champion. Could he be emboldened enough to bring down the vulnerable Tory leadership and government? Is that a real possibility?

Whatever the end game turns out to be, Jeremy Corbyn is most definitely an alternative to the centre-right which has infiltrated the labour movement since Blair connived to produce New Labour. His lack of career politics or special adviser status is in his favour. Without a shadow of a doubt, he is capturing the hearts of men and women up and down the country. With 50,000 new members signed up to the Labour Party in the past few weeks, Labour’s new one person one vote system could sweep Corbyn into power.

Corbyn is grounded in people politics having spent more than 30 years as an assiduous constituency MP who has boosted his majority from just over 5,000 to more than 20,000, boosting his personal share of the vote in 2015 when Labour MPs fell like dominoes. He is an ardent campaigner for what are seen as “left-wing” causes, but in the eyes of British Muslims, the Islington North MP looks to be one politician talking sense about extremism, terrorism and foreign policy. He could well be a lifeline for a community under attack from all sides by draconian “anti-extremism” measures adopted by the Cameron government.

Muslims will be hoping that Corbyn will come up with a counter-terrorism policy of his own, one that will work with, not against, the overwhelming majority of Muslims in Britain who are little different to their neighbours in terms of aims and aspirations. A policy that will be based on solid research after listening and responding to the informed opinions of counter-terrorism experts and one that acknowledges the findings of growing numbers of academics on both sides of the Atlantic who conclude that religion is not the main factor in radicalisation.

There is a view that says that elections are not won, they’re lost; alternative governments in waiting pounce the minute that the incumbents take their eye off the ball, only to emerge ready to deliver the same message in a different way. The politics of persuasion has a time and place. Say the same thing too often at the wrong time and in the wrong place and Joe Public loses interest.

Corbyn stands at the threshold of galvanising the Muslim vote. Most Muslims will not have a problem with the fact that he sees no place for religion in the political arena, and will accept that he is a strong supporter of gay marriage. None of that matters to Muslims besieged by Islamophobic negativity in the media, embarrassed by the barbarism of the so-called “Islamic State” and targeted by the new McCarthyism sweeping across Westminster.

When challenged by a Channel 4 presenter about why he referred to Hezbollah and Hamas as “friends”, Corbyn experienced first-hand the peril of trying to navigate through foreign policy issues in the face of an influential pro-Israel lobby which seeks to stifle debate and vilifies those attempting to engage in dialogue with Israel’s enemies. In that sort of climate, Corbyn would struggle to make the argument that his willingness to talk to Hezbollah and Hamas is on the basis that they are essential parties to the Israel — Palestine peace process; he risks the charge of anti-Semitism, a common tactic to drown debate. Although he is very definitely a friend of the Palestinians, could he also prove to the lobby’s satisfaction that he would not be anti-Israel per se, merely anti-Israeli policies? If he couldn’t, would the lobby allow a major political party in the Western world to have such a leader?

On the other hand, could Corbyn become another Jimmy Carter, a left-winger trusted enough to bring about dialogue, reconciliation and a Camp David-style peace accord? Either way, he is well placed to enlist the help of Arabs and Iranians; Sunnis and Shias; and even left-wing Jewish movements willing to take part in the search for peace.

On Levantine issues, Jeremy Corbyn has called for the Geneva talks on Syria to be resumed and, like no other politician, his opposition to the Iraq and Afghan wars and his opposition to air strikes on Iraq gives him strong credentials for his ideas to be listened to and respected. He has quite clearly recognised the dangers of arming Syrian rebels and is willing to have Iran on board in any discussions that must necessarily take place about the Middle East.

Above all, though, British Muslims are going to expect Corbyn to ease the climate of Islamophobia that dominates the airwaves and the hate crimes, which are happening daily in streets around the country.

If thought-police and laws to back them up are introduced; if Muslims continue to leave Britain; if schools, hospitals and prisons are required to flag and identify “extremist” behaviour as defined variously by politicians; if opposition to democracy and gay marriage become indicators of “extremism”; if any or all of this takes place, then ordinary Muslims will be more inclined to cut themselves off from society rather than integrate even more than they are at present.

Muslim parents will be more likely to support schools where their children can be brought up with religious values which also happen to be “British values”. Spying on children and expecting them to spy on each other is a sure-fire way to put paid to freedom of speech, religious diversity and multiculturalism once and for all. The climate of fear is sending parents scurrying for safe havens, creating ghetto-like islands to survive the floods of Islamophobic sentiment in the public sphere.

Jeremy Corbyn is well placed to provide an alternative strategy to allay Muslim concerns and get the community on board for the good of us all. Whoever ends up as Labour Party leader should keep this in mind. He is already shaking up political debate in this country. Opportunities to make real change like this don’t come along very often. Let’s hope that they don’t waste it.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.