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Jeremy Corbyn won a stunning victory to become leader of the Labour party. His triumph was clear protest against austerity and mainstream free market consensus on both the acceptable right and left. Promise is the possibility for a new progressive domestic agenda centred on economic equality, social investment and popular welfare. As one headline declared, “Jeremy Corbyn’s victory has already transformed politics”.
The potential foreign policy consequences of this triumph, however, are less clear. Critics have charged Corbyn of being an extremist sympathiser and dangerously extremist himself. They point to his now infamous reference to Hamas and Hezbollah as “friends”. They claim his critiques of Israel are evidence of anti-Semitism. They even suggest he is unpatriotic for not singing the national anthem while in the Commons.
These “fatal” charges are easily dismissed upon closer investigation. Corbyn referred to these groups as “friends” as a matter of diplomacy not ideology. His challenge to Israel is firmly on the grounds of social justice not religion. And whether or not he sings the national anthem pales in comparison to the lack of compassion Tories have shown toward their British countrymen with their economic austerity policies.
