The British Left is adopting antisemitic motifs from the far-right
34 antisemitic incidents were documented in London within a week, many of them during a demonstration against Israel, where claims were heard about "Zionist control" over the British government and economy — rhetoric that originates in far-right conspiracy theories.
In the week that Andy Burnham, the "King of the North" who served as Mayor of Manchester, took office as Prime Minister of the UK, the Center for the Study of Antisemitism (ARC) of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) documented 34 antisemitic incidents in London alone. That is, almost five incidents a day.
According to the Combat Antisemitism Movement, many of the incidents were linked to a large demonstration held in London and organized by a coalition of organizations opposing Israel, a day after Burnham took office as Prime Minister last month. The protesters condemned the conduct of the previous Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, in the war-in-gaza, and demanded that Britain adopt a hostile stance toward Israel, including imposing a full arms embargo on it.
The content documented by the ARC at the demonstration illustrated not only the continued existence of antisemitism in Britain, but also an increasing adoption by the British Left of classic antisemitic motifs, historically identified with the far-right. On signs carried by the protesters, it was claimed that senior British government officials, including Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, had been "bought" and were "owned" by Israel. On other signs and banners, it was written: "End Zionist control in Britain" and "Britain has been sold to the Zionists."
The Combat Antisemitism Movement stated that in a street interview, a protester holding a sign that read "End the power of the Zionist lobby" used language clearly reminiscent of propaganda from the Nazi era:
"The tentacles of Zionism reach everywhere... our governments are owned by them, all businesses are owned by them, Hollywood is owned by them, you name it — everything is owned by the Zionists."
In total, according to the report, most of the 34 incidents documented in London between July 16 and 23 were actually a repackaging of the antisemitic conspiracy theory "ZOG" — "Zionist Occupied Government." The theory posits that Western governments have been secretly infiltrated by "Zionists" — a term used, according to the report's authors, as a disguised substitute for the word "Jews."
The Combat Antisemitism Movement noted that the term ZOG was coined in the 1970s by an American neo-Nazi activist named Eric Thompson, a fact that emphasizes that this rhetoric originates directly from white supremacist ideology, even when it appears today in other political contexts.
"Of course, antisemitic conspiracy theories of this kind are not new. However, their open popularity today among radical left-wing activists points to a disturbing ideological convergence that should worry anyone committed to fighting hate — regardless of where it appears on the political spectrum," they said at the Combat Antisemitism Movement.
