The Labour Split and a Growing Divide

On Monday, a very nice lady from Hounslow Labour Party knocked at our door. She wanted my views on local issues, but we soon got round to talking about national issues and my own political history. I explained that I would be happy to rejoin Labour, but was concerned about reports about anti-Semitism in Hounslow Labour Party. She assured me that no such feeling existed, and no anti-Semitic group would be tolerated. I said that the expansion of the Labour Party nationally had drawn in many undesirable members and she agreed that more checks on such people should have been carried out. I reassured her that I would still vote Labour at the next election, and she went away happily.
Next day, the news broke about the departure from Labour of seven MPs, seen above. I was stunned; I knew that there were rumblings of a breakaway group, but never expected it to happen. I have a habit of making the wrong call in politics; I never thought Britain would vote to leave the EC. I got it wrong again.
Although I half-expected it, I was astonished at the response on social media. Almost instantaneously, these MPs were being vilified as cowards and traitors. To be fair, Jeremy Corbyn has been quite restrained, saying:
 "I am disappointed that these MPs have felt unable to continue to work together for the Labour policies that inspired millions at the last election and saw us increase our vote by the largest share since 1945"
Not everyone was so restrained. As the BBC report says:
 "In response, many Twitter users did not hold back in their criticism of the breakaway group, using phrases such as "splitters and Red Tories" to describe the seven."
Very few people made any effort to understand why the seven had taken this course of action, although Tom Watson spoke out against an over-the-top reaction.
The seven MPs had their own reasons for leaving, but I fail to see how anyone couldn't understand why Luciana Berger left. As the BBC says:
 "Ms Berger, who was one of the most prominent Jewish MPs in the party, cited the harassment she has received online as one of the main reasons for her quitting".
And there's no doubt about that. Four people have been convicted for anti-Semitic abuse directed at her, one of whom was a member of National Action. Mrs Berger said: 
“In the wake of one of those convictions, a far right website in the United States initiated the #filthyjewbitch campaign, which the police said resulted in me receiving over 2,500 violent, pornographic and extreme anti-Semitic messages in just one day alone...There is currently one more person on remand, having made threats to my life because of my faith."
Besides threats from fascists, Ms Berger, like the other MPs, faced harassment in her constituency party. The Liverpool Echo quoted Ms Berger on this, from her farewell letter to her local party: 
"She said that antisemitism stained the Labour party, and added: "When the executive of our own Constituency Labour Party can call a meeting to debate no confidence motions in me, one of which was moved by a man who has publicly described me as a ‘disruptive Zionist’ I believe we have a serious problem."
Now, I know many Labour Party members and ex-members who will be astounded to learn that there are problems with anti-Semitism. I have already read posts on Facebook to this effect, and they concern me. We should always beware of complacency. Just because you haven't experienced something, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I have never suffered from Typhoid, but I know it's out there. 
Anti-Semitism in Labour is something new. There have always been divisions over Palestine and Israel, but that never stopped Zionist and anti-Zionist Labour members campaigning together. This, however, is more focussed and nasty (ask Luciana Berger). There have been 673 reports of anti-Semitism in 10 months.  This nastiness, I believe, arises from the influx of new members following Jeremy Corbyn's ascension as party leader. I have no evidence, but among them must have been supporters of the violent anti-Israel elements of the far left. Some may scoff at this, but I think some far-right extremists must have joined as well - it's not unknown. This could explain why the atmosphere surrounding anti-Semitism and other divisive issues in the Labour Party has become so toxic.
All this, I believe, points to a wider problem in society. Divisions of opinion now often degenerate into slanging matches on social media and, sometimes, violence on street demos. Part of the cause, I think, comes from the rancour that exists between Leave and Remain supporters over the referendum about EC membership. Another factor is the nature of trenchant intolerance caused by social media isolation, where the opponent in an argument is somehow not perceived as human. This is part of a growing divide - not just in the Labour Party, but among ourselves.
I am not saying that these seven MPs do not deserve criticism, but I think that they should be listened to with fairness, and not with unthinking abuse. John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has said that Labour must carry out a mammoth listening exercise to hear criticism from its own MPs. I hope it succeeds, but it smacks of too little, far too late.