MP Kate Osamor on a tour around Coca-Cola European Partners, Edmonton, London, 10th June 2022
Osamor was suspended after accusing Israel of genocide on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day.
The minister sparked outrage after claiming in her weekly newsletter that Gaza should be added to the list of ‘recent genocides’.
Posting a photo of herself signing the Holocaust Education Trust’s commemoration book in Westminster, she wrote on X, “Tomorrow is Holocaust Memorial Day, an international day to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, the millions of other people murdered under Nazi persecution of other groups and more recent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and now Gaza.”
However, Osamor later posted an apology on social media on Friday night, writing on X, ‘Holocaust Memorial Day is a day to remember the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust and the genocides that have occurred since.
“I apologise for any offence caused by my reference to the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Gaza as part of that period of remembrance.”
The Board of Deputies, the Jewish Labour Movement, and the Holocaust Educational Trust reacted to her controversial remarks.
A Labour source confirmed to MailOnline on Sunday evening that the Chief Whip has suspended Kate Osamor from the Parliamentary Labour Party pending an investigation.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said, ‘The International Definition of Antisemitism, adopted by the Labour Party, lists comparing Israel to Nazis as an example of antisemitism. That is what Kate Osamor effectively did.
‘The Labour Party has acted correctly in taking swift action against Ms Osamor and we will be following the matter with interest.
‘There are some who wish to drag the Party backwards to darker days when views like those expressed by Ms Osamor were common, and they must fail.’
A Jewish Labour Movement spokesperson added, “This is wholly inappropriate.
“This week we have been commemorating the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust – and those who perished in subsequent genocides, as listed by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.
“Unilaterally co-opting the war in Gaza, despite the horrific suffering there, on to that list is wrong and offensive.”
The United Nations’s top court on Friday said Israel must take all measures to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza but stops short of ordering an immediate halt to operations.
Judges at the International Court of Justice delivered an interim ruling in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.
Israel’s retaliatory attacks in Gaza have killed 25,900 people, mostly women and children, the Hamas-run health ministry said.
The current war began after Hamas attacked southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,300 people, mostly civilians, and taking 240 hostages, BBC said.
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