Labour officials on Sunday acknowledged the suspension of Kate Osamor, a leftist MP formerly associated with Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet, the Financial Times reported. The suspension, instituted by opposition chief whip Sir Alan Campbell, is “pending an investigation” following Osamor’s inclusion of the Gaza war in her recent list of examples of genocide.
Osamor tweeted last Friday: “Tomorrow is Holocaust Memorial Day, an international day to remember the 6 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.”
Leaders within the Jewish community have urged the Labour Party to suspend MP Osamor, even after she apologized for suggesting that Gaza be included in her compilation of “recent genocides.” The Board of Jewish Deputies dismissed her subsequent apology, noting, “The industrialized mass murder of 6 million Jews is in no way comparable to Israel’s efforts to uproot Hamas from Gaza. We believe Ms. Osamor was perfectly aware of what she was saying and therefore view her apology as utterly hollow.”
Osamor deleted “Gaza” from her tweet and posted: “Holocaust Memorial Day is a day to remember the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust and the genocides that have occurred since. I apologize for any offense caused by my reference to the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Gaza as part of that period of remembrance.”
Labour’s Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds told Sky News: “What is happening in Gaza is clearly a humanitarian catastrophe, that is recognized, but there are specific reasons why the Holocaust is considered as it is. It’s important on Holocaust Remembrance Day to remember that.”
He added, “I understand Kate has apologized. There’s been a conversation with the chief whip. There’ll be further conversations next week, but of course, we take anything in this space extremely seriously.”
