‘Evil Jews’ web rant by star of Labour’s TV campaign
A JEREMY Corbyn supporter who starred in a Labour Party political broadcast referred previously to ‘evil Jews’ and denied the right of Israel to exist.
Lassaad Laouini, the general manager of Leeds Grand Mosque, was featured in a Labour promotional film broadcast on the BBC and ITV earlier this month.
He described how he opened the doors of the mosque for homeless people, suggesting that rough sleeping had risen under the Tories. But it emerged yesterday that he previously posted offensive messages on social media.
In one Mr Laouini, 37, from Leeds, suggested Jewish people have stirred up conflict in the Middle East. He also appeared to deny that Israel had a right to exist by saying the country should be referred to as ‘Zionist entity’.
In a message from 2011, he shared an article about Israel supposedly intervening in Libya by sending mercenaries to help former ruler Muammar Gaddafi. He wrote above the link: ‘ The Zionists give a helping hand to their evil fellow Jew.’
The piece was from the ‘Truth Seeker’ website, which has previously Lassaad Laouini in the film produced stories including, ‘Will a Rothschild be the Anti Christ?’ and ‘The Cabalist Jewish Plot to Islamize Germany’.
Mr Laouini also said the difference between Hitler and former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is that ‘Hitler burned the Jews for his people but [Mubarak] burned his people for the Jews’.
Last night, Tory MP Andrew Percy, who is Jewish, said the comments were a ‘stain’ on Labour. ‘We keep getting told by Labour leadership figures that racist antiSemitism exists only in small numbers in the Labour Party, yet day after day more and more examples of it emerge and continue to go unchecked,’ he said.
‘We used to think only of the BNP as the racist party in UK politics, now our politics is being stained once again with racism, this time by Labour.’
A Labour Party spokesman said: ‘The Labour Party does not of course endorse these comments. We were not aware of these utterly unacceptable social media comments and are reviewing our production processes.’
The revelation is a further embarrassment for Labour as it battles anti-Semitism charges.
Yesterday the Labour leader attempted to distance himself from anti-Semitic abuse carried out by his supporters, saying none of it was ‘ever done in my name’. Mr Corbyn said the vile comments directed at some Labour MPs were ‘disgusting’ and ‘appalling’ and stressed the abuse was ‘completely unacceptable’.
During an emotional Commons debate on anti-Semitism on Tuesday, Jewish Labour MPs Luciana
‘Stained with racism’
Berger and Ruth Smeeth spoke movingly of the abuse they had endured. Miss Berger revealed that she had been called a ‘Zionist pig’ while Miss Smeeth broke down in tears after admitting she had been called a ‘cancer of humanity’.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan also this week acknowledged that some Jewish people ‘don’t feel comfortable with Labour’.
Mr Corbyn is due to meet Jewish leaders on Tuesday following a wave of allegations of antiSemitism against members.
Mr Laouini could not be contacted last night.