Livingstone: ‘I could be Jewish’
KEN LIVINGSTONE has claimed he might have Jewish roots.
The former Mayor of London, who has been suspended from the Labour Party for arguing that Hitler supported Zionism, told the JC he might have Jewish ancestry on his mother’s side.
Asked to name a Jewish friend, he cited the late Lord Janner, a one-time fellow Labour MP.
He said: “Greville Janner used to drive me home from the House of Commons at night. We would chat away about the Middle East. He would speculate about whether or not I was Jewish because my grandmother’s name was Zona.”
Mr Livingstone said: “I have lots of Jewish friends and I always have. I have had members of the Board of Deputies round for parties.”
He added: “When I went to Israel and stopped by a kibbutz, I felt completely at home there. Everyone was a leftie like me.”
Denying that he was antisemitic, Mr Livingstone threatened to “go to court” if Labour officials expelled him from the party.
He said: “What judge, given the nature of the British legal system, will
say: ‘You can punish someone for telling the truth’?
“I don’t think they will kick me out. I mean, how can they? I will turn up at the final hearing with all these documents.”
Mr Livingstone claimed he had been stopped by Jewish supporters near his home in Cricklewood, north-west London. He said: “They tell me they’re Jewish. They say: ‘We know what you said was true, don’t give in.’”
He added: “I find it bizarre that people who were suspended after me have already been reinstated.
“It’s not really about antisemitism; it’s just about undermining Jeremy [Corbyn] because I am one of Jeremy’s key supporters.”
Mr Livingstone has repeatedly turned down opportunities to retract his comments about Hitler and Zionism. He denied that he was “obsessed” with Nazi history, claiming that he had never read the party’s manifesto or Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
Asked what advice he would give to people to avoid criticism of Israel spilling into antisemitism, he said: “I wouldn’t get dug into the origins of Zionism and what Zionism really means. Just focus on the actual policies of the Israeli government. I don’t focus on the history.”
He made the comments after giving evidence at the Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry into antisemitism on Tuesday.
Jonathan Arkush, president of the Board, and the SNP’s leader in Westminster, Angus Robertson, also gave evidence.
Both said Mr Livingstone’s comments on Hitler had been antisemitic.