Corbyn faces an exodus over anti- Semitism row
LABOUR has been forced to suspend three councillors over comments against Jewish people as leader Jeremy Corbyn faces an exodus of moderates from his front bench disgusted by his handling of the anti- Semitism crisis.
Nottingham City councillor Ilyas Aziz, Burnley councillor Shah Hussain and Salim Mulla, a Blackburn with Darwen councillor, have all been suspended pending investigations into anti- Semitic comments on their social media accounts.
And the leadership’s attempt to end the crisis was further derailed as Shameless actress Maxine Peake, a prominent hard- Left supporter of Mr Corbyn, backed former London mayor Ken Livingstone’s anti- Semitic comments last week.
Suspended
Mr Livingstone was suspended after he suggested Hitler was a Zionist “before he went mad”.
He made his comments in defence of Bradford MP Naz Shah, who had been suspended after she called for Israel to be transported to the USA, adding that “the Jews are rallying” in an anti- Semitic rant on social media.
Wading into the debate at the Brit Week gala in Los Angeles, Ms Peake, one of the celebrities who backed Mr Corbyn’s leadership bid, said: “I don’t think what Ken Livingstone’s saying was ( anti- Semitic). I think sometimes wires get crossed with people just wanting human rights for people rather than it being about another race and liking them or not.”
Earlier, Mr Corbyn’s closest Shadow Cabinet ally Diane Abbott said the issue was just an attempt to “smear” the Labour Party.
But with prominent Jewish donors ending their finance of the party under Mr Corbyn’s leadership and Israeli ambassador Mark Regev warning Labour has “a blind spot” to antiSemitism, it is understood several moderates in the Shadow Cabinet are preparing to quit over the issue.
One warned that a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party later this week will be “absolute carnage” amid anger that the fallout from the row has damaged the party’s image and sabotaged its chances in the local elections on Thursday.
The latest suspensions came amid more revelations of apparent antiSemitism.
Cllr Aziz’s Facebook account included the comment: “Perhaps it would have been wiser to create Israel in America it’s big enough. They could relocate even now.”
Mr Aziz claimed he had not written the post from 2014, although it remained on his Facebook page.
Posting a link to an article about Nazi Germany in 2014, he said: “A reminder of the treatment and suffering of Jews in Nazi Germany. Are there any similarities to how Israel is treating Palestinians.”
Revelations
He also reposted a series of comments and images criticising Israel.
Cllr Hussain, it emerged, told an Israeli footballer on Twitter during the Israel- Gaza conflict in 2014 “you and your country” are “doing exactly the same thing” Hitler did – in a reference to the violence against Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Cllr Mulla shared a message suggesting Israel should be relocated to the US – the same post that led to Ms Shah apologising in the Commons and having the whip withdrawn.
Another post, from 2014, apparently showed footage of a Palestinian boy being arrested with a comment from Mr Mulla saying: “Apartheid at its best. Zionist Jews are disgrace to humanity.”