Khan advisers accuse Starmer of ‘supporting genocide’
TWO advisers to Sadiq Khan have accused Israel of genocide, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.
The Mayor has been accused of a “shocking” lack of judgment as it emerged that one adviser responsible for scrutinising reform of the Metropolitan Police said he could “never respect Israel as a settlement or a country”.
A second adviser helping to shape Mr Khan’s equality, diversity and inclusion strategy repeatedly accused Israel of genocide, while a third shared a post claiming Palestinians have faced a “brutal settler colonial occupation” for 75 years and are immersed in an “anti-colonial and anti-apartheid” struggle.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism urged Mr Khan to sack all three advisers and “publicly reject” their views.
“The views in these posts would be of concern coming from any member of the public, but coming from people in charge of equality, diversity and inclusion in London, and even of overseeing policing in our capital, they are totally out of order,” it said.
Mr Khan’s team said he did “not agree” with the advisers’ views.
The first adviser, Sayce Holmes-Lewis, is a member of the London Policing Board, tasked with helping the Mayor scrutinise “urgent reform” of the Met after a report found it was institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic.
Last year, before the policing board was established, Mr Holmes-Lewis said he could “never respect Israel as a settlement or a country”.
Sharing a clip appearing to show Israeli forces attacking a Palestinian journalist’s funeral procession, he wrote: “I can never respect Israel as a settlement or a country. The occupation of Palestine is inhumane.
“We are witnessing a genocide of innocent people. We are all being oppressed by the same system of colonialism
‘The EDI does not seem to be inclusive, with members who do not recognise the legitimacy of a Jewish state’
#PalestinianLivesMatter".
In a separate tweet, also posted last year, he suggested Israel should be boycotted like Russia for its “war crimes”.
Mr Holmes-Lewis, an entrepreneur, mentor and activist, previously came under fire for reportedly calling Covid “the greatest hustle of all time” and warning against “climate lockdowns”.
The comments were branded “hugely irresponsible” by the deputy leader of the City Hall Conservatives.
The other two activists, Asma Shah and Peter Wieltschnig, are both members of the Mayor’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Advisory Group.
Ms Shah, a charity leader, has accused Israel of genocide, apartheid and “settler colonialism”. The term “settler colonialism” is sometimes used by critics of the Israeli state to describe the demographic shifts in the area.
The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights group, has warned this is an “inaccurate” characterisation.
Ms Shah has also criticised Sir Keir Starmer for refusing to call for a ceasefire, accusing him of “egging on genocide”. She told The Sunday Telegraph: “My concerns are for a ceasefire for the killing of children and other innocents in Gaza to stop. I don’t express this hope as a member of the EDI but as a human.”
Mr Wieltschnig shared a statement from the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain claiming that “over the past 75 years Palestinians have faced a brutal settler colonial occupation”.
A spokesman for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The Mayor’s EDI Advisory Group does not seem to be particularly inclusive when there are members who do not recognise the legitimacy of a Jewish state.”
Mr Holmes-Lewis, Mr Wieltschnig and the Labour Party have been approached for comment.