JEREMY Corbyn has apologised for attending a meeting eight years ago where the government of Israel were compared to the Nazis.
The event for the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, which took place on Holocaust Memorial Day in 2010, featured a talk entitled The Misuse of the Holocaust for Political Purposes, delivered by Hajo Meyer, a Jewish survivor of Auschwitz.
Meyer is a passionate anti-Zionist and repeatedly made the comparison between the Nazi regime and Israeli policy.
When asked about the meeting on Tuesday Corbyn said he had appeared alongside people “whose views I completely reject”.
He apologised “for the concerns and anxiety that this has caused”.
The Labour chief’s reign in office has been dogged by accusations of anti-Semitism.
Those accusations have reached fever pitch in recent weeks, after the party’s ruling National Executive Committee declined to adopt, in full, the International Holocaust Remembrance Association’s definition of anti-Semitism.
In his apology for the 2010 event Corbyn said: “The main speaker at this Holocaust Memorial Day meeting, part of a tour entitled ‘never again – for anyone’, was a Jewish Auschwitz survivor.
“Views were expressed at the meeting which I do not accept or condone.
“In the past, in pursuit of justice for the Palestinian people and peace in Israel/Palestine, I have on occasion appeared on platforms with people whose views I completely reject. I apologise for the concerns and anxiety that this has caused.”
Karen Pollock of the Holocaust Educational Trust took to Twitter to criticise Corbyn: “On Holocaust Memorial Day, when people from all backgrounds, parties and faiths came together to remember the unique evil of the Holocaust, Corbyn chose to chair an event undermining its very purpose – deliberately distorting of the truth of history’s greatest crime.”
Corbyn refused to answer questions from press yesterday morning.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell told the BBC the row had shaken Labour to its core.
“None of us failed to appreciate the way this has upset people, including ourselves. It’s really shaken us to the core really. But we’ll resolve it. We’ve got to.
“We’ve got to resolve it in the Labour party certainly, but also the members of the Jewish community are really suffering out there.
“We’ve had a massive increase in attacks on the Jewish community – daubing of cemeteries, it’s appalling that Jewish schools have to have security guards with them as well.
“So we need to resolve it within our party and then get out there with the Jewish community and campaign against anti-Semitism within our society overall.”
On Tuesday, the party came under pressure to suspend Pete Willsman, a member of the NEC who accused Jewish “Trump fanatics” of fabricating allegations of anti-Semitism in Labour.
Meanwhile, Mary Lockhart, the Fife councillor suspended by Labour after she suggested UK-based
Jewish newspapers reporting
on the party’s anti-Semitism woes were in the pay of Mossad, the Israeli secret service, has thanked supporters for the hundreds of messages of encouragement.
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