LONDON:British Labour Party has suspended lawmaker Kate Osamor after she said Israel’s war on Gaza should be remembered as an example of genocide in the world.
Osamor sent a message to her party members on Sunday – the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day – listing Gaza among recent examples of genocide.
“Tomorrow is Holocaust Memorial Day, an international day to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, the millions of other people murdered under Nazi persecution of other groups and more recent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and now Gaza.”
Labour officials confirmed Osamor had been suspended by opposition chief whip Sir Alan Campbell, “pending an investigation.”
The Board of Deputies of British Jews condemned “the attempts by Kate Osamor to link the Holocaust to the current situation in Gaza,” describing her remarks as “disgraceful.”
In a later post on X, Osamor tweeted an apology “for any offence caused by my reference to the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Gaza as part of that period of remembrance.”
She said the situation in Gaza is a “humanitarian disaster” rather than “genocide.”
“We believe Ms Osamor was perfectly aware of what she was saying and therefore view her apology as utterly hollow,” said the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
