UK Labour Activists Condemn Israel at Party Conference

Pictured Above: Jeremy Corbyn. Credit: Paul New via Wikimedia Commons.

(JNS.org) The U.K. Labour Party’s annual conference was marred by several anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements that reignited Jewish concerns over the party’s stances.

Anti-Israel activist Miko Peled said at the event people should be allowed to express skepticism about the Holocaust, saying it’s a matter of freedom of expression to be able to "discuss every issue, whether it's the Holocaust, yes or no, whether it's Palestine liberation—the entire spectrum."

Peled compared Israel to the Nazis, stating, "We do not invite Nazis and give then an hour to explain why they are right,” according to the Daily Mail. “This is the same thing. You did not invite South Africa to explain why apartheid was good for the blacks. In the same way, you do not invite the Zionists."

Other reports from the event said several speakers also made statements condemning Israel and claiming the Jewish state has committed genocide. Some refused to utter the country's name, referring to it as the "Zionist state,” Israel Hayom reported.

Following an outcry by the Jewish Labour Movement over Peled’s statements, Labour leaders—backed by party chief Jeremy Corbyn, who himself has been criticized for past remarks expressing admiration for the Hezbollah and Hamas terrorist groups—are set to adopt new rules to tackle anti-Semitism and other forms of hate speech.

“This rule change puts it right. Repairing the once-strong relationship between our party and the Jewish community, with so many shared values, is a political imperative as well as a moral one,” said Jewish Labour Movement head Mike Katz, The Guardian reported.