Jeremy Corbyn chaired antisemitic event comparing Israel to Nazi Germany in Parliament on Holocaust Memorial Day
An historian reviewing old reports has unearthed a 2010 account of Jeremy Corbyn using Holocaust Memorial Day to host an event promoting the narrative that Israel is engaged in acts comparable to Nazi war crimes. The event featured a slideshow decrying what it called the “Holocaust religion”.
The reports found by Dr James Vaughan, record that on 27th January 2010, on Holocaust Memorial Day, Jeremy Corbyn chaired and hosted an event in Parliament comparing Israeli actions in Gaza to the slaughter of Jews during the Holocaust. The event’s title, “Never again – for anyone”, appropriates the slogan “Never again”, which became the rallying cry of post-Holocaust Jewry.
Dr Vaughan, the Director or Undergraduate Studies at the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University, rediscovered a reference to the event whilst reading through an old CST report on antisemitic discourse following the 2009 Gaza War.
Investigating further he found a contemporaneous article from The JC and an account of the same presentation being given a day earlier, in which it was reported that one of the speakers said: “Judaism in Israel has been substituted by the Holocaust Religion whose high priest is Elie Wiesel, Elie Wiesel having literally said that ‘Auschwitz is comparable only to the Sinai experience’ [when Moses received the ten commandments]. Its content [Holocaust Religion] is that we Jews have the monopoly on suffering, nobody has suffered or ever will suffer like the Jews have, therefore whatever we do to the Palestinians is less than what we suffered, and can be done without feeling guilty.” The speaker also claimed that Zionists were dehumanising Palestinians in the same way as the Nazis dehumanised Jews, for example through the infamous Nuremberg laws. The talk was given by Hajo Meyer, an Auschwitz survivor who, in his latter years, turned to abusing the memory of the Holocaust in the way most offensive to Jews, by claiming that “Zionists” were the successors of the Nazis.
The International Definition of Antisemitism, which the Labour Party has refused to adopt, states that “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is antisemitic. It is little wonder that under Mr Corbyn’s leadership, the Labour Party has tried to adopt its own version of the definition which does not prohibit comparing Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
CAA refers Labour Party to Equality Commission and issues new complaint against Jeremy Corbyn over “Holocaust religion” event and “hand of Israel” comments
Campaign Against Antisemitism has today written to the Labour Party issuing a disciplinary complaint against Jeremy Corbyn. We have also referred the Party to the Equality and Human Rights Commission over discrimination and victimisation in the Party.Corbyn sorry for ‘anxiety’ over event he hosted when Israel was likened to Nazis
Our complaint against Mr Corbyn relates to an event he chaired on Holocaust Memorial Day in 2010 which deliberately compared Israelis to Nazis, and in which a speaker decried what he called the “Holocaust religion”. We have also complained about Mr Corbyn’s paid interview on Iranian-controlled Press TV (months after Ofcom had revoked its licence) in which he blamed “the hand of Israel” for an Islamist terrorist attack in Egypt, and called a Hamas terrorist a “brother” live on air.
We have also referred the Labour Party to the Equality and Human Rights Commission over the Party’s refusal to adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism, failure to investigate previous complaints against Mr Corbyn, unreasonable delay and secrecy in disciplinary investigations, bias in disciplinary matters and victimisation of Labour MPs who stand up to antisemitism, including Dame Margaret Hodge and Ian Austin who have today become Honorary Patrons of Campaign Against Antisemitism in an act of solidarity.
The moves come after Labour ignored a fresh protest by British Jews in Parliament Square, with Mr Corbyn’s office sarcastically wishing Campaign Against Antisemitism “good luck” ahead of the demonstration, and revelations that NEC member Peter Willsman will not face disciplinary action despite a shouted tirade against “Trump fanatic” Jews and “falsified” antisemitism allegations.
Amid the ongoing UK Labour Party anti-Semitism controversy, party leader Jeremy Corbyn apologized Wednesday for “concerns and anxiety” caused by an event he hosted at the House of Commons in 2010 in which a Holocaust survivor compared Israel to the Nazis over its actions in the Gaza Strip.
“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,” Corbyn said in a statement quoted by British media.
“The main speaker at this Holocaust Memorial Day meeting was a Jewish Auschwitz survivor,” he added. “Views were expressed at the meeting which I do not accept or condone.
“I apologize for the concerns and anxiety that this has caused.”
Corbyn was a relatively unknown Labour MP at the time of the talk, in which anti-Zionist Hajo Meyer also took aim at fellow Auschwitz survivor Elie Wiesel.
Corbyn’s hosting of the event was first reported by The Times, which said it was part of a UK speaking tour called “Never Again for Anyone — Auschwitz to Gaza.”
Meyer’s speech was reportedly titled “The Misuse of the Holocaust for Political Purposes.”