LONDON: Britain’s Labour Party on Wednesday suspended one of its own parliamentarians pending an investigation into allegations she shared anti-semitic posts on social media.
Bradford West MP Naz Shah told the House of Commons she “profoundly” regretted the posts made in 2014, before she became an MP.
Shah shared a graphic of Israel superimposed onto the United States under the words “Solution for Israel-Palestine Conflict — Relocate Israel into United States”, adding the comment: “Problem solved”. She also used the hashtag #IsraelApartheid above a quote saying “Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal”.
Shah and party leader Jeremy Corbyn had “mutually agreed that she is administratively suspended from the Labour Party,” a party spokesman said.
“Pending investigation, she is unable to take part in any party activity.” Corbyn called the comments “offensive and unacceptable”, but initially declined to suspend Shah, a decision described as “quite extraordinary” by Prime Minister David Cameron.
Shah quit as a parliamentary assistant to shadow chancellor John McDonnell on Tuesday before making the apology to parliament on Wednesday.
“I accept and understand that the words I used caused upset and hurt to the Jewish community and I deeply regret that,” she said.
“Anti-Semitism is racism, full stop”. Corbyn has been urged to distance himself from far-left activists accused of anti-semitism.
Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2016
