A British-Nigerian MP for Edmonton has sparked outrage and suspended after calling in her weekly newsletter that Gaza should be added to the list of ‘recent genocides’.
The Israeli war on Gaza has claimed over 26,000 Palestinians since October 7, 2023.
Kate Osamor was suspended after accusing Israel of genocide on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day.
Posting a photo of herself signing the Holocaust Education Trust’s commemoration book in Westminster, she wrote on X: “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.”
The Board of Deputies, the Jewish Labour Movement, and the Holocaust Educational Trust reacted to her remarks.
A Labour source confirmed to MailOnline on Sunday evening that the Chief Whip has suspended Kate Osamor from the Parliamentary Labour Party pending an investigation.
Ms Osamor later posted an apology on social media on Friday night, writing on X: ‘Holocaust Memorial Day is a day to remember the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust and the genocides that have occurred since. I apologise for any offence caused by my reference to the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Gaza as part of that period of remembrance.”
Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds told Sky News it was not acceptable for Ms Osamor to bracket the Holocaust alongside current events in Gaza.
‘What is happening in Gaza is clearly a humanitarian catastrophe that is recognised,’ he said.
‘But there are specific reasons why the Holocaust is considered as it is. It’s important on Holocaust Remembrance Day to remember that.
‘And I understand Kate has apologised. There’s been a conversation with the Chief Whip
‘There’ll be further conversations next week, but of course, we take anything in this space extremely seriously.’
Karen Pollock, the chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, told Jewish News that the ‘disgusting post’, sent by Ms Osamor on Friday, was a malicious distortion of the truth, a painful insult to survivors of the Holocaust and particularly distressing to see on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day’.
A Jewish Labour Movement spokesperson added: ‘This is wholly inappropriate.
‘This week we have been commemorating the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust – and those who perished in subsequent genocides, as listed by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.
‘Unilaterally co-opting the war in Gaza, despite the horrific suffering there, on to that list is wrong and offensive.’
