A British Labour MP has apologized after being accused of making “lazy and deliberate distortions” after equating the Holocaust with the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.
The comments by Yasmin Qureshi, who is an MP for Bolton south-east, came during a debate last week in the Parliament on the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
She said : “What has struck me in all this is that the state of Israel was founded because of what happened to the millions and millions of Jews who suffered genocide. Their properties, homes and land—everything—were taken away, and they were deprived of rights.
“Of course, many millions perished. It is quite strange that some of the people who are running the state of Israel seem to be quite complacent and happy to allow the same to happen in Gaza.”
According to The Jewish News, the comments have been reported to Labour by party member Tal Ofer, who is also a member of the European Jewish Parliament.
“As a member of Labour Party and as someone whose family members were holocaust victims, I find Qureshi’s comments very offensive. I have reported it to the party officials and I hope that disciplinary action is taken,’’ Ofer, who is also a member of the European Jewish Parliament, said.
Jennifer Gerber, the director of Labour Friends of Israel, condemned the remarks which they called ‘’deeply offensive to the memory of the Holocaust and its millions of victims, but also wilfully ignorant of the actual situation in Gaza.”
“We would ask Ms Qureshi to apologise for her remarks, and to cease using such upsetting and offensive comparisons.”
Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) Chief Executive Karen Pollock said: “Whilst current events in the Middle East understandably stir emotions, it is astonishing to think that anyone could visit Auschwitz-Birkenau, learn about the industrial nature of the Nazi’s murderous regime, even walk through a gas chamber – and then make these offensive and inappropriate comparisons.”
“We expect our politicians to speak responsibly and sensitively about the past and about events today. These lazy and deliberate distortions have no place in British politics.”
Yasmin Qureshi later apologized for the comments. “The debate was about the plight of the Palestinian people and in no way did I mean to equate events in Gaza with the Holocaust. I apologize for any offence caused. I am also personally hurt if people thought I meant this.’’
“As someone who has visited the crematoria and gas chambers of Auschwitz I know the Holocaust was the most brutal act of genocide of the 20th Century and no-one should seek to underestimate its impact,’’ she added.