Kate Osamor, a Labour MP for Edmonton in North London, has been suspended over a Holocaust Memorial Day post in which she suggested that the Israeli action in Gaza is a genocide.
In her social media post to X (formerly Twitter), she wrote: “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.”
Afterwards, she made a post saying: “Holocaust Memorial Day is a day to remember the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust and the genocides that have occurred since. I apologize for any offense caused by my reference to the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Gaza as part of that period of remembrance.”
She then repeated her first message, but substituted “Gaza” with “Darfur”.
The MP’s comments were made on the same day that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) made a provisional ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza. But despite that ruling, the Board of Deputies of British Jews issued a statement saying that it “unreservedly condemn(s) the attempts by Kate Osamor to link the Holocaust to the current situation in Gaza”.
In addition, the Jewish Labour Movement condemned the post as “inappropriate and offensive”, and added that her “non-apology rang hollow”.
A left-wing activist group offered their support for the MP and criticized the Labour Party and damaged their “anti-racism” reputation.
“This outrageous decision further damages Labour’s reputation for anti-racism under Keir Starmer, and should be immediately reversed,” the group said. “Just two days ago, the International Court of Justice found that Israel had a plausible case to answer on genocide in regards to its brutal and inhumane war on Gaza.”
“But instead of echoing this call to stop a potential genocide, Keir Starmer is attacking those calling it out. We call on all in Labour to resist this shameful and opportunistic attempt to hound another Black woman out of the party.”
On Sunday, a Labour source confirmed that the chief whip had suspended Osamor and that an investigation over her comments was pending, according to a UK report.
Shadow Secretary of State for Business Jonathan Reynolds said that Osamor had met the chief whip to discuss the X post and was also due to meet officials this week for more “conversations” about the post.