Jeremy Corbyn apologises for hosting 2010 Holocaust event and appearing on platforms with people whose views he ‘completely rejects’

Olivia Tobin1 August 2018
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Jeremy Corbyn has apologised for hosting a 2010 Holocaust event and appearing on the same platforms as people whose views he “completely rejects”.

The Labour leader has said sorry for “the concerns and anxiety” that was caused by his involvement, after The Times reported he hosted an event in 2010 where a Holocaust survivor compared Israel to Nazism.

The event, held eight years ago, took place at the House of Commons on Holocaust Memorial Day.

Labour MP Louise Ellman told BBC Newsnight she was “absolutely appalled” to hear about Mr Corbyn’s involvement in the event, adding that she was “exceedingly disturbed.”

At the event, a Jewish Auschwitz survivor and anti-Zionist Hajo Meyer gave a talk to those who attended, entitled The Misuse of the Holocaust for Political Purposes.

In it, he compared Israeli policy to the Nazi regime, the BBC reports.

The Times said that Palestinian activist Haidar Eid also addressed the meeting, saying: "The world was absolutely wrong to think that Nazism was defeated in 1945.

"Nazism has won because it has finally managed to Nazify the consciousness of its own victims."

Apologising for his involvement, Mr Corbyn said: “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.

"I apologise for the concerns and anxiety that this has caused."

His apology comes after one of his supporters in the Labour party’s National Executive Committee suggested that Jewish “Trump fanatics” were behind the accusations of anti-Semitism in Labour ranks.

Peter Willsman has apologised and said not all his remarks were accurately reported.

Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Mrs Ellman said in response to the Times report: “Jeremy is our leader, we want to be the next government, we need to change the way that this country is run to address the injustices in our society.

"But we can't do that while we are engulfed in this crisis of the Labour Party's inability to deal with anti-Semitism in its own ranks."

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