Tuesday, March 19th | 9 Adar II 5784

Subscribe
November 2, 2015 10:46 pm
1

British Politician Kaufman to Face Party Whip After Jewish Groups Demand Censure for ‘Jewish Money’ Comments

× [contact-form-7 404 "Not Found"]

avatar by Algemeiner Staff

British Member of Parliament Gerald Kaufman. Photo: Wikipedia.

British Member of Parliament Gerald Kaufman. Photo: Wikipedia.

British Member of Parliament for Manchester Gorton Sir Gerald Kaufman will meet the Labour Party whip over comments he made about Jews and the recent stabbing attacks in Israel at a Palestine Return Centre meeting last week, the International Business Times reported on Monday.

The news came after UK Jewish groups urged Labour to reprimand Kaufman, for alleging that “Jewish money” and donations had swayed British politics especially concerning Israel.

The blog for the British charity Community Security Trust (CST) — which provides protection to Jewish sites in the UK — released an extensive condemnation last Thursday, calling on Labour Chief Whip MP Rosie Winterton and party leader Jeremy Corbyn to take “swift and appropriate disciplinary action” against Kaufman for his comments.

CST wrote the letter along with the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council.

Kaufman came under fire after saying that Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party, which trounced Kaufman’s Labour in last May’s general election, has swung much more toward the pro-Israel camp in recent years because of “Jewish money” and donations. He also claimed Conservative support from the UK Jewish Chronicle was also partly behind the increasing pro-Israel stance.

CST said Kaufman’s statements repeated the antisemitic charge that Jewish money was behind the government. “It is an ugly charge and an ugly image, which is why nowadays it is usually expressed as ‘Zionist’ or ‘pro-Israeli’ money.”

Kaufman also claimed the majority of recent stabbing incidents in Israel in which Palestinian attackers were shot dead on the scene were fabricated.

Jewish groups also took offense that the Labour shadow minister for human rights, MP Andrew Slaughter, attended the conference and said nothing after Kaufman’s remarks — though he later distanced himself from the Manchester Gorton MP’s statements.

Share this Story: Share On Facebook Share On Twitter

Let your voice be heard!

Join the Algemeiner

Algemeiner.com

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.