Diane Abbott suspended by Labor after suggesting Jews don’t face racism

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The Labor whip has been suspended from Diane Abbott pending an investigation into a letter the MP wrote suggesting Jews are not subject to the same racism as some other minorities.

Ms Abbott, Jeremy Corbyn’s former home secretary, apologized for the comments and said the letter published in The Observer was a first draft sent by mistake.

He said the Jewish, Irish and Traveler communities suffered prejudice, but added: This is similar to racism and the two words are often used as if they were interchangeable.

Ms Abbott added: It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this bias. But they are not all their life subject to racism.

Despite Ms Abbotts’ apology, amid widespread outrage on Sunday morning, Labor chief whip Alan Campbell decided to withdraw the whip while inquiries took place.

A Labor spokesperson said: The Labor Party totally condemns these comments, which are deeply offensive and misguided. The chief whip has suspended Diane Abbott’s Labor whip pending an investigation.

Among those who expressed outrage, Tory cabinet minister Grant Shapps said: Once again the Jewish people must wake up to a Labor MP casually spouting hateful anti-Semitism. Keir Starmer are you really going to do anything?

Ms Abbotts’ short letter, which is still online, provoked a furious reaction on social media on Sunday morning before the Labor MP issued an apology dissociating herself from her own letter and saying she was retracting her remarks.

I wish to fully and unreservedly withdraw my remarks and disassociate myself from them, the Labor MP said. The errors occurred when sending an initial project. But there is no excuse, and I apologize for any anguish caused.

Diane Abbott and Keir Starmer, then Shadow Brexit Secretary, at the 2019 rally

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Ms Abbot added: Racism takes many forms, and there is no denying that the Jewish people have suffered its monstrous effects, as have the Irish, Travelers and many others. Again, I would like to publicly apologize for the remarks and any distress caused by them.

The Labor left-winger had responded to a Guardian column by Tomiwa Owolade claiming that Irish people, Jews and Travelers all suffer from racism.

Ms. Abbott wrote: In pre-Civil Rights America… Irishmen, Jews and Travelers were not required to sit in the back of the bus. In apartheid South Africa, these groups were allowed to vote.

The MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington added: And at the height of slavery there were no white-looking people in handcuffs on slave ships.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said Ms Abbotts’ letter was shameful and her apology completely unconvincing, while the Jewish Labor Movement said it regretfully supported the decision to suspend the whip.

Diane Abbott served as shadow home secretary under Jeremy Corbyn

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Left-winger Jon Lansman, founder of Momentum, also condemned the remarks. A shameful comment by Diane Abbott for which she was rightly suspended from the Labor Party. Racism is not a competition! he tweeted.

Labor Against Antisemitism said Ms Abbotts’ comments were simply unacceptable as the group also called on Sir Keir to remove the whip. To reduce the racism faced by Jews to mere prejudice when, within living memory, six million Jews have been systematically slaughtered in Europe for their race is grossly offensive, spokeswoman Fiona Sharpe said.

She added: In the UK today, one in five Jews has experienced a racist attack, and more than one in three gypsies, Roma and travelers report the same. Ms. Abbott is either terribly misinformed or deliberately bigoted. Neither should be tolerated.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism said his suspension should be the first step towards his expulsion from the party. A campaign spokesperson said Ms Abbott and her allies on the far left of the party could never accept how bad anti-Semitism had become because they didn’t even acknowledge it was a form of racism.

Diane Abbott had labor whip suspended after comments

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Jake Wallis Simons, editor of the Jewish Chronicle, also called for Ms Abbott to be permanently deported. I don’t really see what to investigate, he told Sky News. All the evidence is there. She has already given her defense. She must be expelled.

He added: It seems to me that you don’t say things like that by mistake. You say them because you mean them, then seek to tone them down when you realize how offensive they are, belatedly, because of the outrage you face.

Labor MPs told The Independent the investigation should be carried out quickly, saying the facts and the apology were clear enough not to delay any punishment.

Despite the causes of her permanent expulsion, Labor MPs favoring Ms Abbotts’ return fear she could be suspended indefinitely in a bid to undermine her selection as a candidate in the next general election.

A close ally of Mr Corbyn, Ms Abbott said it was extraordinary that Sir Keir had formally barred him from standing as a Labor candidate in the upcoming election.

Mr Corbyn was suspended for his response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission report on anti-Semitism within the party, arguing the issue had been exaggerated by his political opponents.

Mr Corbyn called the move a shameful attack on party democracy. He also said Sir Keirs claims the couple were never friends is a primary school thing and slammed the anti-Rishi Sunak ads as bad news all around.

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