Accused of Trivialising Holocaust
Lord Prescott, the former Deputy Prime Minister, has been rebuked by the most senior body representing British Jews after likening Gaza to a concentration camp.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the comparison, made in the Labour peer’s Sunday newspaper column, was “deeply offensive” and “trivialised the Holocaust.”
It warned that “playing the Nazi card” in relation to Israel “scratches deep wounds by invoking painful collective memory of the Holocaust.”
The Board called on Lord Bassam, the Labour chief whip in the Lords, to initiate misconduct proceedings against Lord Prescott.
It comes as a three-day ceasefire begins in Gaza following an intensive bombardment by Israeli armed forces.
...Extract only
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/11005105/Lord-Prescott-accused-of-trivialising-Holocaust-over-Gaza-remarks.htm
........................................................
John Prescott. Working class. Former trade unionist. Deputy Prime Minister under Tony Blair. Labour politician.
Board of Deputies of British Jews
Main representative body of British Jews (aka Anglo-Jews), established 1760 by Sephardi congregation (Spain & Portugal origins) to deal with urgent political matters and interests of Jews in Britain and in colonies.
Main reference point for government, media and others.
Board affiliated with: "World Jewish Congress (WJC), the world-wide umbrella organisation of Jewish communities".
Former Lord Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, had a spot of bother with the BDBJ over some remark made to a journalist. Livingstone's another Labour politician, who sounds a bit of a maverick.
What's interesting is that there appears to be some division within the Jewish community:
"On 5 February 2007, a group of prominent British Jews, such as Nobel laureate Harold Pinter and lawyer Sir Geoffrey Bindman, launched an organisation called Independent Jewish Voices to counterbalance what they perceive as uncritical support of Israel by major Jewish institutions in the UK, criticising particularly the Board of Deputies of British Jews."
[source: wikipedia]
........................................................
Protection of the 'deeply offended' vs freedom of thought and freedom speech?
Should be interesting to see what transpires.
