Labour MP holds PM serves ‘Zionist Slave Masters,’ wins Parliament seat

A Labour Party candidate who opposed the definition of antisemitism formulated by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance [IHRA] and endorsed a Facebook post that accused Theresa May of having a "Zionist Slave Masters agenda" has won a seat in the British parliament.

Labour candidate Lisa Forbes won with 10,484 votes, while the Brexit Party, who were the bookmakers' favorite, came second on 9,801 votes and May's governing Conservatives came third with 7,243 votes in the by-election in Peterborough on Thursday, Reuters reported. 

The Peterborough by-election followed the removal of a Labour MP, Fiona Onasanya, who was expelled after her conviction for perverting the course of justice. Onasanya lied to police to avoid being prosecuted for speeding.

“Labour has consistently failed to take a zero-tolerance approach to anti-Jewish hate. This has encouraged a culture to develop where not only is it acceptable for someone who has shared racist material and rejected the internationally accepted IHRA definition of antisemitism to be a member, but they can advance politically and gain public office,” the Jewish Labour Movement commented in a statement.

“Labour’s newest MP is the perfect example,” it added.

According to the London Jewish Chronicle, Labour MPs Dame Louise Ellman and Dame Margaret Hodge formally complained to the party about their new parliamentary colleague.

A Labour source told the British Jewish paper that the complaints were being "processed".

Speaking to Sky News after her win, Forbes called antisemitism “abhorrent” and denied all the accusations. 

"I have no issue with any community, I think antisemitism is abhorrent,” she said as reported by the Jewish Chronicle.

"I actually liked a video of children praying about the atrocities that had happened in New Zealand and I hadn't paid much attention to the text above it and I apologized for that,” the new MP added. "I'm really sorry and I just hope that people will understand that I don't have a bad bone in my body towards any race of people and antisemitism is just something that I condemn completely."

The IHRA definition of antisemitism has been adopted by several governments and institutions, including the UK's and Germany's.

Among the examples of antisemitic attitudes mentioned in the document are accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel than to the interests of their own countries and denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination. e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.

Forbes signed a letter stating that people should be able to "speak freely" about Israel's "system of apartheid and ongoing ethnic cleansing" in the same way that "Jewish members must be able to speak freely about the Holocaust."

The Jewish Chronicle noted that signatories of the same letter included Elleane Green, who is suspended by Labour over her running of the Palestine Live Facebook group; Lesley Anne Perrin, who resigned from the Torbay Labour Party over posting Holocaust denial material online; Asa Winstanley, who called the Jewish Labour Movement an "Israeli embassy proxy"; and members of the Labour Against The Witch-hunt group. This group, led by Jackie Walker, claims that Labour should reconsider its disciplinary actions against members who are suspected of antisemitisim.   

On May 28, the British Equality and Human Rights Commission, the country's equality watchdog, launched a formal investigation to determine whether Jeremy Corbyn's party has discriminated against, harassed or victimized people because they are Jewish.

Corbyn congratulated Forbes on her victory.