Diane Abbott suspended from the Labour Party

Oh dear. I think to say this is staggering is an understatement NanaDana. Hopefully her suspension is the first step on the road to her resignation or dismissal.

I agree Smileless. Totally unacceptable.

Discrimination is not about who suffers discrimination worse. Any discrimination is wrong no matter which direction it is in. Black against white, women against men, Jews against Germans it is still wrong.

Welcome suspension, its an insensitive remark that would incur suspension if it were eg about BAME communities.Fair's fair. BUT if Jews are not a race (what's in a name?) as a quick google suggests is true, then racism in its narrow sense doesn't apply to jewish prejudice. That's religious intolerance surely? & race monitoring forms don't usually include judaic as an option because most will tick white, irish, indian subcontinent etc etc

Diane rightly apologised. Starmer Labour has an hierarchy of racism, Forde Report 163 recommendations not implemented nor acknowledged by Starmer.
Starmer getting rid of left jew anti racist Jews from his party.

An apology isn’t enough. She should never have made the comment, should have known better. If Starmer is serious about eradicating antisemitism from his party he will sack her.

She is left wing. Starmer will do his best to get her out of "his" Labour party.

According to the BBC though, ‘The Jewish Labour Movement - an organisation of Labour-supporting Jewish members - said it "regretfully" supported the party's decision.’

She overstepped the mark quite clearly, if even that movement said suspending her was the right thing to do.

I don’t care what Google says. Being Jewish is a race. We have been persecuted for centuries. It’s nothing to do with religion. You can’t just stop being Jewish. Many, many Jews don’t follow any organised religion but they’re still Jews. The nazis wanted to rid the planet of Jews regardless of any religious following. Anti sémitism is alive and not just well but flourishing and hypocrites abound.

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Well said tickingbird it's just a shame that in 2023 it needs to be said at all.

Tried to find a definition or "race" and come to the conclusion there is none. This came from the encyclopedia Britanica "Thus, race has never in the history of its use had a precise meaning." So you say Jewish is a race or you can say it is not. It depends on your definition of race.

I have read the original published letter and her apology.

I think Ms Abbott would benefit from History lessons.

Judaism is a race and the Labour party currently has a recent past record of antisemitism.

Surely any MP with even one brain cell should have realised that in current time if you are going to talk about racism amd antisemitism , you need to think very carefully about what you say and how you word it and check it out with a range of people in the party.

That an MP with a reputation as a front bencher and Labour party mover and shaker like Diane Abbott should write what she wrote and not, so to speak 'see the problem' seems to indicates that if there is such a thing as personal institutionalised racism, she is a classic example.

GrannyGravy13

I have read the original published letter and her apology.

I think Ms Abbott would benefit from History lessons.

Agree, GrannyGravy13, but sadly the human race in general has shown a repeated inability to learn from past history, so Diane Abbott has lots of company...

I think Ms Abbott would benefit from History lessons.

... and Maths !

Totally unacceptable given the experience of Jews throughout history. The Left can't get it into their heads. 'For the many, not the Jew' said it all.

what on earth was she thinking? she is claiming she thought it was a draft

Race is a categorisation of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of various kinds including those characterised by close kinship relations.

Source for above Wikidpedia

The Jews are a semitic race of people with a cultural and religious identity which has lasted for 4000 years, since Abraham.

I am glad the party have acted quickly to withdraw the whip.

Thank you OP for this as I feel that I can now have a look at this without the undertones of racism evident previously.

Quite frankly, what on earth was she thinking! Or wasn’t she thinking?
Unfortunately her letter of apology seems to make matters worse. She uses the tactic of the far right by saying something, then saying you didn’t mean it.

Starmer acted swiftly and correctly.

However I distance myself entirely from the inevitable racism accompanying the criticism of her letter on social media.

Goodness knows what was in her head at the time. 'Fraid I just can't stand her, never have done, and won't be sorry at all if she disappears from public life.

It's strange that people still equate anti-semitism with religious prejudice. Christians of Jewish descent also suffered in the Holocaust, as did many Jews with no faith.

It's not strange at all. The non-Jews with Jewish ancestors and secular Jews were victims of the Holocaust as a result of their connection to Judaism.