Raised Jewish speaking out against Israel

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Kaufman: Israeli "Nazis"

Jon CraigJanuary 15, 2009 9:29 PM

Labour veteran Sir Gerald Kaufman is an often-lampooned figure in the House of Commons, affectionately known by some colleagues as "Dame Gerald".

In partisan exchanges between Labour and the Conservatives, he can be a dreadful old ham actor. And when he chaired the Culture, Media and Sport select committee, he often shamelessly upstaged witnesses.

But his chilling and devastating speech during the Commons debate on Gaza - in which he compared Israeli "murderers" to Nazis - was breathtaking box office and showed that at 78 Sir Gerald remains one of Parliament's star performers.

In an emotional speech in a hushed Commons chamber, Sir Gerald told MPs how he was brought up as an orthodox Jew and Zionist after his parents came to Britain as refugees from Poland.

"My grandmother was ill in bed when the Nazis came to her home town," he said. "A German soldier shot her dead in her bed.

"My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza.

"The current Israeli government ruthlessly and cynically exploit the continuing guilt among gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians.

"On Sky News a few days ago, the spokeswoman for the Israeli army, Major Leibovich, was asked about the Israeli killing of, at that time, 800 Palestinians. The total is now 1,000.

"She replied instantly that '500 of them were militants'. That was the reply of a Nazi. I suppose the Jews fighting for their lives in the Warsaw ghetto could have been dismissed as militants."

Powerful stuff. A memorable speech.