Richard Millett (pictured) said Jewish people were ‘scared on a physical level’ and demanded an apology from Jeremy Corbyn
The Labour Against Anti-Semitism group has lodged an official complaint against Jeremy Corbyn after footage of him emerged saying British Zionists ‘do not understand English irony’.
Speaking in 2013 at a London conference promoted by Hamas’s propaganda website, the now Labour leader said British ‘Zionists’ did not want to study history or understand irony ‘despite having lived in this country all their lives’.
It has triggered a formal complaint from the anti-Semitism campaign group, that claims the video clip is anti-Semitic and ‘brings the party into disrepute’, reports The Observer.
A Labour source told the newspaper they were not aware of the complaint, but a spokesman said: ‘The Labour party’s complaints procedure operates confidentially in the interests of fairness to all concerned.
‘This is to ensure protection of the personal data both for any members who make complaints, and for those to whom complaints relate. Therefore we do not comment on individual cases.’
Mr Corbyn has since said his use of the word Zionist was ‘in the accurate political sense and not a euphemism for Jewish People’. He has also committed to being ‘more careful’ with his language in future.
It comes after mass outrage from senior members of the Jewish community, with Richard Millett, whose father founded the Millets chain of outdoor clothing stores, saying Jewish people are ‘scared on a physical level’ amid Labour’s ongoing anti-Semitism crisis.
Mr Millett, 50, called Corbyn’s words a ‘racist comment’ and said he had implied Jewish people were ‘not part of his Britain’, The Times reports.
Contrary to Mr Corbyn’s claims, Mr Millett studied history at SOAS and specialised in the Middle East’s history and politics.
His father Alan, a cricket fan who launched his company in south-west London and turned it into a thriving chain, while Richard Millett worked a solicitor and then a journalist.
Demanding a sincere apology, he said: ‘I wouldn’t want to hear him say, ‘I’m sorry if I offended you’.
‘It’s almost implying that I’m not English, Jewish people are not necessarily part of this English milieu that he has been part of, I am not part of his Britain.
‘I am scared on a physical level and the Jewish community is upset about what they see is happening, I think we are all scared’.
In the footage Mr Corbyn accused a group of British Zionists who had criticised Palestinian ambassador Manuel Hassassian after an earlier speech of having ‘two problems’.
He went on: ‘One is they don’t want to study history, and secondly, having lived in this country for a very long time, probably all of their lives, they don’t understand English irony either.’
He said the speech had been ‘dutifully recorded by the thankfully silent Zionists who were in the audience on that occasion’. Mr Millett was the only blogger covering the event.
Speaking in 2013 at a London conference promoted by the Hamas’s propaganda website, Mr Corbyn said British ‘Zionists’ did not want to study history or understand irony ‘despite having lived in this country all their lives’
The Labour leader made the comments at a conference at Friends House in London’s Euston.
The event was advertised online by Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, which is designated a terrorist group by Britain, the EU, the United States and other countries.
In one of the speeches, made by 9/11 conspiracy theorist Alan Hart, ‘Zionism’ was described as a ‘cancer at the heart of international affairs’. It was also called a ‘monster’ and compared to Nazi Germany.
Several speakers were connected to Hamas. One called for attacks on the Royal Navy in the past, and led a boycott of Holocaust Memorial Day.
In a statement released on Friday evening Mr Corbyn said he had been defending the ambassador from ‘what I thought were deliberate misrepresentations’ by people ‘for whom English was a first language, when it isn’t for the ambassador’.
Mr Corbyn said: ‘I described those pro-Israel activists as Zionists, in the accurate political sense and not as a euphemism for Jewish people – and that is made clear in the rest of my speech that day.
‘I am now more careful with how I might use the term ‘Zionist’ because a once self-identifying political term has been increasingly hijacked by anti-Semites as code for Jews.’
Mike Gapes (left) has apparently indicated he is leaving the party while Luciana Berger (right) slammed the Labour leader for his comments from 2013 at a London conference
His comments come as veteran Labour MP Mike Gapes claimed he will leave the party over Mr Corbyn’s comments.
He branded him a ‘racist anti-Semite’ and threatened to break away from Labour after being elected as its member for Ilford South in 1992.
Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger had earlier said that the video contained ‘inexcusable comments’ which made her feel ‘unwelcome in my own party’.
She wrote on Twitter: ‘The video released today of the leader of @UKLabour making inexcusable comments – defended by a party spokesman – makes me as a proud British Jew feel unwelcome in my own party.
‘I’ve lived in Britain all my life and I don’t need any lessons in history/irony.’
It has now been revealed Jewish delegates at next month’s Labour Party conference will be given bodyguards as fears grow for their safety amid the raging anti-Semitism row that has engulfed Mr Corbyn.
Protection will even be offered to Jewish Labour MPs who have been the victims of abuse from many hardline supporters of the party leader.
The news follows more controversial footage of Mr Corbyn being uncovered.
A second video from 2013 shows a Parliamentary meeting hosted by Jeremy Corbyn where Israel was described as ‘evil’ and a Jewish woman said she was called a ‘piece of sh**’.
Unrest began when a British Jewish member of the audience complained that she had not been allowed to challenge the speakers’ anti-Israel views. ‘You’re trying to shut everybody else up, in the house of commons that we fought for,’ she said.
Corbyn refused to accept her questions and tried to close the meeting. Then it descended into chaos. On the video, one woman cries: ‘The Holocaust issue, Jeremy. Why? Why do you do this? Why?’ She then adds ironically, ‘I like Jeremy Corbyn.’
A Jewish woma is then seen complaining to a police officer that she had been called ‘filthy names’ and ‘a piece of s***’ as anger spilled over.
What is the timeline of anti-Semitic scandals which have erupted under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership?
Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) has been accused of failing to tackle the racism among his supporters
The anti-Semitism scandal has dogged Labour since Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader in 2015.
Here is a timeline of the controversies:
April 2016:
Labour MP Naz Shah is suspended for anti-Semitic posts – including one in which she appeared to endorse calls for Israelis to be deported to the US.
She apologised and was given a formal warning.
Ken Livingstone goes on the radio to defend Ms Shah – but sparks fresh controversy by claiming that Hitler supported Zionism.
He is suspended by Labour but refuses to apologise and has repeated the claim many times.
He eventually quits Labour two years later, saying his suspension has become a distraction.
June 2016:
A two-month inquiry by civil liberties campaigner Shami Chakrabarti finds that Labour is not overrun by anti-Semitism.
But the launch is overshadowed when Jewish Labour MP Ruth Smeeth flees it in tears after being accused by Corbyn supporter Marc Wadsworth of colluding with the press.
Critics accuse the report of being a whitewash and Ms Chakrabarti is widely criticised for accepting a peerage from Jeremy Corbyn shortly afterwards.
October 2016:
The Home Affairs Select Committee says Labour is guilty of incompetence over its handling of anti-Semitism and of creating a safe space for people with ‘vile attitudes towards Jewish people’.
March 2018:
It is revealed that Jeremy Corbyn defended an artist who painted an anti-Semitic mural and said the offensive art should be removed.
He apologises saying he did not properly look at the picture before he made the post.
Jewish leaders take the unprecedented step of holding a demonstration outside Parliament protesting Mr Corbyn’s failure to tackle anti-Semitism.
Several Labour MPs address the crowds.
April 2018:
Marc Wadsworth is expelled from Labour after being accused of anti-Semitism.
Meanwhile, Labour Jewish MPs tell of the anti-Semitic abuse they have suffered in a powerful parliamentary debate – and round on their leader for failing to tackle it.
July 2018:
The Labour leadership sparks fresh anger by failing to fully adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism
Peter Willsman, a strong ally of Jeremy Corbyn, is secretly taped ranting that ‘Jewish Trump fanatics’ invented the anti-Semitism storm engulfing Labour.
In an angry diatribe at a meeting of Labour’s ruling executive committee, he said he was ‘amazed’ there was evidence party members hated Jews.
He claimed ‘some of these people in the Jewish community support Trump – they are Trump fanatics’ before shouting: ‘So I am not going to be lectured to by Trump fanatics making up duff information without any evidence at all.’
August 2018:
Jeremy Corbyn issues a video insisting he is committed to tackling the racism – but it is panned by Jewish leaders.
Corbynistas mount a social media campaign to get deputy Labour leader Tom Watson to quit after he criticises the party’s handling of anti-Semitism.
The Daily Mail exclusively publishes photos of Jeremy Corbyn holding a wreath at a ceremony where a terrorist linked to the Munich massacre was honoured.
The Labour leader insists he was there to honour others killed – but faces fresh calls to quit over the scandal.