Diane Abbott later apologized for the «suffering» caused and suggested that her original draft letter to the newspaper «had errors.» Lipinski/PA
Diane Abbott was stripped of Labor's whip on Sunday after she said Jews don't suffer from racism 'for life'.
Ms Abbott, acting Jeremy Corbyn' ; shadow home secretary, wrote in a letter to The Observer that while white people «with differences» face prejudice, they have not been subjected to the same racism as blacks.
“It is true that many white people with different traits, such as redheads, may experience this prejudice,” she wrote.
“But they are not exposed to racism all their lives. In pre-civil rights America, Irish, Jews and travelers were not required to sit at the back of the bus.
“Under apartheid in South Africa, these groups were allowed to vote. And at the height of slavery, there were no people on slave ships who seemed white, chained in handcuffs.
Her comments come against the backdrop of historic allegations of anti-Semitism in the Labor Party — a problem, Sir Keir. has sought to retire since becoming leader.
'A striking lack of judgment'
Ms. the number of those who are most likely to say they have experienced racist violence.
Responding to Ms Abbott's «striking» comments, Mr Ovolade said the letter showed a «striking lack of judgment» and suggested that it would not be a «mindless exercise».
Labor denounced the «deeply offensive ' Ms. Abbott's remarks and confirmed that the whip was suspended pending investigation.
After the backlash against her remarks, Ms. Abbott apologized for the «suffering» caused, suggesting that «errors arose» in her original draft letter to the paper.
«I want to fully and unconditionally withdraw and disassociate their written remarks,” she tweeted.
«Errors occurred while submitting the original draft. But there is no excuse, and I want to apologize for the suffering caused.
«Racism takes many forms, and it is absolutely impossible to deny that the Jews suffered from its horrendous consequences, as did the Irish, travelers and many others.
«Once again, I would like to publicly apologize for the remarks and any damage caused by them.»
Timeline of controversy
Writing for the New Statesman, Mr Ovolade said he had «no personal animosity or ill will» towards the MP, but argued that Labor had the right to suspend the whip.
“After all the controversy during the Jeremy Corbyn years, when Labor became the second political party after the BNP to be investigated for racism by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, it is surprising that a Labor MP and a key Corbyn ally wrote in a public a letter stating that Jews cannot be victims of racism,” he wrote.
“For obvious reasons, Abbott has a strong attitude towards racism. She herself was a victim of horrendous racism, and I have no personal animosity or ill will towards her.
However, her response to my column showed a striking lack of judgment. And she has no excuse for a one-time tweet or Facebook comment: it was a public letter.» action, and how «universal» was the condemnation of Ms. Abbott's comments.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission ended a three-year investigation into Labor over Semitism in February, but Sir Keir said the job of eradicating it was «not done».
He stripped Mr Corbyn of the whip for a few months before his tenure amid a row over the scale of the problem, and most recently vowed to prevent him from running as a Labor candidate in the next election.
Mrs. Abbott was among them. a number of senior figures on the left condemned Sir Keir's refusal to re-admit Mr Corbyn to the parliamentary party in 2020, warning that it could «seriously» undermine Labor's efforts to bring down the government.
Sir Keir did not mention Mr Corbyn by name when the Equality and Human Rights Commission acquitted Labor earlier this year of dealing with complaints of anti-Semitism, but he said the party was «unrecognizable since 2019 and will never return.»
The former leader now sits in the House of Commons as an independent, although he is still a member of the Labor Party.
«Deeply depressing»
Greg Hands, chairman of the Conservative Party, claimed Ms Abbott's «disgusting» comments downplay the anti-Semitism faced by the Jewish people.
He claimed that Sir Keir was «happy» to work alongside her in Corbyn's shadow office, effectively «legitimizing her beliefs until it was no longer politically convenient.
Grant Shapps, Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary said: «Jews again have to wake up to see a Labor MP casually spouting hateful anti-Semitism.
«Keir Starmer, are you really going to do something?»
Meanwhile, Dame Margaret Hodge, MP for the Jewish Labor Party, called Ms Abbott's letter «profoundly depressing» and endorsed the party's decision to quickly remove her from office.
The Jewish Labor Movement also supported the party's decision to withdraw the whip, denouncing the notion of a «hierarchy of racism.»
«The hierarchy of racism only divides communities.»
In a statement, the Group said: «Unfortunately, we support the party's decision to withdraw the whip until Diane Abbott is under investigation for her offensive letter to The Observer.»
«Diane Abbott is one of the most respected people in the Labor Party as an activist who has overcome racism and prejudice to become Britain's first black woman MP.
“We must be united in our fight against racism, not divided against each other.
“The racist hierarchy only divides communities and helps racists. We must not let this happen.
«We take seriously our responsibility to unite with friends and Labor partners to fight racism together.»
Labor Against Antisemitism, a group founded by members party to «root out» any anti-Jewish sentiment in the party, branded Ms. Abbott's comments «simply unacceptable.»
Fiona Sharp, the group's spokeswoman, said: in memory of the living, six million Jews were systematically exterminated in Europe because of their race, this is extremely offensive.
“Today in the UK, one in five Jews has been racistly attacked, with more than one in three Roma, Roma and traveler reporting one and the same.
“Mrs. Abbott is either woefully misinformed or deliberately bigoted. Neither is acceptable.»
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