Bradford MP Naz Shah quits as McDonnell's PPS after antisemitic posts
The Bradford MP Naz Shah has stepped down as the parliamentary private secretary to the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, over antisemitic Facebook posts.
In a series of social media posts, Shah said Israel should “relocate to the US” and posted an article that likened Zionism to al-Qaida.
Shah has since apologised, saying: “I deeply regret the hurt I have caused.” It emerged later that she had stepped down as PPS to McDonnell.
Shah, who was elected MP for Bradford West last May, shared a picture of Israel’s outline superimposed on to a map of the US under the headline “Solution for Israel-Palestine Conflict – Relocate Israel into United States”, with the comment “problem solved”.
In the post shared in 2014 – nine months before Shah became an MP – it went on to say that Americans would “welcome Israelis with open arms” and that the relocation would bring peace to the Middle East by ending “foreign interference”.
The post suggested the US had “plenty of land” to accommodate Israel as a 51st state, allowing Palestinians to “get their life and their land back”.
Alongside the post, Shah added a smiley-face emoji and suggested she would lobby the prime minister to adopt the plan.
It added that Israeli people would be welcome and safe in the US, while the “transportation cost” would be less than three years’ worth of Washington’s support for Israeli defence spending.
Shah added a note suggesting the plan might “save them some pocket money”.
After the posting was highlighted by the Guido Fawkes website, Shah released a statement in which she said: “This post from two years ago was made before I was an MP, does not reflect my views and I apologise for any offence it has caused.”
Shah is a member of the House of Commons home affairs select committee, which is conducting an inquiry into the rise of antisemitism.
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http://www.theguardian.com/politics...ohn-mcdonnells-pps-antisemitic-facebook-posts