John Prescott in anti-Semitism storm after ‘ranting that party’s racism crisis is all about Israel’
JOHN Prescott has been embroiled in an anti-Semitism storm today after ranting that the party’s crisis was all about “racism” and “Israel”.
The former Deputy Prime Minister was reported to have aggressively asked a Jewish journalist what she could do about Israel when she asked him about anti-Semitism in the party.
Lord Prescott, who is a Labour Peer in the House of Lords after serving under Tony Blair, allegedly said that the whole thing was “about Israel… dead children… settlers on someone else’s land”, the Jewish Chronicle reported.
And the ex-MP is said to have asked a journalist: “Is there anything you can do about Israel and its behaviour?”
The behaviour appears to have broken the international definition of anti-Semitism by holding Jews responsible for the actions of the state of Israel.
Lord Prescott, who famously once threw a punch at a protester who chucked an egg at him, made the comments after an interview to promote an upcoming Channel 5 series.
Change UK MP Luciana Berger, who left Labour over the party’s failure to deal with the party’s anti-Semitism crisis, said officials should launch an investigation into his offensive remarks.
She told the newspaper: “To hold a Jewish British journalist responsible for the actions of the Israeli government or military is indefensible.
“Lord Prescott should be ashamed of his conduct directed at a journalist only seeking to do her job.”
And Dudley North MP Ian Austin added: “This shows the extent of the problem and it shows why the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn isn’t interested in dealing with antisemitism and would be unable to deal with it even if they wanted to.
“They don’t actually believe there is a problem, they think it is all a smear or to prevent criticism of Israel and they are angrier with people who complain about racism than they are with the racists.”
Lord Prescott has previously said he does not think the Labour Party is anti-Semitic or racist, and any hatred did not chime with his experience of the party.
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He is reported to have told a journalist from the Jewish Chronicle when asked to comment: “F**k off. You are a journalist – f**k off.”
Channel 5 declined to comment to the paper but said the remarks were a “private exchange” after the interview and it did not represent the views of the channel.
Labour has been approached for comment.
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