Suspended Labor MP Kate Osamor gets her party leader back after her Holocaust post

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Suspended Labor MP Kate Osamor has reinstated the party leadership four months after a controversial Holocaust Remembrance Day post that suggested Israel’s action in Gaza was genocide.

Ms Osamor, a shadow minister under Jeremy Corbyn, subsequently apologized and instead referred to a “humanitarian catastrophe”.

But she was investigated over the post, which also compared Israel’s war in the besieged enclave to genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda and Bosnia.

Labor confirmed Ms Osamor had been given the whip following “a comprehensive investigation”.

For her part, she said she wanted to “apologize again unreservedly for my comments.” I made comments that were insensitive and inappropriate and for which I apologize and regret.”

The Independent announced late last month that Ms Osamor would be given the Labor whip again within days.

However, the decision was condemned by the Jewish Workers’ Movement, one of the oldest socialist societies affiliated with the Labor Party.

A JLM spokesman said: “Kate Osamor’s original actions and failure to apologize were a disgrace and tarnished the memory of all those who died in the Holocaust and the subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Darfur, Rwanda and Bosnia, as described by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust be appreciated.”

He added that it was now up to her to properly engage with her local Jewish community in Enfield and the wider community. Given their previous experiences and comments in this area, this requires a sincere and honest approach. Until that happens, the jury is still out.

It is not the first time that Ms Osamor has caused controversy. In 2020, she was ordered to apologize to the House of Commons after telling a journalist: “I should have come here with a bloody bat and smashed your face in.”

She was also found to have breached parliamentary rules twice in connection with events surrounding her son, who she employed in her office and who pleaded guilty in 2018 to possessing drugs worth £2,500 at a music festival.

The move comes a month after Andy McDonald, who was suspended for his comments at a pro-Palestine rally, was also readmitted to the parliamentary party.

The MP for Middlesbrough was suspended from the party in October after using the controversial phrase “between river and sea” during a speech at a demonstration.

But after an investigation into his comments, Labor concluded he had “not engaged in any behavior that breached the party’s rules”.

The party said it reminded him that MPs needed to be “careful” about what they said and how their comments could be interpreted.

Mr McDonald said it was “never my intention” to use language that would cause distress to anyone and he deeply regretted the “pain and hurt caused”.