In a letter to Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow, a British Jew, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein condemned anti-Semitic remarks recently made by a British Member of Parliament and urged Bercow to issue a strong response.
Edelstein’s letter was referring to a comment recently made by MP Patrick Mercer, caught on a hidden camera by a BBC reporter. In the video, Mercer discusses a recent trip to Israel in which he called an IDF soldier “a bloody Jew.”
“I was shocked to hear about the crude anti-Semitic words used by a Member of Parliament, Patrick Mercer, regarding an event during his recent trip to Israel,” Edelstein wrote to Bercow. “This was a totally unacceptable comment, certainly as made by a public figure.”
“This comment is merely one of a number of similarly unacceptable comments made by Members of the British Parliament regarding Jews and regarding Israel, comments that include sick, perverted and racist positions regarding the State of Israel,” he continued.
“I call on you, as Speaker of the House of Commons, to use all the parliamentary and disciplinary tools at your disposal in order to give clear expression to your position and the position of the British Parliament regarding such ugly incidents,” he wrote. “Only a strong and firm reaction on your part will provide the necessary public expression of the uncompromising commitment by you and by the British Parliament to the fight against anti-Semitism and other forms of racism.”
“The experience of the past teaches us that what begins as attacks against Jews does not end with the Jews,” Edelstein added. “Such statements, which come to light even when expressed in private, teach us that we have a duty to carry out an ongoing fight against those prejudices that exist in certain parts of British society.”
Source: tlvfaces
