London Mayor Sadiq Khan singled out Israel for criticism in a Muslim holiday greeting his week, and, ignoring Hamas, suggested the Jewish state was guilty of “betraying humanity” by killing Palestinians in Gaza.
The March 29 remarks by Khan, who is a Muslim member of the Labour Party, prompted strong-worded pushback by British Jewish community groups.
“More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza as a result of Israel’s ongoing military campaign, including more than 15,000 children,” Khan said in his greeting for Eid al-Fitr, a joyous holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. The “appalling suffering and killing that continues in Sudan and Palestine” were “betrayals of humanity” that “tempered” the holiday’s joy, he added.
The Jewish Leadership Council, the umbrella group of British Jewish organizations and communities, said in a statement that it was “disappointed” that instead of promoting “unity and fellowship between Londoners,” Khan’s greeting spoke “in emotive terms about an international conflict which has resulted in an unprecedented rise in antisemitism across the United Kingdom.”
Others criticized Khan for repeating disputed statistics originating from the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza.
Queried about these complaints by the Jewish News of London, a spokesperson for Khan told the newspaper: “The mayor has repeatedly conveyed his outrage at attacks by Hamas on Israel and has strongly condemned these acts of terrorism. He is deeply saddened by the loss of all lives and continues to support calls for a permanent ceasefire.”
