Ken Livingstone Insults Jews in London Mayor Race

By Forward Staff, JTAMarch 22, 2012

Ken Livingstone, the former mayor of London seeking to reclaim his post, used language that was nearly “classic anti-Semitism” in a meeting with the city’s Jewish community leaders, the leaders said.

Livingstone, of the Labour Party, said the Jewish community would not vote for him because “the Jewish community is rich,” according to a letter about the March 1 meeting from the leaders to party leader Ed Miliband. The letter was obtained by the Jewish Chronicle of London.

Livingstone met with the Jewish leaders to discuss his support of radical Muslim cleric Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi and his accepting money from Iranian state broadcaster Press TV.

“Ken, towards the end of the meeting, stated that he did not expect the Jewish community to vote Labour as votes for the left are inversely proportional to wealth levels, and suggested that as the Jewish community is rich, we simply wouldn’t vote for him,” the leaders wrote to Miliband, who is Jewish.

They also said that Livingstone had used the words Zionist, Jewish and Israeli interchangeably and “in a pejorative manner.”

Livingstone, a frequent critic of Israel, told a London radio station on Thursday that his words were misinterpreted.

The letter also said that Jewish Labour supporters were finding it “harder and harder to consider voting for Ken.”

Jewish leaders are scheduled to meet with Miliband later this month.

The Forward’s staff contributors are listed in our masthead.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO