Plymouth Labour councillor suspended over 'anti-Semitic' comments Published duration 4 December 2019

image copyright Plymouth City Council image caption Margaret Corvid said she was "deeply sorry" after being accused of making anti-Semitic comments in 2007

A Labour councillor who claimed Zionists "quashed the truth" about their "collaboration with Nazis" has been suspended by her party.

Margaret Corvid, a member of Plymouth City Council, is being investigated for anti-Semitism after allegations made against her in a blog post by researcher David Collier

Her comments were made in 2007 about a play called Perdition about Zionist-Nazi relations during World War Two.

Ms Corvid said she was "deeply sorry".

Ms Corvid, who is Jewish, was previously called Esther Sassaman and was a political activist in Dundee before changing her name and moving to Plymouth in 2015, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

Mr Collier's blog says she left the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign over a decision to screen Perdition on Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD).

Referring to the play in her resignation letter, she said "The Zionists have certainly controlled the discourse about Holocaust remembrance for many years, and have aggressively quashed the truth about Zionist collaboration with Nazis."

She added: "Until then, Zionists will be able to marginalise and isolate alternative narratives during Holocaust Memorial Week and will use such efforts to strengthen their control of the Holocaust discourse."

Zionism is a Jewish nationalist movement to create and support a Jewish national state in Palestine, roughly corresponding to the historical land of Israel.

'Intemperate tweet'

In a statement, Ms Corvid said: "I am deeply sorry for the statements I made years ago as described in David Collier's blog post."

She added although she disclosed all her past memberships of political groups she "had not remembered the issue with regard to Perdition" or her "intemperate tweet".

"These old statements do not reflect my views on the Israel/Palestine conflict or my views on anti-Semitism," she said.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: "The Labour Party takes all complaints of anti-Semitism extremely seriously and they are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures and any appropriate action is taken."