Bradford West MP Naz Shah has been suspended by the Labour Party pending an investigation into anti-Semitic social media posts, including one on Facebook suggesting Israel should be moved to the United States.
Party leader Jeremy Corbyn told her that her comments were “offensive and unacceptable” but that he believed she no longer held such views.
Ms Naz, in a Commons statement, offered a “profound apology” for the posts, which were made before she became a Member of Parliament.
Ms Shah said she “deeply regret(ted)” causing “upset and hurt” to the Jewish community. She said the post did not reflect her views and was made “at the height of the Gaza conflict in 2014, when emotions were running high around the Middle East conflict”.
“But that is no excuse for the offence I have given, for which I unreservedly apologise.”
Apologising in the House of Commons, Ms Shah said: “Anti-Semitism is racism, full stop. As an MP I will do everything in my power to build relationships between Muslims, Jews and people of different faiths and none.”
According to SkyNews, another post made before Ms Shah was an MP used the hashtag #IsraelApartheid above a quote saying “Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal”.
Prime Minister David Cameron had called for her suspension.
On Wednesday afternoon the Labour Party confirmed she had been suspended.
According to a BBC report, Labour said: “Jeremy Corbyn and Naz Shah have mutually agreed that she is administratively suspended from the Labour Party by the general secretary. Pending investigation, she is unable to take part in any party activity and the whip is removed.”
Naz Shah burst onto the political scene during the 2015 general election, where she ousted Respect MP George Galloway.
