Since when did we worry about offending génocidaires?": Chris Williamson defends his stance of calling Israel's attack on Gaza a genocide 

Former Labour Party MP Chris Williamson defended his stance on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. On his official X account, he posted a video of his interview with a BBC correspondent and explained his statement of calling Israel's conflict with Gaza a genocide.

In his post, Williamson said that a BBC correspondent tried to "stop him" from calling the conflict a genocide as it could offend people. In the interview dated March 1, he stated that he did not care about "offending génocidaires" and would not tolerate such attempts at censorship.

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Chris Williamson called Israel's war on Palestine a "genocide" in his BBC interview

Chris Williamson criticized his former party in the interview, stating that the "Labour Party is facilitating a genocide."

He said,

"The fact is that the Labour Party is facilitating a genocide that's taking place before our very eyes. It's absolutely outrageous that the Labour Party of all political parties which has always had a strong peace contingent within it, is now actually supporting genocide."

The BBC correspondent asked the former Labour Party MP to avoid such language. However, Williamson pointed out that even the International Court of Justice has accepted that there is a plausible genocide going on.

"But even the International Court of Justice have acknowledged that there is a plausible genocide going on."

He mentioned that the Israelis are massacring people in Gaza who are starving and in need of food. He then called out his former party for not standing up against the genocide.

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Chris Williamson allegedly made antisemitic comments about Israel previously

On October 17, 2023, Chris Williamson allegedly made antisemitic comments and committed a hate crime on his X account while speaking about Israel's conflict with Gaza. Derbyshire Police told JPost they received multiple reports about his post, which said, "Israel has forfeited any right to exist."

Williamson denied such allegations and said they were bogus, reported JPost. He also said it was an obvious waste of police time.

In an interview with TalkTV on November 8, Chris Williamson compared the Israelis to Nazis and called Gaza a "concentration camp."

Panelist Julia Hartley-Brewer asked Williamson if a ceasefire in Gaza could benefit civilians. In response, the former MP said,

“Well they [Gazans] are being massacred on a daily basis… So, of course, a ceasefire would be beneficial for the people living in Gaza…to which, let’s remember, is a concentration camp.”

He further defended his statement when Hartley-Brewer argued with him about his comments. Williamson stood by his stance and mentioned that the Israeli regime regularly bombarded people in Gaza.

"They are penned in. Nobody is allowed to go into Gaza. They have a fence around them. They are regularly bombarded by the Israeli regime. What an absolute outrage! And how you can defend a regime which has behaved worse than Nazis actually, in some respects…”

In 2010, Chris Williamson was elected as the Labour Party MP for Derby North. He was reelected in 2017 after he lost his seat to the Conservatives in 2015. In 2019, he contested the elections independently.

The Labour Party reportedly suspended Williamson over alleged row over antisemitism.