Brit’s Hitler remark draws party’s ire

LONDON — The United Kingdom’s main opposition Labor Party, facing growing criticism over perceived anti-Semitism in its ranks, suspended former London Mayor Ken Livingstone on Thursday over his comments in defense of a lawmaker who made anti-Israel posts on social media.

Livingstone, who sits on Labor’s National Executive Council, said in a radio interview that he had never heard any anti-Semitic views expressed by Labor members during several decades in the party. He also said criticism of Israel wasn’t anti-Semitism, claiming Adolf Hitler had supported Zionism “before he went mad and ended up killing 6 million Jews.”

Livingstone was defending lawmaker Naz Shah, who was suspended Wednesday over anti-Israel sentiments she expressed before she was elected to Parliament last year. She has apologized over the comments, which include a 2014 Facebook post in which she shared a graphic that showed the outline of Israel superimposed on a map of the U.S. under the headline “Solution for Israel-Palestine Conflict - Relocate Israel into United States.”

Labor said in a statement that Livingstone had been suspended.

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