News
Labour candidate dumped over ‘Hitler is Zionist God’ comment is elected as local party vice-chair
March 14, 2016 10:46
By, Marcus Dysch
1 min read
ByMarcus Dysch, Marcus Dysch
A former Labour parliamentary candidate who claimed Hitler might be a “Zionist God” and claimed Daesh should attack Israel appears to have been reappointed to a leading position in her local party.
Vicki Kirby had been due to stand for Labour in Woking in the 2015 general election, but was dumped as a candidate in September 2014 after a series of tweets were posted from her account.
One message claimed Hitler might be the “Zionist God”.
Another said: “We invented Israel when saving them from Hitler, who now seems to be their teacher.”
A third tweet read: “I will never forget and I will make sure my kids teach their children how evil Israel is!”
One post was used to ask why Islamic State forces were “not attacking the real oppressors, Israel?”.
In a tweet from August 2014, a message from the account read: "Point abt Jews is that they OCCUPY palestine. Used to live together, now slaughter the oppressed."
Ms Kirby is now re-listed as the vice-chair of Woking Labour Party’s executive committee. The Guido Fawkes site revealed the news on Monday morning.
Labour’s Woking branch posted in February that Ms Kirby was “newly-elected” as vice-chair. She is also the group’s trade union liaison officer and communications and campaign co-ordinator.
The party has been asked to comment on her apparent election to the role.
Israel-born Tal Ofer, who stood for Labour at the local elections in 2014, has complained to the party's deputy leader, Tom Watson, about Ms Kirby's comments. His complaint is understood to have been passed to the party's general secretary, Iain McNicol.
A Labour spokesperson said: “Vicky Kirby was suspended from the Labour Party following comments on social media in 2014.
"Following her resignation as a Parliamentary candidate she received a warning from the NEC on her future conduct and the suspension was then lifted.
"If new evidence comes to light, the Labour Party will review that evidence and make sure the rules of the Party are upheld.”
Ms Kirby’s new role comes days after the party was forced to expel a member who had readmitted by the national executive committee despite his website carrying a series of anti-Zionist conspiracy theories.
Gerry Downing was thrown out last Wednesday night following complaints that he had been re-admitted as a member.
He had been let back in to the party after he appealed against being expelled last year.
Mr Downing posted a tweet in 2014 referring to what he called “Hamas heroism”, appears to have questioned aspects of the Holocaust, and claimed prominent historian Ian Kershaw had a “Zionist minder”.
The website of his Socialist Fight group has published articles including one which demands that “Marxists must address the Jewish Question” and another referring to a “world Jewish-Zionist Bourgeoisie”.
