By Gilad Atzmon 

Ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day, Liberal Democrat David Ward, Member of Parliament for Bradford East, made a comparison on his website. He equated the shoa [holocaust] with Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

But in Britain of 2013 we are not supposed to think freely, we are advised not to follow our ethical intuitions or even to think historically or critically. The Liberal Democrats have already “condemned” Ward for his “use of language”.

Here is what Ward wrote:

Having visited Auschwitz twice – once with my family and once with local schools – I am saddened that the Jews, who suffered unbelievable levels of persecution during the Holocaust, could within a few years of liberation from the death camps be inflicting atrocities on Palestinians in the new state of Israel and continue to do so on a daily basis in the West Bank and Gaza.

Under pressure he later issued a statement in which he attempted to “clarify” this:

The Holocaust was one of the worst examples in history of man’s inhumanity to man. When faced with examples of atrocious behaviour, we must learn from them. It appears that the suffering by the Jews has not transformed their views on how others should be treated.

The time is ripe for our liberation.

Time is ripe for us to say what we see, think and feel.