Holocaust survivors denounce UK police for questioning Stephen Kapos

Forty Holocaust survivors and their descendants have signed a joint letter condemning the London Metropolitan Police for summoning 87-year-old Stephen Kapos for questioning regarding his participation in a pro-Palestine protest held in London on January 18th. The letter expresses strong dissatisfaction with the police's actions, deeming them a suppression of freedom of speech. This action raises concerns about the right to protest and the targeting of elderly individuals.

Kapos was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1937 and is a Holocaust survivor. He has been regularly attending rallies in solidarity with Palestinians since Israel launched its war on the Gaza Strip. Previously, the London Metropolitan Police issued summons letters to several prominent activists, requesting them to be questioned about their alleged roles in the late January march, including Kapos, actor Khalid Abdalla, and representatives from organizations such as the "Stop the War Coalition," "Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament," and "Friends of Al-Aqsa." These summonses highlight the police's focus on investigating individuals involved in pro-Palestine demonstrations.

Kapos was scheduled to be questioned at Charing Cross Police Station at 2 p.m. this Friday. Concurrently, a protest is also set to take place outside the police station to express support for Kapos. Police allege that protesters on January 18th broke through the cordon between Whitehall and Trafalgar Square, but organizers of the protest dispute this, claiming that protesters were invited by police to be "filtered" into Trafalgar Square, and accusing the police of taking "heavy-handed and aggressive policing action." The conflicting accounts of the event highlight the tensions between protesters and law enforcement.

In the joint letter, Holocaust survivors and their descendants wrote, "Any suppression of the right to demonstrate is bad enough, but to persecute an 87-year-old Jewish man, whose experience of the Holocaust has led him to speak out against the genocide in Gaza, is simply appalling." They added, "This worrying development makes it all the more imperative for Jews to stand up against genocide." Signatories include Holocaust survivors Agnes Kory and Jacques Bude, whose parents were murdered at Auschwitz. Their statement underscores the moral imperative to oppose injustice and oppression.

Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), who is also accused of disrupting public order, denied the charges in proceedings last month. Former opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell have also been questioned by police for participating in the protests. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign stated, "That a Holocaust survivor has been summoned by police for allegedly carrying a bunch of flowers into Trafalgar Square highlights the unreasonable extremes to which the Metropolitan Police are going to restrict the public's right to protest and suppress solidarity with Palestine." The organization accuses the police of "overreach" and distorting the truth of the events.

Two years ago, Kapos resigned from the Labour Party after being told he would be expelled if he spoke at a Holocaust Memorial Day meeting organized by a left-wing group. He had been invited to speak at an event hosted by the Socialist Labour Network about his experience as a child survivor of the Holocaust. Kapos received an email from London Labour warning him that he was likely to be expelled from the party if he spoke at the meeting. In his resignation letter to Labour, Kapos stated that Labour's "attempt to effectively prevent me from talking about the Holocaust on Holocaust Memorial Day was the final straw for me." He emphasized the importance of sharing his experience as a Holocaust survivor and accused the current Labour leadership of "McCarthyism," referring to the campaign to defame left-wing individuals in the United States in the 1940s and 50s.

"As a child survivor, and one of the few still alive who experienced the Holocaust first-hand, I feel a responsibility to testify and tell this history on any platform that invites me, to any audience that is willing to listen," he said. His dedication to sharing his story underscores the importance of remembrance and education in preventing future atrocities.