The former mayor of Thatcham and current councillor of the West Berkshire town made comments comparing Hamas to Jews who fought against the Nazis in the Warsaw ghetto.
The group chat, obtained by The Jewish Chronicle, shows the texts the Liberal Democrat John Boyd sent defending and sympathizing with Hamas’s actions. Along with the support of other people in the group chat, he accused Israel of war crimes, genocide, and racism.
The chain of texts began when a member of the group chat sent a press release from Hamas, calling US President Donald Trump a racist and rejecting his plans for the Gaza Strip. A different member of the group questioned if it was ethical to quote comments from a terrorist organization. Boyd responded fiercely.
“Who is the terrorist group? The occupational force committing genocide or the indigenous people fighting for their own land that's systematically being taken from them one atrocity at a time?” Boyd said.
Then added, “In World War II [sic] were the French resistance terrorists, or were they fighting for their own land? Were the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto the terrorists for fighting against an occupational force?”
The comment received several “thumbs up” emojis from members in the group chat. One who spoke up against associating with Hamas wrote that they do believe that Israel has not been the most ethical, but neither has Hamas.
“Hamas, who hold dictatorial control of the government of Gaza, are an evil, racist, terrorist organization who have also slaughtered innocent civilians purely because of their ethnicity,” the member added.
Another member questioned if it was unethical to work alongside Hamas, a government that was democratically elected in 2006 – not noting that there had not been an open and free election since then. A critique against Western governments followed, as Hamas has been penalized for not accepting Israel as a nation, while Israel is denying Palestinians' rights and committing war crimes.
Boyd continued to sympathize with Hamas, claiming that he, too, would be acting the same way if he were in the Palestinians’ position. “Hamas is the product of the Israeli occupation, and I dare say if any of us were put in the same position, we would want somebody fighting for our side when the rest of the world is too afraid not to support the Zionist oppression.”
He then clarified that not all Jews are Zionists and that it is not antisemitic to criticize the “Zionist regime for their actions of committing genocide.”
Party spokesperson denounces opinions, condemns Hamas
A liberal democratic spokesperson spoke to The Jewish Chronicle, denouncing Boyd’s opinions, emphasizing that they do not reflect the party: “…we have been unequivocal in condemning Hamas's atrocious terrorist attacks on October 7."
The incident was reported. However, the assessment was declined due to the insufficient amount of evidence.
This is the second time that The Jewish Chronicle has exposed a Liberal Democrat for inappropriate commentary against Israel. The councilor of Burnley and the town’s former MP, Gordon Birtwistle, said during his general election campaign that he has not called Israel’s campaigns against Gaza a genocide because ‘Jewish groups’ have previously tried to get him removed from the Liberal Democratic party.
He is now confirmed as a candidate for the Liberal Democratic Party in the Lancashire County Council elections.
