Academic resigns over Brown remark

United Kingdom

By Kevin Scott, Staff Reporter
Published: May 19, 2008, 00:16

Dubai: A leading Scottish academic has resigned from the Labour Party following comments by Prime Minister Gordon Brown marking Israel's 60th anniversary.

Professor Abd Al Fattah Al Awaisi, the founding principal and vice-chancellor of the Al Maktoum Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies in Dundee, Scotland told Gulf News yesterday he had resigned in a civilised manner to protest Brown's "offensive statement".

The PM said the creation of Israel was "one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century" at a special event at Finchley synagogue in London on May 7.

Brown said: "You may ask why it is that a young primary school child, brought up as I was in a mining town in Scotland in the 1950s, came to feel a huge attachment to the trials, tribulations and achievements of Israel.

"And the reason is that my father learned Hebrew, supported the attainment of the State of Israel in 1948, and for decades was a member of the Church of Scotland's Church and Israel Committee"

Brown also described the Holocaust as "the greatest crime ever committed against humanity" and praised Israel for confronting "hatred and its evil work".

Al Awaisi, who has been associated with the Labour party for over a decade and elected several times on the executive committee of the Labour Middle East Council, said he resigned because Brown had offended him personally as a British Arab.

The 49-year-old said: "While he was celebrating 60 years of the establishment of Israel I was commemorating 60 years of the Palestinian catastrophe 'Nakba'.

"How is Israel one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century when it is considered by so many people as worse than South African apartheid?

"He hopes the future will 'bring together the children of Abraham in order to live together in peace'. But this is not the way to bring the conflicted parties together."

Al Awaisi is widely recognised for his work at the Al Maktoum Institute and in particular his efforts to build contact between the Arab world and the West.

Reference: http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/05/18/10214009.html