CAMPAIGNERS have accused Labour of ideological bullying after MP Kim Johnson was forced to apologise by party whips for calling Israel an apartheid state.

The MP for Liverpool Riverside withdrew the comments last week after she referred to Israel’s new government as fascist and asked PM Rishi Sunak what he was doing to challenge what Amnesty and other human rights organisations are referring to as an apartheid state.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s office described her remarks as completely unacceptable and ordered her to withdraw them. 

Major human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem have described Israel in a series of reports as an apartheid state. 

Campaigners have called on Ms Johnson to retract her apology, saying the row reflects a worrying trend of ideological bullying in the Labour Party. 

The Friends of al-Aqsa group said in a statement: “Time and again, Starmer completely fails to stand up for justice and international law. The words we use matter, and we must not shy away from calling Israel an apartheid state.”

Labour’s stance on the issue has also been questioned by United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese. 

In a post on social media, Ms Albanese said: “I am quite unclear on what grounds the UK Labour leadership dismisses the vast evidence that Israel maintains a regime of apartheid vis a vis the Palestinians as ‘completely unacceptable’.”

The Labour leadership has said the party wants to have strong relations with the government of Israel and values the friendship between Britain and Israel.

Israel’s new government coalition includes Jewish supremacist politicians, the most notable being Defence Secretary Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has a past conviction for racism and has called for the death penalty for Palestinians.