Holocaust survivor criticises Israel's actions in Gaza, and Labour's Keir Starmer for waiting to call it a genocide - a must watch 10 minute interview
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Charlotte Hawkins, "88 year old Holocaust survivor says Israel's plans are genocidal and will turn the territory into a concentration camp full of starving people"
Stephen Kapos, "I was 7 years old when the Holocaust and the war reached Budapest and the Germans occupied Hungary in 1944"
"Immediately the position of the Jewish people became dramatically worse"
"When the Germans came in suddenly the position of all Jews became dramatically worse, dangerous"
"The Nazis set about creating concentration camps mainly in the countryside"
"By June 1944, 400,000 Hungarian Jews were transported to
@AuschwitzMuseum and very few of them came back"
Charlotte Hawkins, "You had to go into hiding as a child? You were separated from your mother, and your father ended up in a concentration camp"
Stephen Kapos, "They had militias virtually hunting Jews in Budapest.. We had to wear the yellow star.. We had to live in large yellow starred buildings"
"By 1944 it was so dangerous the family decided to go into hiding. We were all under false names and false papers. Which was sponsored by the Protestant churches and the Swiss Red Cross"
Adil Ray, "You were 7 years old, at an age you can remember, you probably have vivid memories?"
Stephen Kapos, "I do"
Adil Ray, "How does it make you feel when you turn on the television now and you see pictures happening in a region, a place, that is so important to you, your culture and your community?"
Stephen Kapos, "To watch what goes on in Gaza is absolutely horrendous for me"
"In lots of ways, the suffering of the Palestinian people rhymes with the suffering we had"
"My mother was in charge of girls in hiding, the boys were separate, we weren't together. My father was taken to Bergen-Belsen"
Adil Ray, "Benjamin Netanyahu, of course he knows these stories, it's just bizarre that someone in his position, with the background of Israel and the people of Israel. Why is he doing what he's doing?"
Stephen Kapos, "I know the official Labour position to Labour is to await the final decision of the international courts, whether it could be caused a genocide, which means years of waiting"
"Under Keir Starmer's approach you could never stop a genocide, because by the the official words come out, it would be over"
Adil Ray, "Do you think Netanyahu doesn't care? He claims its about getting the hostages out and stopping Hamas"
Stephen Kapos, "Yes, well, this has been a false claim because you do not free hostages by bombing. That is clear to everybody"
"It seems to be more to do with his own survival politically"
Charlotte Hawkins, "The Israeli government has said it doesn't plan to intentionally occupy or govern Gaza"
Stephen Kapos, "The whole of the West is guilty in not opposing this decisively and strongly enough, particularly the mass media, which has been lying by omission"
Adil Ray, "By not giving enough coverage?"
Stephen Kapos, "Yes, and by the way they give coverage at times"
"For example, taking Israeli statements unchallenged, as truthful, whereas the record"
Adil Ray, "What is the consequence of this? What is it doing to the reputation of Israel?"
Stephen Kapos, "I am not a zionist. I have not had a particular identification with Israel at any time. I come from a secular Jewish background"
"In Hungary in particular, zionism was never strong. It was always predominantly an intention to integrate, rather than going to Israel"
"In fact in Hungary the zionists were a very minor, regarded as an extremist group"
Adil Ray, "What you say to Benjamin Netanyahu, what is your message to the leaders of Israel?"
Stephen Kapos, "I watched a UN Security Council meeting where the Israeli spokesperson was about to start speaking and ver theatrically put a yellow star on"
"It made me feel sick because it was a misuse of the Holocaust"
"From somebody who had to wear a yellow star, this was a misuse symbolism"
"As for Netanyahu, not long ago he made a statement: never again is now"
"This is another clear reference to the Holocaust and misuse of the Holocaust"
"Because to those who actually experienced it, never again means something else"
"Never again means perpetrating anything like that on any people anywhere"