Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, has been accused by more than 20 former classmates and teachers at Dulwich College of racist and antisemitic bullying during his school years, according to The Guardian.
Farage rejected the accusations, saying any such comments would have been “playground banter” and suggesting that the allegations were politically driven.
Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish BAFTA and Emmy-winning filmmaker, said Farage told him “Hitler was right” and “gas them,” sometimes mimicking the sound of gas chambers.
In a public letter, eleven Holocaust survivors demanded that Farage clarify whether he made such remarks. “Let us be clear: praising Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or directing racist abuse is not banter — not in a playground, not anywhere,” they wrote.
They asked him directly: “Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them’? Did you imitate gas chambers? If you deny it, are you saying that over 20 classmates and teachers are lying? If you did, now is the time to acknowledge it and apologise.”
Another former pupil, Yinka Bankole, said Farage told him “That’s the way back to Africa,” accompanied by a dismissive gesture.
At a later press conference, Farage read aloud a letter he claimed was from a Jewish former classmate stating that comments in the 1970s were not made with “malice.” Farage also criticised the BBC, saying it had broadcast racist material in the 1970s while now holding him accountable for “playground comments” from more than 50 years ago.
source: jpost.com