According to the article, Livingstone was suspended due to the following exchange with a Jewish reporter:
The mayor responded to the reporter's request for comment by saying: "What did you do before? Were you a German war criminal?" According to the transcript of the reporter's recording of the exchange, Mr. Finegold replied: "No, I'm Jewish. I wasn't a German war criminal."Later, the mayor said: "Actually, you are just like a concentration camp guard. You're just doing it 'cause you're paid to, aren't you?"
The fact that those comments are offensive is not the issue. What is more important is that this episode provides yet another example of the increasingly hostility in Europe towards free speech. It is especially incendiary, as I wrote before, considering Europeans defended the Muhammad cartoons on free speech grounds. This episodes furthers the perception, true or not, that the European speech culture protects the Jewish religion and is hostile to Islam.
