Nigel Farage’s racism denials are dishonest, says ex-classmate

A Jewish former classmate of Nigel Farage has told the BBC that the Reform UK leader was being “fundamentally dishonest” by claiming former students who said they had witnessed his racism were not telling the truth.

Peter Ettedgui said Farage repeatedly told him “Hitler was right” and “gave them gas” when he was a teenager at Dulwich College in London.

On Monday, Farage said he had “never made direct racist abuse against anyone” following allegations from former Dulwich College students, including Mr Ettedgui. First reported in The Guardian.

Mr Ettedgui said Farage’s claim that those making allegations about his past behavior were not telling the truth made him “really angry”.

In an interview with the BBC on Monday, Farage, 61, said he had probably “misspoke in my life, in my youth, in my childhood”.

But he insisted he was not “directly racially harassing” anyone by “taking it out on a person based on who they are or what they are.”

When asked whether those who made allegations against him were telling the truth, he said: “After 49 years, they suddenly seem to have perfect memories. I can tell you that this is a strong political element.”

Asked whether they were telling the truth, Farage said: “No, they are not telling the truth.”

Mr Ettedgui told the BBC after watching Farage’s denials: “This is a man of power and influence, he has a huge influence on the direction of this country and you know hats off to him.

“And he’s basically dishonest in everything he says there. So I feel sad and angry about that.”

Mr Ettedgui is one of more than a dozen former Dulwich College students from the late 1970s and early 1980s who claim to have witnessed Farage being racist.

3R at Dulwich College. As someone who sat next to the future Reform leader in class, Mr. Ettedgui says he can clearly remember the antisemitic abuse directed at him and says he has never experienced it before.

“One of the most vivid memories of my school life was Farage repeatedly coming up to me and saying, knowing I was Jewish, that Hitler was right and ‘give them gas’, which was often followed by a ‘shhh’ sound, you know, imitating the sound of gas escaping.

“That’s the memory I have of him, and that kind of verbal abuse happened pretty consistently throughout the year we were in the same class together.

“And it was pretty bad, pretty disgusting, definitely directed at me in a very personal way.”

He said Farage’s words “hit hard” because his grandparents fled Nazi Germany and most of their family died in the Holocaust.

“This wasn’t the normal kind of vaguely anti-Semitic jokes you might encounter in the schoolyard in the 1970s. It was much worse,” he added.

Asked how he could be sure his memory was accurate, given that the events he described occurred decades ago, Mr Ettedgui said: “I think anyone who has been subjected to any form of abuse, it will mark their life.

“And I carry that memory with me very, very strongly.”

He also responded to Farage’s claim that he was a “child” at the time of the alleged events.

“In many religions, this is the age when you turn your gaze to the adult world,” he said.

He added that the younger Farage was “very knowledgeable” and “was already knowledgeable about history and politics at that time”.

He rejected suggestions that his claims were part of a politically motivated smear campaign and said he had a “deep personal motivation” to speak out now because the idea of ​​Farage becoming prime minister was “disgusting and appalling” to him.

“Is Farage here saying that we are all lying about the 20 or so people who are on record as having experienced or witnessed this type of abuse?” he asked.

“Is this some kind of conspiracy between us? I can tell him right now that we didn’t talk to each other. We didn’t coordinate this in any way.”

Allegations about Farage’s alleged racism among young people were first raised 13 years ago by journalist Michael Crick, a Channel 4 News correspondent.

When The Guardian published the new allegations last week, Reform UK said they were “completely unfounded”.

“The Guardian has not produced any contemporaneous records or supporting evidence to support these disputed memoirs from nearly 50 years ago,” a Reform spokesman said.

“It is no coincidence that this newspaper is trying to discredit Reformation England, which has led in more than 150 consecutive opinion polls and is the favorite among leading bookmakers to become the next prime minister.

“We fully expect these cynical attempts to tarnish the Reformation and mislead the public, becoming more intense as we get closer to the next election.”

Some former Dulwich College students say they do not recognize the portrayal of Farage or the allegations of racism against him.

Patrick Neylan, who studied under Farage at Dulwich College, told the BBC he had been sung some songs he wouldn’t be proud of now.

But he added: “I’ve never seen Farage be overtly racist, anti-Semitic towards anyone… I would be disappointed because I’ve never thought of him as an overt racist.”

The BBC spoke to two former students who said they remembered Farage targeting Peter Ettedgui personally.

Jean-Pierre Lihou said: “I remember him specifically talking about ‘go home, Hitler was right’, singing ‘Gas ‘Em All’, and all these absolutely antisemitic comments were directed directly at Peter.”

He said he was convinced his memories were accurate and that everything “seemed like yesterday to me.”

Martin Rosell, a former pupil who is now chairman of a local Liberal Democrat branch, also confirmed the allegations of antisemitism, claiming Mr Farage “mumbled something like ‘Jew'” when Mr Ettedgui answered a question in class.

Asked if there was a political motivation behind his decision to speak out now, Mr Rosell said: “I don’t think so. I’m not doing this as a member of my local party.”

“I do this as a person who remembers things from 49 years ago, and my memories are clearly the same as most people’s.”