A NUMBER of Green Party candidates standing in next week’s local elections have been accused of making antisemitic posts and comments online.
Zack Polanski and his party has been slammed over the posts – and it comes amid the horror stabbing in Golders Green on Wednesday.
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Zack Polanski’s Green Party are set to win a slew of council seats in next week’s local elections Credit: Getty
Saiqa Ali was one of two Green Party local election candidates arrested on Thursday Credit: Green Party
Sabine Mairey was also arrested on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred Credit: Green Party
Tina Ion, a Green Party candidate in Newcastle, allegedly published posts using an Anne Frank spoof account Credit: Facebook/NewcastleGreenParty
The Green Party – who are forecast to win around 500 council seats next Thursday – have said they will investigate any
But The Campaign Against Antisemitism told The Jattvibe the party should expel any candidates found to be peddling antisemitism.
Yesterday, two Green Party candidates were arrested on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred for allegedly posting antisemitic comments online.
Saiqa Ali, who is standing in Streatham, Lambeth, and Sabine Mairey, the candidate for Clapham Town, were arrested under Section 19 of the Public Order Act.
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Ifhat Shaheen, who is running in Stoke Newington, allegedly made vile comments online Credit: hackneygreens.org
Mark Bittlestone, candidate for Lambeth, reportedly claimed the October 7 massacre was a ‘false flag’ Credit: Instagram
Professor Kamel Hawwash, a candidate in Birmingham, said the attack was an ‘operation’ Credit: Greenparty.org
It is understood Mairey posted a photo of a man holding a sign that read: “ramming a synagogue isn’t antisemitism, it’s revenge”.
Ali posted a picture of an armed man in a Hamas headband with the slogan “Resistance is Freedom”.
In other vile posts, another Green Party candidate in Newcastle is accused of publishing posts to social media under a spoof Anne Frank account.
Tina Ion allegedly called for “every single Zionist” to be killed and referred to them as “vermin” and “rats” reports the BBC.
And when speaking to the outlet, she admitted to using “dehumanising language” but insisted it was directed at a “set of state actions” not at “at an ethnicity or a religion”.
In response, a spokesperson for the local party said: “Newcastle Green Party has referred complaints regarding social media posts by some of our local election candidates to the Green Party of England and Wales, which is investigating.
“GPC (Green Party Committee) will determine what action to take. While that process is ongoing we cannot comment on specific cases.
“We do, however, want to be clear about where Newcastle Green Party stands. We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community, who face rising antisemitism in this country and internationally.
“We also stand with the Palestinian people, who are suffering genocide at the hands of the Israeli state. These commitments are not in tension. Solidarity with one oppressed people is not a licence to demean another.
“Newcastle Green Party will not allow antisemitism to go unchallenged in our party or anywhere else, including when it hides behind professed support for other oppressed peoples.
“We are organising antisemitism training for members and we will act on GPC’s findings.”
Elsewhere, two party candidates in London – a primary school governor and sixth form history teacher – were accused of posting similar antisemitic content, reports the Daily Mail.
Ms Ifhat Shaheen, who is running in Stoke Newington, allegedly defended the October 7 massacre on social media, claiming Palestinians were trying to “defend themselves”
Hamas murdered more than 1,200 people and and took a further 251 hostages in their horrific attack on Israel in 2023.
At a later date, Shaheen is said to have denied Hamas were responsible for the killings and shared claims that denied women were raped during the attack.
And when four Jewish ambulances were firebombed in March, Shaheen shared a message that pointed the finger at the media and politicians.
A Green Party candidate in Lambeth – sixth-form teacher Mark Bittlestone – also reportedly shared material online suggesting October 7 was a “false flag”.
The part-time comedian is understood to have shared a number of other posts attacking Israel – including as a “colony of inbreds, rapists and thieves”.
It has also been reported that the now retired Professor Kamel Hawwash, who is standing for Stirchley, Birmingham, described October 7 as “courage in the face of aggression”.
In response to those three candidates, a Green Party spokesman said: “Where there are examples brought to our attention that do not fit in with the views of the Green Party, we are looking into them.”
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism told The Jattvibe: “Once upon a time this rhetoric would have been confined to the darkest corners of the internet.
“The fact that it is now seeping into our public debate is alarming. So much so that it has led to arrests in two cases so far.
“The Green Party says on occasion that it does not reflect their values.
“The way to prove that is through robust action: expel those peddling dangerous conspiracies.”
Lord Polak, who led Conservative Friends of Israel for 25 years, told the Daily Mail: “Either the Green Party has not done any due diligence on their candidates – or if they have, then the people of Britain should have no doubt about the abhorrent views of individuals who are endorsed by and are representing the Green Party.”
The latest revelations come amid a sharp rise in antisemitic attacks across North London in recent weeks.
The Golders Green attack this week has sparked calls for action including demands to ban pro-Palestine marches to tackle what experts branded the “biggest national emergency since Covid”.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski, who is Jewish, has also been slammed for appearing to criticise the police who detained the alleged attacker.
The left-winger retweeted a post condemning the cops for kicking the suspect in the head when he refused to drop his weapon.
Met Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, responded by publicly blasting Polanski where he said he was “disappointed” in his “inaccurate and misinformed commentary”.
