AIBU to be concerned about Green candidates and antisemitism?

[Twiglets1]

Ironically, given that the Green party is led by a Jewish man, the party has become home to political candidates causing distress and fear for many in the Jewish community.

Dr Phil Brookes, the Green Party candidate for Manor Park, Newcastle stated in a social media post that “it takes serious effort not to be a tiny bit anti-Semitic”.

Then there’s Sabine Mairey, the Green candidate for Clapham Town in south London. She posted a video on social media stating that a terrorist attack on a synagogue was “not anti-Semitism” but “revenge”.

Councillor Hau-Yu Tam is the Green candidate in the Deptford ward of Lewisham. She has expressed support for her “brilliant comrade and lawyer” Franck Magennis whose law firm Riverway to the Sea has sought the de-proscription of Hamas – the anti-Semitic terrorist group responsible for the mass murder and rape of October 7. She said she was extremely proud of Magennis for “blazing the way on this intervention”.

Ifhat Shaheen is a Green candidate in Stoke Newington. She has defended the October 7 attacks and suggested that Israel is harvesting organs from Palestinians.

Also in London is council candidate Saiqa Ali who posted an image of the Earth being strangled by a snake clothed in an Israeli flag, accompanied by the caption “It’s time to cut the head of this snake”.

Chandni Chopra is the Green Party candidate for Heaton, Newcastle. She has questioned whether Hamas used rape during their attacks despite the horrific evidence and previously described Zionism as a “mental illness”.

A second irony is that many Green Party voters will pride themselves on their anti-racist credentials. Why then is there growing support for a party whose candidates expressed such overt racism towards one of Britain’s minority communities?

It’s a door step question blocker. Bring it up with any Greens and the response will be ZP is Jewish. As canvassers did here.

The Green Party - the selective peaceful party.

The problem is that we use the words left and right so we think of the political spectrum as a straight line, and it's not.

It's more of a circle. You go far enough left and it starts sounding an awful lot like the far right.

People who are in the centre are generally not after big change. They want things to improve gradually, without tearing everything down to get there.

The more dissatisfied with the status quo you are, the further you're going to stray from the centre. People who vote reform or Green are likely to be more unhappy with the current system than someone who votes Labour, Tory, or Lib Dem.

And unhappiness generally comes with blame. If you're unhappy with the world, you're likely to think it's some-ones fault, a particular groups fault. The "elite", Muslims, the Israeli government, gay people, TERFS. The more unhappy you are, the worse off you are, the more you're going to want someone, or a group of someones to rail against. And once you've started blaming someone, it becomes an awful lot easier to other them, and then to hate them.

Racism isn't a left issue or a right issue. It's a hatred issue, a fear issue. People who are unhappy are more likely to hate and fear other people. People who are unhappy are more likely to be on the political extremes, whether the extreme left or extreme right.

https://www.greenwomensdeclaration.uk/

People within the Green Party trying to save it from the fetishists.

It is helpful for everyone if you provide links to these allegations @Twiglets1

Some posts on this site about what politicians are meant to have said have proved to be misleading or inaccurate when I have pulled out the original news articles. It wastes everyone’s time.

I would challenge the assertion that everyone in the UK is getting on fine. We have crumbling schools, crumbling roads, increased numbers of children living in poverty… no, we don’t have bombs, but I don’t think there’s no room
for improvement or cause for concern. A local politician hopefully working on potholes isn’t going to do much to sort out a 3000 year long conflict.

I’m not Jewish and I find the open anti semitism really scary. It seems that arson attacks on Jewish property are happening every other day now.

I will always stand with the Jewish community but it feels like we’re trying to hold back the tide. It feels very dark at the moment.

Yes, I feel that a vote for Green or Reform will only heighten division and be dreadful for the country, unless anyone has a Green or Reform councillor who is doing great things in their ward.

At the council elections, as PP have said, it seems much better to vote for someone who cares about the particular place you live in.

I'm lucky enough to live somewhere where our Independent candidate has a proven track record of local improvements.

In a General Election I will vote for one of the three traditional parties, because that's different. (I'm in England.)

Because it’s a local bloody election. It about improving the roads, making sure the bins are collected, improving and increasing housing, improving social care and supporting people with SEN and mental health health. It’s not about Gaza.

The Greens especially ZP are a total disgrace and he should be completely and utterly ashamed of himself. He’s beyond a waste of space

I used to like the Green party a lot. They have sadly become the party of the insane or the completely uneducated. I think they appeal to the 'be kind' generation who have no idea about the real world as they have been so shielded from it. From an ideological standpoint having no 'borders' is a wonderful idea but in reality it would lead to the breakdown of society and all the things that British people hold dear e.g.NHS, welfare state and so on. We need the economy to grow first and foremost.

I was speaking to 20-something dh’s niece about the removal of the Church of England as the country’s official religion. I said that I was ambivalent, but only hoped that no other religion snuck in to take its place, and she said that she had no problem with Islam being our religion if that’s what people wanted. Yet she was pro removing CofE ! Make it make sense !

Yes you should be concerned.

And judge Reform by the same standards given the number of unsuitable people they have chosen.

I think there are two groups within the Green Party. Those for whom environmental issues are their main focus and those for whom social left wing causes are theirs.

"Polanski's Green Party plans to give migrants Universal Basic Income of up to £1,600 a month in a scheme critics brand 'madness'. Which would cost taxpayers £19 billion a year. Illegal migrants would be given a regular cash payment by British taxpayers without needing to become citizens, under plans drawn up by the Green Party. Documents reveal that the left-wing outfit, currently polling at 18%, would hand a monthly payment of up to £1,600, called Universal Basic Income (UBI), to anyone in the country without settled status, or who have a non-visitor visa."

Can people not see how absurd this is and why the world is laughing at the UK?

Is this their policy? Not sure where it’s being quoted from

I do judge Reform by the same standards and wouldn't vote for them either.

The OP gave a number of examples of obvious antisemitism in her post! I can only conclude you're an antisemitic crank yourself, or at the very least couldn't give a damn about it.

Think they are great. They have my vote. You are stirring up trouble given Zach is Jewish.

You think these people are great?

https://spectator.com/article/why-is-this-green-candidate-sharing-an-anti-semitic-post/

I just Googled it and apparently Zac said it in an interview for the Big Issue in 2024. Subsequently reported by various sources such as the Express:

Polanski's Green Party plans to give migrants Universal Basic Income of up to £1,600 a month in a scheme critics brand 'madness'.

Immigrants would be given a regular cash payment by British taxpayers without needing to become citizens, under plans drawn up by the Green Party.

Documents reveal that the left-wing outfit, currently polling at 18%, would hand a monthly payment of up to £1,600, called Universal Basic Income (UBI), to anyone in the country without settled status, or who have a non-visitor visa.

The party's boss, Zack Polanski, said such a scheme would be worth around £1,200 to £1,600 per month. Setting out his plans in a 2024 article for the Big Issue magazine, he said: "A universal basic income policy is simple yet transformative: it would ensure every citizen receives an unconditional recurring payment. While the exact amount is up for debate, it would broadly align with the minimum wage – around £1,200 to £1,600 per month."

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2194732/green-party-ubi-migrants-19-billion

one of the unfortunate results of it is that its very difficult now to take reports of anti-Semitism at face value.

How convenient.

Are they great though?

What about Abi Wilkinson, who joined the Green party staff this year:

Green Party press officer denied Hamas 7 October rape, calls Zionists ‘demons’

The Green Party has declined to take a position on revelations that one of its recently hired press officers referred to Zionists as “demonic” and repeatedly denied that rapes were carried out on 7 October during Hamas’s mass terror attack against Israel.

www.jewishnews.co.uk/green-party-press-officer-denied-hamas-7-october-rape-calls-zionists-demons/

In what context is it okay to say that the attack on the Synagogue was revenge? Or that it takes effort not to br antisemitic? Or to defend the October 7th attacks? Or to say that there are too many Jews in government?