After complaints during the local election campaign, is the Green Party working with the wrong people on anti-Semitism?

The party has agreed to investigate allegations after being contacted by Lord Mann, the government’s independent advisor on anti-Semitism, about posts allegedly made by candidates Mohamed Makawi and Abdul Malik from October 2023.

But Mann may be considered to be what’s known as a ‘bad faith actor’.

Remember the way he falsely accused Ken Livingstone, back in 2016 – bringing a camera crew with him to record the altercation?

And what about the time the police interviewed him for targeting “travellers” in a brochure he issued on anti-social behaviour?

In the instances mentioned above, Mr Makawi was said to have apologised and taken training to understand what constitutes anti-Semitism.

But Mr Malik was said to have been “unwittingly” implicated, by being tagged into a post.

The Jewish Chronicle – that great recipient of libel claims due to false accusations of anti-Semitism – has since accused three more candidates, according to the BBC:

According to the Jewish Chronicle, Elizabeth Waight, the Green candidate in Bethnal Green and Stepney, re-posted a video on Instagram in March this year in which a woman said: “What’s left for the Zionists [is] to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Palestinians… I think this will happen soon.”

The Jewish Chronicle also alleges that Chingford and Wood Green candidate Chris Brody uploaded links to an article that suggested that the 9/11 and October 7 terror attacks were “false flag operations executed to open the path toward more slaughter and mayhem”.

The newspaper also highlights Bristol East candidate Naseem Talukdar, who is said to have circulated comparisons between the Holocaust and the war in Gaza and “liked” a video clip in which anti-Israel activist David Miller says “we have to destroy Zionism”.

Mr Miller’s attitude to militant Zionism is well-known – and entirely defensible; consider Israel’s current genocide in Gaza, which may also be used to defend comparisons with the Holocaust – so the accusations against Naseem Talukdar may be false. Intent is the key there – as with the others.

The Green Party has taken a pro-ceasefire stance on the war in Gaza and wants tougher action against Israel via the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

But it is aware that this may make it attractive to anti-Semites. It has said the new allegations will be assessed to determine whether disciplinary action, training or support is the most appropriate response.

This Writer wonders why “no action” is omitted from that list of responses, which tends to assume guilt before any trial has taken place.

That’s the trouble with having people like Mann involved; they demand that the people they accuse must be guilty. That’s why they are accused of being witch-hunters so often.

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