Board urges Welsh party to exclude member over controversial social media posts

Jewish leaders have expressed concerning about a Welsh politician who they accuse of promoting conspiracy theories about Zionists and Israelis.

Sahar Al-Faifi, a member of Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru, was suspended last year after the Board of Deputies complained about problematic past social media posts, but she was reinstated.

While she made some changes, she refused to take some posts down, including one from 2012 which showed Hamas leaders declaring victory, despite apologising for her actions in a February 2019 meeting with Jewish representatives.

This week the Board’s senior vice-president Sheila Gewolb again wrote to the Party after Al-Faifi repeated the suggestion that the US police officers who killed unarmed black man George Floyd learned their tactics from Israelis.

Gewolb, who is also the Deputy for Cardiff United Synagogue, urged Party leader Adam Price to permanently exclude Al-Faifi from Plaid Cymru “to show that you are serious about antisemitism”.

In her letter, Gewolb said: “We do not understand why the Party saw fit to lift her suspension earlier this year. It is clear that Ms Al-Faifi has taken this as a signal that she has carte blanche to continue to promote such conspiracy theories.”