Labour activist reports alleged antisemitic abuse from local Tories to police

A Jewish candidate for Labour defeated in a Hertfordshire by-election last week has said he suffered antisemitic abuse from local Conservatives during the campaign, causing “enormous stress” to his heavily pregnant wife.

Dan Ozarow, an academic at Middlesex University who stood for Labour in the Kenilworth ward of Borehamwood, said he had been called a “terrorist sympathiser” and was told to “go and die in the gas chambers” in a flurry of messages, some sent to his work.

Ozarow is the chair of Hertsmere Labour and explained that he had now reported Hertsmere Conservatives to the police “for inciting racial hatred” after one message was sent to his work email called him a “self-hating Jewish c***.”

A spokesman for Hertsmere Conservatives “refute the allegations in their entirety… We do not support or promote racist abuse aimed at any political candidate.” He added: “Labour have run another dirty local election campaign”.

Ozarow’s campaign received in-person support from Angela Rayner MP, a contender for Labour deputy leader, but he lost on Thursday after the Conservatives scooped 49 percent of the vote, compared to Labour’s 41 percent.

Publishing an open letter on his website, business management lecturer Ozarow said he and his family had been subjected to “smears, relentless intimidation and abuse,” including “offensive” messages sent by online trolls.

The Board of Deputies commented, “any kind of antisemitic abuse is disgusting. We absolutely condemn it and we hope the perpetrators are identified and punished.”