Labour candidate ‘sorry’ for saying sight of Israeli flag made her ‘feel sick’

A Labour candidate in Manchester who said the sight of the Israeli flag made her “feel sick” has extended her “sincerest apologies” to the Jewish community.

Jade Doswell apologised for saying that seeing the Israeli flag made her feel “a little bit sick in my mouth” in a Facebook post in 2014, according to The Times.

Doswell, who is standing in next month’s council elections, expressed her “sincerest apologies for any offence caused.”

In her statement, she also says she had been a “very active activist for the Palestinian cause” and the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement during her time at university from 2011 to 2014.

She adds that she was a “very much a different person in 2014… angry at injustice in the world and not always the most erudite or sensitive in displaying that anger.”

After joining the Labour Party in 2016, she claims she “sought to educate myself more in every way possible on the Israel-Palestine conflict, Zionism and antisemitism”.

Doswell said she attended events organised by Jewish Voice for Labour and a training session on antisemitism run by the Jewish Labour Movement.

But Euan Philipps, spokesman of Labour Against Antisemitism, said: “While we recognise Ms Doswell’s show of contrition, the fact is that she should not be standing as a candidate for elected office.

“In the Labour Party, zero tolerance for racism has to mean something. We urge Ms Doswell to stand down, and if she does not do so voluntarily then the Labour Party should suspend her.”