Southgate Labour backs councillor who shared tweet claiming Israel supports ISIS

Enfield Southgate Constituency Labour Party appears to have defended a councillor accused of sharing an antisemitic tweet last week. 

Councillor Ayfer Orhan retweeted a message from the account Partisan Girl, which claimed Israel backs Al Qaeda and Isis, questioning whether the tweet was accurate.

The original tweet by Partisan Girl read: “#Israel hoped that destabilising #Syria by supporting ALQaeda [sic] & #ISIS would help legitimise their annexation of the #GolanHeights.

“The Golan has a lot of water, but they discovered it also has oil. A company called #GenieEnergy was set up to drill it, guess who’s on the board?”

Sharing the tweet, a post from Orhan’s account read: “What is this??? I have been watching the development of political interest for the #GolanHeights with some interest but this is truly shocking if true.”

Following criticism from a social media user, Southgate Labour Group tweeted: “What exactly is wrong with this statement?

“Why does it bother you so much Miriam? What are the reliable facts? Maybe you can provide them.”

Leader  of Enfield Council Nesil Caliskan said in a statement: “The Labour Group at Enfield Council (made up of 45 Labour councillors) does not endorse the tweet put out by Cllr Ayfer Orhan, nor do we approve of Enfield Southgate Constituency Labour Party endorsing the tweet.

“As the Leader of the Group and of Enfield Council, I can confirm that this very serious matter has been brought to the attention of the Labour Party and officers of the Labour Group at Enfield. It is being looked into urgently.”

Euan Philipps, from Labour Against Antisemitism, said: “Once again we see an elected Labour official posting apparently racist anti-Jewish content on social media, from a Twitter account that is well-known for pushing antisemitic conspiracy theories and other racially motivated views.

“This is further evidence that the Labour Party is now institutionally antisemitic. We hope that Councillor Orfan is suspended pending a full investigation and that this incident will be included in any future investigation by the EHRC.”

Southgate Labour Executive and Orhan have both been approached for comment.