Reform UK candidate: Antisemitism ‘imported’ by recent migrant communities
Antisemitism and community tensions take centre stage at Westminster Jewish local election debate
A Reform UK local election candidate has claimed that much of the antisemitism present in Britain today has “been imported through more recent migrant communities.”
Speaking at a Westminster Jewish Community hustings ahead of the May 7 local elections, Alan Mendoza also said he wished to stress that “elements” within the UK Muslim population posed a “particular problem” with Jew-hatred.
Mendoza, who is seeking re-election, appeared alongside Labour’s Adam Hug, Conservative Caroline Sargent, Liberal Democrat Martin Kersh, and Green candidate Vivien Lichtenstein.
The event, chaired by former Board of Deputies president Marie van der Zyl, covered a range of topics including community safety and education.
In his opening remarks, Mendoza said: “Today [Jews] fear for their existence because of a toxic mix of antisemitism.
“There’s a traditional far right, which has always been there, the rise of the far left, which it’s been very difficult for the Labour Party to confront, given the base of its party and who some of the supporters are as well.
“And of course, unfortunately, we mentioned community is the importing conflict.
“Sadly, a great deal of the antisemitism in Britain today has indeed been imported through more recent migrant communities.
“And there is a particular problem, as we know, with elements. And I stress elements because it’s important to be precise about this, with the British Muslim population now.”
He continued: “The other parties will tell you they’ll do it, but they had their chances, and they haven’t done it.
“The reality is, neither the current Labour government have done enough to stop those and neither, of course, did the previous Conservative government, which was in power for the start of that process.
And it’s obvious that only one party will deal with those in an effective way.”
On the subject of anti-Zionism at council meetings, Green candidate Lichtenstein, who revealed her parents were Holocaust survivors, stated:
“I’m assured that anti Zionism, not that I’m an anti Zionist, is a political belief which is protected under the Equalities Act 2010, so you can’t actually stop somebody from expressing their belief.
“Whether there are some anti Zionists who are undoubtedly anti Semites, but does anti Zionism actually lead to antisemitism? I’m not entirely sure.
“So it’s a very tricky question, because it also depends on the individual involved.
“It depends on what their view of Zionism is. And I imagine that if you ask loads of different people, you’re going to get loads of different answers, what they think Zionism actually means. So it depends on the individual.”
On the same topic, Conservative candidate Caroline Sargent said: “I don’t think topics like this really have a place in local government where it should be dealing with things and potholes and things like that.
“And so it’s up to in our case, the mayor who chairs our meetings, to shut discussions down.
“It is up to whoever is the chair of that meeting to shut them down.
Seeking to be re-elected she added:”Now we have had incidents as well where groups of people have come in, and I think there was a demand for BDS, for divestment, for pensions and so on, and they made a big show.
“We obviously have security, and these people need to be moved out of our meetings, because we are there to talk about local issues. And you know, we are local councillors, even though some of us might spin up with our different hats on.”
Labour’s Adam Hug added: “It’s important we focus on local issues and that the space, it’s an inclusive one for a range of different views, for making sure that there is no space for hatred or things that are inappropriate.
“And it’s things, the role of the monitoring officer and the chief executive advisor to make sure that the somebody needs to help in the right spirit.”
On tackling antisemitism Hug, who has led the council, added: “I will continue and deepen the work that I’ve been doing over the last few years, engaging on a regular basis with the community, with our synagogues around the fears and issues that they face in terms of antisemitism in our community.
“I will always be fighting to make sure there is more police support in Westminster, particularly making sure that it is addressing issues of antisemitism.
“Going forward, the council has a communities team that has been developing over recent years, and we want to see them doing more in this space to engage and help educate people in our communities around the scourge of antisemitism and how to best respond to it. And I think we are in a time of increased tension and hatred.”
Liberal Democrat Martin Kersh added: “I think the key issue isn’t just policy, but how the whole all of these systems are working in practice?
So how quickly can incidents be reported to get a response from police?
“And whether, you know, we’ve got to give a feeling of residents of all types, because we shouldn’t just be considering just antisemitism, there is Islamophobia and other issues as well.
“Do they really feel supported? We need to work with police, and having more police around is something we need to have.
But how do we fund that? One thought is to use from the overnight visitor Levy and ensure Westminster gets its fair share.”
The hustings was organised by the London Jewish Forum in partnership with the Board of Deputies, and supported by the Jewish News, and was held online and was open to residents across Westminster.
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