Sadiq Khan working to ‘take down’ posters calling Israel ‘a racist endeavour’

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said a series of posters appearing at bus stops around the capital describing Israel as “a racist endeavour” were not authorised and will be removed and investigated.

Khan’s office confirmed on Wednesday evening that no permission had been sought or given by either the mayor, Transport for London (TfL) or JCDecaux, the company that operates the advertising spaces around bus stops.

It is believed that around six posters simply stating “Israel is a racist endeavour” appeared behind glass on Wednesday – the same day that the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party adopted all 11 examples of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism.

Among the most controversial of these is a sub-example which deems as anti-Semitic suggestions that the State of Israel is “a racist endeavour,” and in an interview with Jewish News this week, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said there would be further debate and consultation over the party’s code of conduct.

The posters were put up by a group called London Palestine Action, which describes itself as “a network of people in London taking creative action against Israeli apartheid through BDS and other effective, participatory Palestine solidarity work”.

In response, a spokesperson for the mayor said: “These offensive adverts are not authorised and are acts of vandalism which Transport for London and its advertising partner takes extremely seriously. They have instructed their contractors to remove any posters found on their network immediately.”

They added: “We have spoken to JCDecaux and they believe that there are six such posters in London. We are working together to take them down as soon as possible.”

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