At least nine Green Party candidates standing in the local elections in London have been accused of posting antisemitic content online.
Two members of Zack Polanski’s party standing in Lambeth were arrested by Met Police last week on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred, while several more have been suspended amid investigations.
Saiqa Ali and Sabine Mairey, who are both standing for the Greens in Lambeth, were detained by Met officers on Thursday after allegedly posting antisemitic comments online.
Ms Ali has been suspended while Ms Mairey is under investigation by the party.
However, Ms Mairey was seen campaigning with members over the weekend, prompting Labour to accuse the Greens of not taking the issue seriously enough.
Mr Polanski, the only Jewish leader of a major UK political party, has rejected the claims that he failing to do enough to tackle racism.
Mark Adderley, who is standing as a candidate in the Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood ward of Croydon, was suspended by the party following allegations that he shared antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories about Jewish people on social media.
Mr Adderley, who is the husband of Loose Women star Nadia Sawalha, included one video that attributed responsibility for the Golders Green ambulance attack in March to Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. He denies allegations of antisemitism.
Aziz Hakimi, a Green Party candidate in Camden, allegedly shared antisemitic posts, including some which claimed Israel was behind recent arson attacks in Golders Green.
Havering candidate Tope Olawoyin withdrew from the elections last month after sharing a conspiracy theory about Jewish community ambulances being set alight.
Shortly after the attack on Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green on March 23, Ms Olawoyin suggested the incident could have been orchestrated by members of the Jewish community.
Bernard Mani withdrew as a candidate in Lewisham after he was accused of tearing down balloons put up in solidarity with Israeli children kidnapped by Hamas and sharing conspiracy theories about Jewish people online.
The incident was filmed during a pro-Palestine march in Brighton in November 2023 and covered by national newspapers.
Rebecca Jones, a candidate in the Blackheath area of Lewisham, posted on Instagram in July 2024 that Israel was “using infectious diseases to help their genocidal onslaught”.
She had also allegedly shared an image of a Palestinian flag accompanied by the caption: “They’re burning babies again.”
Ifhat Shaheen, a candidate in Hackney, has shared conspiracy theories online, including a suggestion that Israel was harvesting Palestinians’ organs “to help alter DNA of Zionists to claim land.”
The Green Party is also investigating after it was alleged that Waltham Forest candidate Brian Capaloff had shared antisemitic posts online.
Capaloff was linked to an X account under the name Russ, with the handle @c0cteau8, in an article by Jewish News.
One post made by the account said that while the recent Golders Green terror attack may not have been staged, it could serve as a “burning of the Reichstag moment” – which helped Adolf Hitler consolidate power in Germany in 1933 – for “authoritarian and extremist Zionists”.
A spokesperson for the Waltham Forest Greens said it was “aware of the Jewish News article and the concerns raised about the candidate in question”.
Communities Secretary Steve Reed on Tuesday accused the Green Party of failing to do enough to tackle antisemitism within its ranks.
Appearing on the media round for the Government, he said: “We need the Green Party to do what the Labour Party did and kick out members of their party who are openly antisemitic.”
Following a number of attacks on Jewish people and businesses in London, Mr Polanski said that the rise in antisemitism is an “emergency” which needs addressing.
Asked on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg Show whether the Green Party was taking antisemitism seriously enough, he said: “Yes, as I’ve said, it’s not an abstract idea for me, Jewish safety and making sure we tackle antisemitism is incredibly important.
“Now I’m not saying that we’ve got it right, I don’t think any party has, because antisemitism exists in society as does islamophobia and many forms of racism, and it’s important that every political party is always working to bring more training and better vetting.”
