Green Party leaflet blames antisemitism claims on ‘Labour smear’

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The Green Party has claimed allegations of antisemitism are “Labour smears” despite the arrests of two of its local election candidates in south London.

Sabine Mairey and Saiqa Ali, both Green candidates in Lambeth, were arrested by the Metropolitan Police last week over alleged antisemitic social media posts.

Despite leader Zack Polanski claiming he would disown candidates who made antisemitic comments, a leaflet distributed in Lambeth following the two arrests claimed that the party had been a victim of “Labour’s cynical misrepresentation” over allegations of antisemitism.

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A leaflet by the Lambeth Green Party sent after the arrests, seen by The i Paper, tells voters Labour is “engaging in relentless negative campaigning”.

It continues: “We are proudly Jewish Green Party candidates. We reject Lambeth Labour’s cynical misrepresentation of our party.

“We will never allow antisemitism or any form of racism to gain a foothold in Lambeth.”

The leaflet – signed by candidates Martin Abrams, Jeremy Isaacs and Lisa Schulkind – did not mention the arrests and tells voters the party will work to keep the Jewish community safe.

Mairey and Ali were both arrested under Section 19 of the Public Order Act on 30 April and released on bail, pending further inquiries.

Although Green Party rules state candidates under suspension or investigation should not campaign, Mairey was pictured over the weekend canvassing with party activists. Ali is believed to have been suspended.

The candidates no longer appear on the Green Party’s websites, although they remain listed on the Electoral Commission website. Under electoral rules, nominations cannot be withdrawn after a certain point in the process.

The leaflet sent to voters by the Lambeth Green Party tells voters Labour is ‘engaging in relentless negative campaigning’

Steve Reed, the Housing Secretary, who was leader of Lambeth Council before entering parliament, said: “Instead of disowning them, the Greens are pretending it’s all just ‘misrepresentation’.

“While they lecture the country about hope, Polanski’s Greens are covering up for hate.”

Mairey is alleged to have shared an Instagram post which included the text: “Ramming a synagogue isn’t antisemitism. It’s revenge.”

Sabine Mairey was arrested by the Metropolitan Police last week over alleged antisemitic social media posts

She also allegedly suggested that Israel was worse than Nazi Germany, with a photo of Auschwitz that said the Nazis “had to hide what they were doing”.

Ali’s Instagram account is set to private but screenshots published by The Telegraph suggest she had posted an image of an armed man wearing a headband of Hamas, a proscribed terrorist group, along with the slogan: “Resistance is freedom”.

In a now-deleted Facebook post, she allegedly said 9/11 was a “false-flag attack” created by Israel.

Another post reportedly showed an AI-generated image of a stereotypical Jewish person with the words: “Don’t you know the rules? We went through the Holocaust, and now we get to kill everyone, forever!!”

In a now-deleted Facebook post, Saiqa Ali is alleged to have said that 9/11 was a ‘false-flag attack’ created by Israel

Last month, Ali apologised “for any offence or distress caused to anyone by my social media posts”, which allegedly included claims that US President Donald Trump is “owned by Jews”.

Zack Polanski, the Green Party leader, told the BBC on Sunday that messages by candidates accused of antisemitism were “unacceptable” and that the party would be implementing a “standardised vetting process” in the future as well as mandatory training for candidates “to make it clear that antisemitism is completely unwelcome” in the party.

He said: “It is also important to say one case of antisemitism is one too many.

“This is a handful of cases and actually we have over 4,500 candidates, the vast, vast majority of which are doing amazing work in their communities right now.”

Asked about the arrests and other incidents of alleged antisemitism by Green candidates, Polanski added he disowned candidates who had made antisemitic comments. When asked if he would “tell people here today: don’t vote for them, they don’t stand for you”, he replied: “That’s right.”

The Green Party was approached for comment.

A spokesman previously said: “This is now a police matter. We are unable to comment at this stage.”

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