Apology over Green candidate's anti-Semitic post

A Green Party candidate who shared anti-Semitic material relating to the Gaza conflict on social media has apologised, the party has said.

The party was contacted by the government's anti-Semitism adviser, Lord Mann, over posts by Bristol candidates Mohamed Makawi and Abdul Malik from October 2023.

One of the posts showed part of a Hamas press conference, while the other made false claims about the killing of Israeli citizens.

The Green Party said Mr Makawi had has since apologised and undertaken social media training, while Mr Malik was "unwittingly" implicated by being tagged in the post.

The posts followed the Hamas attack on 7 October, when waves of gunmen stormed across Gaza's border into Israel, killing about 1,200 people.

Mr Malik told the BBC he did not put up the post showing Hamas spokesmen and said he completely condemns the attacks on Israel.

Mr Makawi has also been approached for comment.

Meanwhile Lord Mann, who wrote to the party's co-leaders about the allegations, has criticised the Green Party for taking so long to respond.

He said he was "disappointed" the Greens only responded to his letter, which was sent on 5 April, three weeks later, after the BBC contacted the party.

"I'm a little puzzled," he said.

"The Green Party has created a bigger problem for itself by not responding immediately."

'Ill-judged'

A Green Party spokesperson said it has responded to Lord Mann with "evidence of the actions we have taken to remove these ill-judged and offensive communications" and offered to meet him to continue discussions.

"In one case, it appears the candidate was unwittingly tagged into an offensive post that he assures us he did not himself publish," they said.

"He deleted this post from his timeline as soon as we made him aware of it.

"In the other case, the candidate gave credence to some egregious misinformation by sharing it online. He has since apologised and undertaken social media training.

"In our response to Lord Mann we also reiterated that the Green Party has repeatedly condemned the appalling Hamas attacks of 7th October, and called for the unconditional release of Israeli hostages, as well as calling for a bilateral ceasefire."

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