A Labour Parliamentary candidate has been shouted down with anti-Semitic abuse at a public hustling in Bradford.
An audience member cried out “Jew, Jew, Jew!” after Labour’s Naz Shah criticised Israel, but confirmed she backed the nation’s right to exist.
Ms Shah, who was last year suspended from the Labour Party for anti-Semitism, said she was “on the record for challenging Israel, for challenging illegal settlements and continuing to do that…”
“Bradford has not been compromised in terms of a voice for the Palestinians,” she added, “and I continue to pledge my support in highlighting the issues of Israel and Palestine…”
However, she then asked: “Do I believe in Israel’s right to exist? I continue to stand by my statement that I believe in Israel’s right to exist.”
Following the statement, an audience member can clearly be heard in footage of the event shouting: “Jew, Jew, Jew!”
According to Jewish News, the hustings took place at Carlisle business centre in Bradford and saw all candidates standing for election participate.
Last month, however, Ms. Shah walked out of a hustings, that was allegedly only open to female Muslim candidates, after the Christian Tory candidate criticised it as “unprogressive, undemocratic and deeply unhelpful”.
Ms. Shah was suspended from Labour in May 2016 after sharing a Facebook post suggesting Israel’s Jews be relocated to the U.S. and tweeting the hashtag “#IsraelApartheid”. The post included the quote: “Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.”
Bradford has been blighted by accusations of election fraud, is known for its “clan politics”, and has one of the most concentrated Muslim populations in the UK.
Nearly one in five alleged cases of election fraud last year was recorded in West Yorkshire – with Bradford, Keighley and Huddersfield emerging as “high risk” areas, figures from the Electoral Commission show.
In 2005, members of the Muslim community were jailed for attempted postal vote fraud in the town, and fresh complaints of malpractice were raised in 2016 after the 2015 general election.
Ms. Shah’s main rival in the seat this year is independent candidate Salma Yaqoob, previous of the Respect party and the far-let Stop the War Coalition.
Respect won the seat with George Galloway as its candidate in 2012, after being accused of whipping up ethnic and religious tensions.
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