Shit like this is why I'm still trying to make up my mind about the Greens. I hope Polanski takes swift action against this candidate and all others who can't see the difference between anti-zionism and anti-semitism.
The best thing to do between now and the elections is to ignore any uncorroborated media reports about the Greens (or any other party). The propaganda is already pervasive. Most of the allegations will vaporise after May 7.
It's also instructive to look back at the allegations of antisemitism against Labour when Corbyn was leader. A large number of complaints was mentioned repeatedly in the press, without most outlets mentioning that they almost all came from one or two activists, and were proven to be false or at least unverifiable. And it later came out that the whole controversy was manufactured by Mandelson, McSweeney and others in the Labour Together faction who were maneuvering to drive the left out of Labour and put Starmer in.
Anyway, the Greens' disciplinary process doesn't involve Polanski. The Green Party isn't a dictatorship like Reform, or run by an opaque party bureaucracy like the Tories and Labour.
I hope he does too. I'm not planning to vote Green either way at the moment (that said, if it's them vs. Reform in my constituency, I will vote Green), but I want him to deal with this swiftly because you've got to get this poison out of politics ASAP, wherever it turns up.
What's worrying me as I said below, is that senior people in the party are very much not taking it seriously.
I hate to deflect with procedure, but Polanski genuinely has little-to-no power in deciding or suspending candidates. The disciplinary process is laid out here. Given the Newcastle Greens said they applied to the GPC (Green Party Council, I think the article got this wrong) that likely means they applied for a no-fault suspension, which would get this person immediately barred from all party activities. This is the same process as when the Brighton Greens suspended Tony Greenstein.
No, you make a completely fair point. All kinds of abuses are possible if the leader can unilaterally suspend people, so it's quite right that Polanski not have that power.
That said, I think it's okay for him to make it clear that he generally supports suspending people for this kind of thing and I also think he should rebuke Mothin Ali for undermining the process.
Yeah, it'd be nice if Polanski could come out with a stronger statement about antisemitic candidates than this. I don't know if publicly rebuking Ali is the right move though, but something should be done. One of the deputy leaders saying the disciplinary process has been weaponised and telling them to seek legal advice (TERF tactics) while they have ongoing cases just isn't a very good look.
It's just bad comms, really. Who is that 'it's just a handful' comment for? What does it say that isn't already implicit? It does nothing to address people's concerns.
Update: Support has been revoked:
Newcastle Green Party are appalled by the racist material written by Tina Ion, one of the Green Party candidates for Blakelaw and Cowgate.
This case was referred to the Green Party's disciplinary process as soon as we became aware of the material. Furthermore, Newcastle Green Party has withdrawn support for the candidate in the upcoming election.
An urgent review of our vetting process is taking place to ensure all of our candidates reflect our views as an anti-racist party.
We sincerely apologise for the distress this has caused, in particular, to the Jewish community who are already experiencing a shocking rise in antisemitism and targeted attacks.
Antisemitism and hate should have no place in our party or society.
Good! Can't argue with any of that statement; it's exactly as it should be.
I know the Green party has always held an eclectic set of views but are these cases examples of existing prejudices being surfaced thanks to increased scrutiny or recent members flocking from other parties because the Greens are seen as a rising force in UK politics?
It's a bit of both, I think. There will always have been some minority with these views (every party attracts some eccentrics, including some racists) and now that the Greens are becoming more electorally successful that's brought the new scrutiny that's revealed this and other individual's views.
Unfortunately there's also a history on the left of people who claim (or actually believe) that they're merely criticising Israel's policies, but do so in a way that's plainly antisemitic. Some of those people have of course joined the Greens as the major left alternative to/replacement for Labour.
Honestly, I hadn't seen much of this from the Greens till recently, so it's disappointing to see it coming to the surface now. What's even more worrying than the ever-present minority of antisemites (which, as I say, you could undoubtedly find in every party) is senior figures not taking it seriously.
It's also possible that there are infiltrators. It's an open system compared to the other parties, and subject to manipulation by bad actors.
Now that their membership has grown so much, they'll have to add additional safeguards to prevent abuse of processes.
Part of the job of candidate selection is vetting them to make sure you are not making them a spokes person for your party. A random Green party member spouting off is one thing but when they are involved in an official capacity they speak for the party.
Unless you are suggesting this is some sort of dark false flag tactic by other parties to discredit the Greens which I really don't think it is.
Yikes!
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