The UK Labour Party has suspended 16 members for antisemitism a week before local elections, the Jewish Chronicle reports.
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The people accused of antisemitism include nine sitting councilors and seven activists in the Peterborough Labour Party and the North West Cambridgeshire Constituency Local Party.
Suspended Labour councilor Ansar Ali wrote in August 2014 that "it appears to me [that] the Israeli Zionists have control over the UN and the governments of USA, UK, Europe and most of the Muslim countries apart from the brave Palestinians in Gaza. They are showing the world they will not bow down to Israeli Zionist terrorism."
The Labour Party has been rocked by allegations of antisemitism since Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the party in September 2015. Corbyn's successor, Sir Keir Starmer, who took office April of last year, pledged during his campaign to root out antisemitism in the party.
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"The Labour Party takes all complaints of antisemitism extremely seriously and they are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken," a Labour Party spokesperson said. "We are determined to root out all forms of antisemitism from our party and it is testament to our commitment to zero-tolerance that we will not be influenced by an election timetable."
The Conservative Party is also facing accusations of antisemitism. Ishfaq Hussain, a Conservative candidate for the upcoming Peterborough City Council elections, was reportedly suspended by the party for a series of anti-Israel and anti-Zionist Facebook posts.
Local elections across the UK will take place on May 6.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
