Just a day after the suspension of Councillor Ibrahim Ali (Lab-Bruce Grove) became public, Labour in Haringey have been thrown into fresh chaos following a Jewish Chronicle article exposing anti-semitic tweets from newly elected Councillor Joy Wallace (Lab-Fortis Green).
Councillor Wallace claimed that members of the Labour Party expelled for anti-Semitism were merely ‘Palestine sympathisers’, and asserted that a Rabbi must have been ‘paid handsomely’ for criticising ex-leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Haringey Liberal Democrats have also seen further tweets, including one commenting that a Jewish man criticising Jeremy Corbyn at a Board of Deputies conference would find ‘the Israeli way and life is best for him’; another seemingly endorsing the conspiracy theory promoted by Maxine Peake that the policemen who killed George Floyd had used tactics taught by the Israeli secret service; and one claiming that Jewish MP Margaret Hodge had a ‘hard on’ for Islington child abuse.
In a further tweet, she queried Priti Patel’s Asian heritage, claiming that because she had ‘straight hair and nose’ her dark skin was likely due to ‘vitiligo or a strong sunbed’.
Her Fortis Green ward contains a sizeable Jewish population of over 8%, the highest in the west of Haringey, and an Asian population of 7%.
Councillor Wallace has not yet been suspended, though it is understood that Labour officials are looking into her case.
Councillor Luke Cawley-Harrison (LD-Crouch End, Leader of the Opposition on Haringey Council), said:
“I am appalled by the lack of due diligence taken by Labour when they selected their candidates. Our Jewish communities were told that they could trust Labour once again following years of the party in Haringey being plagued by instances of anti-semitism, but it seems nothing could be further from the truth. It is hard to see how Councillor Wallace can represent the residents of Fortis Green given the views she has displayed. She must do the right thing and offer her resignation as a councillor immediately.”
