Candidate Ken’s attitude to Jews may be key in race to run London

[Mosby]

Ken Livingstone, who has vowed to turn the city into a ‘beacon’ of Islam and slammed ‘rich’ Jews, is now neck and neck in race to be mayor


LONDON — Is London about to elect a mayor who has been accused of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism?

Until last week, former mayor Ken Livingstone was trailing the incumbent Boris Johnson in opinion polls by as much as six points. But now, only days before the election on Thursday, May 3, the two are neck-and-neck, separated by just two percentage points, according to pollster YouGov.

If Livingstone, who was mayor between 2000-2008, is returned to office, it will be greeted with concern by much of the Jewish community, which makes up around 200,000 of Greater London’s population of 8.2 million. Livingstone, who belongs to the left-wing Labour party, has clashed with them repeatedly. Even some of the most avid Jewish Labourites have come out publicly this time to explain why they cannot vote for him.

Livingstone’s attitude to Jews and other minorities has been a factor for the wider electorate as well. On March 1, Jewish Labour supporters attended a private meeting with Livingstone in order to explore ways in which he could reconnect with his alienated Jewish voters. Livingstone responded that they would not vote for him anyway, as the Jewish community is “rich.” Six of the attendees wrote a letter expressing concern to British Labour Party leader Ed Miliband (who is himself halachically Jewish), which was later leaked, garnering national attention.

“Whereas before, Ken’s views tended to be dealt with in the Jewish press, with limited circulation, this time the [general] media picked it up,” says Mike Freer, the Member of Parliament for Finchley and Golders Green, heavily Jewish areas. “He has been trying to set off one community against another. Even the Islamic community has noticed that he is revelling in being rude and divisive. If you pick on one community one week, it’s only a matter of time until you pick on another.”


http://www.timesofisrael.com/candidate-kens-attitude-to-jews-may-be-key-in-battle-to-run-london/

[ellisonz]

1. Antisemitism is the old new cool!