Welsh party activist suspended over antisemitic posts to run for Assembly
Sahar Al-Faifi, who was caught posting antisemitic content in 2017, according to her own admission, was reinstated by the party following an investigation.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFThe National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff.(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
An activist for Plaid Cymru, a social-democratic Welsh nationalist party, who was previously suspended for making antisemitic Twitter posts, is now planning to run for a seat in the Welsh General Assembly. Sahar Al-Faifi, who was caught posting antisemitic content in 2017, according to her own admission, was reinstated by the party following an investigation.One post came after the London Bridge attacks in 2017 that killed eight people, saying that "pro-Zionists" were responsible for the attack, which in reality was committed by supporters if Al-Muhajiroun and ISIS. Following the incident, and discovery of her tweets, Al-Faifi was confronted by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the main representative body of the British Jewish community. In reaction to the tweets, Al-Faifi met with the organization, and released a statement that she had “deleted the tweets more than 5 years ago, and issued an apology to Jewish organizations and others. “I have also undertaken antisemitism training, both formally through the Board of Deputies and informally with Jewish colleagues in order to ensure I never repeat the same mistakes.”The Board of Deputies also confirmed that they met with her, saying that “We met Sahar Al-Faifi to confront her over concerns we had over antisemitic social media postings. Ms Al-Faifi apologized to us and made some amendments to her social media output. However, we were clear that the situation still remained unsatisfactory.”Despite the meeting, Board of Deputies Senior Vice President Sheila Gewolb noted, in a interview with the London-based Jewish Chronicle, that “We raised concerns about two social media posts that she had refused to delete, despite 18 months of attempts to persuade her. It appears that she has now finally relented and deleted them, but Ms Al-Faifi’s reluctance to do so raises serious questions about her judgement, and the genuineness of her apology.”The Plaid Cymru party panel, according to a tweet by Al-Faifi, reinstate her membership and further decided that there was no need to continue with sanctions against her. Al-Faifi added in the tweet that she was “more committed than ever before to creating a more just, inclusive and welcoming Wales.”Al-Faifi also attached a quote from the Muslim Engagement and Development (Mend) organization, saying that “while antisemitism must never be tolerated and should be challenged wherever it is found, the use of the term as a political tool for shutting down criticism of the Israeli government devalues the experiences of those who face antisemitic abuse on a daily basis.”A spokesperson of Plaid Cymru confirmed her reinstated status, noting that “Several years ago, Sahar Al-Faifi made a handful of social media posts that she has deeply regretted and which she has acknowledged were antisemitic. The tweets were deleted and an apology was issued.”Al-Faifi is set to stand in the South Wales Central region for next year’s General Assembly elections.
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