Local Greens withdraw support from candidates
LDRSThe Green Party has dropped its support for two more of its candidates amid allegations of antisemitism.
Green officials on Tyneside announced they were withdrawing their endorsements for Philip Brookes and Mohammed Suleman, who are standing in the Manor Park and Arthur's Hill wards, in Newcastle, respectively.
The candidates were the subject of concerns over alleged antisemitic posts on social media.
Both candidates will still appear as Greens on ballot papers on Thursday.
One post on Brookes' Facebook page included an image which branded Israel "a bunch of Polish, Russian, Hungarian terrorists killing Palestinian people for 76 years".
His account also published an image of an Israel flag being torn to reveal a Nazi swastika flag, and in a post about the war in Gaza said it "takes serious effort not to be a tiny bit antisemitic".
On Suleman's account, a TikTok video was reposted which claimed Jewish prisoners of war were willing to bury Soviet prisoners alive under Nazi instruction during World War Two.
National disciplinary process
The Greens currently have four elected councillors in Newcastle and are hoping to make significant gains when voters go to the polls on Thursday.
A party spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday: "Newcastle Green Party has withdrawn its endorsement of Philip Brookes (Manor Park) and Mohammed Suleman (Arthur's Hill) as candidates in the upcoming election while they are subject to an ongoing national Green Party disciplinary process."
The latest announcement comes after the party also withdrew support for Tina Ion, one of its candidates for Blakelaw and Cowgate, and said last week that it was undertaking an "urgent review" of its vetting process.
She allegedly published posts on social media platform Threads under the handle "thereal.anne.frank".
Speaking on a visit to Newcastle last week, Green Party leader Zack Polanski told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he had confidence in "99%" of his candidates, after a series of concerns were raised across the country about antisemitic views.
Use our tool below to see the other candidates in the Manor Park and Arthur's Hill wards.
