Bradford West heats up again after man shouts anti-semitic comments at Bradford West Hustings
Events from the Bradford West Hustings held at Carlisle Business Centre have resulted in the organisers issuing a statement and reporting a hate incident to the Police.
The incident, highlighted on social media by campaigner and activist for human and womens rights, Aisha Ali-Khan, who was present at the hustings has now resulted in the organisers issuing the following statement.
JUST Yorkshire has a proud tradition and impeccable track record of standing up for fairness, equality and freedom and stamping out all forms of hate including anti-semitism and xenophobia.
On Wednesday 31st of May, JUST facilitated a hustings event at the Carlisle Business Centre in Bradford for the Bradford West Prospective Parliamentary Candidates and constituents. Following the hustings event, we were informed via social media that an anti-semitic comment/s had been made by a member/s of the audience.
We have subsequently reviewed footage, and we can now confirm that anti-semitic comments were made, which we have now reported to the police as a hate incident.
Our Chair, Nadeem Murtuja has stated the following:
“Let me make it clear, JUST Yorkshire condemns every form of hate, racism, Islamophobia and Antisemitism, if I had heard the comment on the night of the hustings, we would have immediately brought an end to the proceedings. Anti-Semitism has no place in civil and democratic society, and we are all obligated to stamp all forms of hate from every aspect of society.
We would like to place on record, our sincere thanks to the member of the audience that highlighted the anti-semitic comments via social media, and in the strongest terms we will provide our utmost support to this person.
We will make no further comments at this stage, and we will fully co-operate with the authorities to identify the perpetrator.”
In the video (below) it appears that just after Naz Shah finishes speaking, a man in the audience shouts "Jew Jew Jew"
Other attendees on the night claimed that they did not hear anything until presented with undisputable footage from the evening.
Aisha Ali-Khan commented " I was the person who heard and tweeted the anti-semitic comments during the Bradford West Hustings on Wednesday. I was horrified at what I had heard, there is no place for racism or xenophobia in any setting let alone a political one. Despite some members of the public accusing me of peddling "misrepresentations" and others denying the incident ever took place, I am glad I stood my ground because the truth is finally out there"
Ms Khan commented further " It is entirely plausable for some members who were present not to have heard due to the shouting and heckling. What isn't acceptable is the conduct of a Bradford based solicitor, who took screen shots of my tweet and those who had retweeted me and sent them to various forums in Bradford, encouraging others to attack me online. This type of bullying should have been stamped out when George Galloway lost in 2015"
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