UK Green Party nominee calls Occupation ‘racist and apartheid’
Britain’s Green Party parliamentary candidate Tanya Williams has come under attack by pro-Israel political groups in the UK after describing the Israeli regime as “a racist and apartheid state”, according to Press TV.
“It needs to be pointed out that they [Israel] are a racist state and an apartheid state,” said William, who represents Twickenham area in southwest London, SW Londoner reported on Saturday.
“South Africa got its act together after decades of campaigning and I hope Israel may eventually too. I think it is time to stand up to the myth that Israel and Palestine are both equal participants in this conflict,” she further said.
According to the news outlet, Williams made the remarks at a recent event by UK-based rights group Amnesty International event, also urging the British government to halt its military and political support for the Tel Aviv regime.
“I personally think we need to stop supporting Israel, whether that’s trading arms with them, or politically, or treating them like a beacon of democracy in the Middle East which they are not,” the political party candidate added.
According to the report, the remarks by Williams were strongly censured by a pro-Israeli group called the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which claimed that her views on Israel “are based on… sheer prejudice against Israel and its supporters.”
However, the Green Party’s Richmond and Twickenham branch announced in a statement that it fully endorsed the statements made by Williams “in an open forum focusing on human rights”.
“Her remarks fully reflect Green policy on the conflict between Palestine and Israel as stated in our manifesto,” said the statement, which added that the manifesto includes condemnation of “human rights violations by both parties and the oppression and disproportionate use of aggression by the Israeli government against the people of Gaza”.
UK’s ties with the Israeli regime and its policies regarding Palestine have emerged as central foreign policy issues in the current general election political campaigns.
This is while Labor Party leader Ed Milliband recently vowed to recognize Palestine when the “right time” comes.
M.W