UPDATE: Antisemitic UK Conservative Party Candidate Formally Suspended Following SWC Protest :: Wiesenthal Centre to UK Conservative Party Election Campaign Manager: "Anti-Semitic Candidate Must be Immediately Disqualified"

April 27, 2015

"There is no place in our party for these comments or attitudes and Ms. Afsal has had her party membership suspended pending a full disciplinary hearing," a Conservative Party statement said.

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SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE-EUROPE

Tel: +33(0)1 47 23 76 37

Fax: +33(0)1 47 20 84 01

Mail: csweurope@gmail.com

"The election of Ms. Asfar would taint the Conservative Party as compliant in her anti-Semitism."

Paris

In a letter to UK Conservative Party Election Campaign Manager, Lynton Crosby, Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, expressed the outrage of the Centre's British membership - Simon Wiesenthal Centre UK - at an, “anti-Semitic outburst from Derby Council Conservative candidate, Gulzabeen Asfar."

The Centre noted, "A campaigner for Islamic Relief, which is active in funding HAMAS-controlled Gaza, Asfar revealed her true colours on Facebook two days ago... referring to Labour leader Ed Miliband, she wrote «...Never ever will I drop that low and support the 'al-yahud' (in Arabic, 'the Jew') LOL».

The letter pointed out, "A Conservative Party spokesman has responded to the scandal on Asfar's behalf, stating, "Her [Asfar’s] comment was offensive and wrong.  She has removed it and apologized."

Samuels suggested, “Crosby would surely agree that this is a wildly insufficient answer to racism in British politics," recalling their “…correspondence in 2009, regarding incitement to hate in the then-European Parliamentary elections."

"Once again, serious counter measures are necessary," Samuels added.

The Centre argued, "The candidacy of Ms. Asfar must be immediately disqualified as her election would taint the Conservative Party as compliant in her anti-Semitism."

"Our Centre relies on you to ensure that bigotry is booted out certainly, at least from the Conservative Party campaign," concluded Samuels

For further information, please contact Shimon Samuels at +33 609 7701 58, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).