Last summer, George Galloway, a leading leftwing British parliamentarian, declared the city of Bradford—which he represents—an “Israel-free zone.” The declaration had few if any practical effects, but is emblematic of Galloway’s strategy of using hatred of Israel and Jews as a tool for garnering votes. In fact, he came to Bradford—after losing an election in another district—because it is the British city with the largest proportion of Muslims. Ben Judah writes:
Bradford is not much of a place to be a Jew. There are fewer than 300 Jews living in the city and only a handful [are] observant. The city’s one Jewish politician is very quiet about his origins, Orthodox Jews are nervous to walk around in kipot, and even a Jewish funeral has been attacked by marauding Muslim anti-Zionist protesters. Even the candidates bidding to dislodge George Galloway now mimic his pro-Palestinian rhetoric, seeking to outdo each other in their condemnation of Israel. The only party that stands a chance of dislodging him is the Labor party [from which Galloway split during the premiership of Tony Blair].
I contacted every leading candidate bidding to represent [Labor] against George Galloway. Most had websites exhibiting photos of themselves at pro-Palestinian protests. Only two wrote back. One Labor hopeful responded rather bizarrely to my request for an interview on the subject of anti-Semitism with a video and transcript of herself speaking at a pro-Palestinian rally. Another, Naz Shah, a Palestine activist I contacted by Twitter, stopped responding when I explained Tablet magazine was a Jewish publication. Shah was finally selected to fight Galloway for Labor from an all-Muslim shortlist.
Read more on Tablet: http://tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/189347/a-polite-hatred-2-bradford-galloway