A Labour councillor who was suspended over allegedly anti-Semitic Facebook posts has reportedly been told she will be reinstated in July.
Anne Pissaridou, who represents North Portslade, was suspended in July after the posts came to light.
The Sunday Times has now reported that her suspension will end in a year, allowing her to return this summer.
The news has been greeted with dismay by the local Jewish community.
A spokesperson for the Sussex Jewish Representative Council said: “It is disappointing to hear that Anne Pissaridou has only been suspended from the Labour Party for a year.
“This is hardly the ‘zero-tolerance’ for antisemitism that Keir Starmer has promised. She shared a wholly inappropriate and offensive anti-Semitic article from a conspiracy theory website.
“It is time that people, especially elected officials, take personal responsibility for their social media postings and read the content of media they choose to share. This casual anti-Jewish racism needs to stop.”
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “The Labour Party takes all complaints of antisemitism extremely seriously and they are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken.”
Councillor Pissaridou was one of three councillors accused of anti-Semitism last summer. The other two, Councillor Nichole Brennan and Councillor Kate Knight, both resigned before any action was taken by the party.
This led to the minority Labour administration losing power to the Greens.
Today, there are 17 Labour and 19 Green councillors, so Councillor Pissaridou’s reinstatement to the Labour party will not affect the current balance of power.
All three of the councillors accused of anti-Semitism were selected to stand for the party in the May 2019 elections after being included on a slate drawn up by the local branch of Momentum.
Councillor Pissaridou’s first post, made in October 2016, was of an article from a conspiracy theory website which linked one of the Rothschilds with what it claimed was the imminent collapse of the German banking system and warnings to stockpile food.
It was illustrated with a picture of a smiling Sir Jacob Rothschild surrounded by bars of gold contrasted with an anxious child grabbing bottles of water, and stated that his family had been in “de facto control of the world’s central banks for centuries.”
The second post, made in August 2018, was from a website run by Mike Sivier, who had been expelled from Labour earlier that year, reportedly for refusing anti-Semitism training.
The headline was ‘Jewish Israeli journalist claims pro-Israel propagandists have ‘taken out a contract’ to stop Jeremy Corbyn being elected’.
While she is suspended, Councillor Pissaridou cannot attend any Labour group meetings or represent the party and is representing her constituents as an independent.
After Kier handling of JC I thought the Labour Party was taking a serious stance against anti-semitism, not so sure if this Cllr is reinstated. Is she innocent after an investigation or was the punishment a years suspension? Either way her local residents will need to decide her ultimate fate especially as she introduced the ‘temporary’ OSR cycle lane.
Don’t forget Anne also introduced the ban on use of weedkillers on pavements without having decided on an effective alternative and without consulting councillors or getting agreement from the committee she chaired.
She’s not just a racist, but also a very inept politician, who should definitely not be reinstated.
indeed, bike laines were always a problem, including the spelling
Anne Pissaridou is listed as “Chair Local Labour Party” in her register if interest, so I assume she has special privileges WRT being suspended and then getting reinstated.
Does this mean Anne was found not guilty of anti-Semitism?
Can the other Labour councillors alleged to have been anti-Semitic be reinstated as well?
If she is guilty, then she should be prosecuted. Just imagine what the situation would have been like if she had conducted her racism against Muslims.
sad that this article is based cobbled together from old news yet wheeled in a “two-men and a dog” org. viz: Sussex Jewish Representative Council (means “The day to day running and co-ordination of the Council in undertaken by the Executive, a small team elected by the delegates or co-opted by the Chair Team. In recent years the Council has been chaired by a small group from the Executive. ” = unelected directly at all == cheap journalism
the Sussex Jewish Representative Council has an important member namely the Sussex Jewish Golfing Society
The same nonsense being trotted out about ‘antisemitism’. If anyone is guilty of antisemitism its the Tories who backed Viktor Orban in the European Parliament, sat with fascists and anti-Semites in the European & Conservative Group and who are doing likewise in the European Council.
The Sussex Jewish Representative Council is Sussex Friends of Israel under another name. It beggars belief that when Israel is only vaccinating Jews not Palestinians that hypocrites bleat about ‘antisemitism’. Jews in this country have never had it so good there is very little antisemitism, no state racism against Jews unlike Black and Muslim people.
It is a media confection designed to be rid of Corbyn and now being used to drive Labour to the Right.
The Palestinian Authority has responsibility for its citizens’ health care, including procuring vaccines, under the terms of the 1990s Oslo Accords.
In the 1990 Oslo Peace accord the Palestinians wanted independence to vaccinate their own population. They also signed up to the Covax vaccination scheme which means like most countries they gave an allocation from their. The Israelis have also said they can have any excess vaccines they have bought. They did not buy vaccines for the Palestinians as that was not their responsibility and Hamas should have done this.
Seeing your comments last year on “Councillor quits Labour after being reported for anti-semitism” you do seem to be committed Jeremy Corbyn supporter and anti-Semitism denialist.
So are you saying that Israel is not vaccinating its non-Jewish population, which includes Israeli Arabs? If so, from where did you get that information?
And please stop this ridiculous and tiresome nonsense about some underhand conspiracy to get rid of Corbyn. The country voted against the man as our Prime MInister because he was clearly a deluded idiot, who would have brought this country to its knees with his incompetence, and his obsession with Marxism.