Like many, I was horrified when the Green Party chose to classify Zionism as racism at its conference. As they have a record of allying with Labour & Plaid, I raised this at #Cardiff Council. Labour did not rule out working with them after the next election. Very disappointing.

Israel is having its election today and every adult citizen - regardless of background or ethnicity - is able to vote. In fact, out of 380 million Arab citizens in two dozen countries in the Middle East, the only ones who really get to choose their government in free and fair elections are the 2.1 million who live in the equal, diverse and multicultural democracy that is Israel. The only Arab citizens who live in a democracy are the Israeli Arab citizens of the free and open country of Israel, the only liberal democracy in the whole of the Middle East.

Tovah Feldshuh, who plays Adam Brody’s mother in NOBODY WANTS THIS, responds to his comments calling for a “Free Palestine” and describing Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide: “To accuse the Jewish people of genocide is wild. It’s right out of Hitler’s playbook. You take the victim and you make the victim the perpetrator. I believe that the perseverance of the existence of the state of Israel is crucial to the well-being of the democratic world and of the free world. Of course, Israel needs the United States, [but] the United States needs Israel, believe you me.”

I have spoken out against anti-Muslim hate in the Michigan Senate race. I will speak out just as loudly when the target is Jewish people. Let me state a little-known fact: ISRAEL GETS LESS THAN 0.1 PERCENT OF THE FEDERAL BUDGET. That’s less than one tenth of a percent! But there is an ad running that tells voters they can’t afford groceries because the United States gives so much money to Israel. In reality, the United States spends money in and on countries all around the world – but this ad singles out the Jewish state. The ad is as dangerous as it is dishonest. You can disagree with how the United States spends money abroad. But telling hungry families that the Jewish state is the reason they are suffering is wrong and shameful. Blaming Jews for people’s problems is an old story. Anybody who has read the last century of history knows where it leads. It is a dark pathway. This ad is anti-Jewish hate and should come down immediately. Abdul El-Sayed should denounce it today.

It’s not antisemetic to hate Israel, Zionism, racism or apartheid.