Labour-supporting banner showing Theresa May wearing Star of David earrings removed after complaints of anti-Semitism
The posters - unveiled in Bristol yesterday - have already had to be taken down
LABOUR supporters have been forced to take down a giant banner showing Theresa May wearing Star of David earrings - after it was slammed as being anti-Semitic.
The posters - unveiled in Bristol yesterday - have already had to be removed by activists following a series of complaints.
They show Mrs May and Jeremy Corbyn and comments on their policies, and was hung on the railings of the Bear Pit facing Stokes Croft on Tuesday morning.
And Mrs May stands out for wearing bright blue earrings - in the style of the Star of David.
It shows criticisms of her too - saying she was behind 'NHS cuts', 'arming despots' and 'causing Isis'. It urged Brits to vote Corbyn tomorrow.
One Jewish woman told “I know it’s a political banner, and I know it’s anti-, but why include the Star of David?
“I think it’s anti-Semitic. I’m stunned that we, as a society, have gone back to this."
MOST READ IN POLITICS
She went on: "I can’t believe stuff I haven’t heard of, or seen since I was a child is now happening again.
“It makes me sick.”
And local Labour candidate Thangham Debbonaire, who is seeking re-election in Bristol West, denounced the banner and said anti-Semitism had no place in the party.
She said in a statement on Facebook: "There is no excuse for this. It is anti-Semitic.
"Anti-Semitism has absolutely no place in our party and I will not tolerate it.
"I'm relieved that the banner has been removed but am saddened that anyone in Bristol could decide that this was an acceptable way of making a point about their opposition to the current government. This is not the Bristol so many of us are proud to be part of."
She also said those involved say they were not members of the local party.
One of the organisers who put up the banner said it was unintentional.
“It’s not meant to be that at all. It’s a tiny element of the whole banner," said Nima Masterson.
“What we are doing with that symbol – it’s an earring – is a reference to Theresa May’s Government’s relationship with Israel.
“I’m definitely not an anti-Semite. I have Jewish friends, and my half brother and sister are Jewish.
“This is about foreign policy.”
On Facebook he was slammed for asking people to say the banner was not anti-Seimitic.
But others wrote: "It is. And I'm telling you this as a Jewish Labour Party member. I'm horrified."
Another said: "Of course it is. You are a racist... who is costing Labour votes."
Mr Corbyn's Labour party has been plagued by claims of anti-Semitism for months.
A review he did into abuse in the party was widely claimed to be a white-wash, and he gave the author a peerage just a short while later.
And just last week Mr Corbyn's supporters hounded a BBC presenter with abuse after she humiliated the Labour leader over childcare costs.