London (EJP)---The extreme-right British National party (BNP) is trying to shed its anti-Semitic past as part of a drive to pick up votes for the local elections among London's Jewish community, The Guardian reported.
On May 1, local elections will be held throughout the UK for both the London Mayor and the Greater London Assembly.
The BNP, which could get its first seat on the London assembly if voter turnout is low next month, is campaigning in Jewish areas across the capital and attempting to play on what it sees as historical enmity between the Jewish and Muslim communities.
In one leaflet, handed out in north London last weekend, the BNP’s only Jewish councilor, Pat Richardson, is quoted along with a picture of young Muslims holding a placard reading: "Butcher those who mock Islam."
"I'm in the BNP because no one else speaks out against the Islamification of our country," said Richardson. "Being Jewish only adds to my concern about this aggressive creed that also threatens our secular values and Christian tradition."
The move has sparked a furious reaction among Jewish groups who say the BNP is still anti-Semitic and racist.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews (BOD), the London Jewish Forum and the Community Security Trust (CST) have launched a campaign with other ethnic minority and cultural groups and the Hope Not Hate campaign to combat the BNP threat.
The President of the BOD, Henry Grunwald, urged "to halt the tide of extremist politics in the UK."
"Any vote for a mainstream political party makes it harder for the BNP to succeed and is a vote against racism," he said.
Poisonous campaign
Ruth Smeeth, of the Community Security Trust, said: "The BNP website is now one of the most Zionist on the web and it goes further than any of the mainstream parties in its support of Israel and at the same time demonizes Islam and the Muslim world. It is a poisonous campaign but it shows a growing electoral sophistication."
"Despite all its attempts to portray itself differently we know it is still the same anti-Semitic, racist party it always was,”Grunwald said.
He added: "We, in the Jewish community, will not tolerate any form of racism or prejudice. I would be thoroughly ashamed if any member of the Jewish community voted for them."
The editor of BNP newspaper Freedom, Martin Wingfield, wrote on his blog recently: "There has been a growing dialogue between senior members of the Jewish community and the BNP and today there are an increasing number of Jews campaigning for the BNP and feeling very comfortable with their political choice."
Political analysts say the BNP could make a breakthrough in the May election unless there is a big turnout. Last time London went to the polls the far-right party got 4.7% - a few thousand votes short of the 5% needed to get a member on the London assembly.
The three main candidates in the race to be mayor of London are Ken Livingstone of the Labour Party, who is seeking an unprecedented third term, Tory Boris Johnson for the Conservatives and Liberal Democrat Brian Paddick.
