From the Charedi streets of Stamford Hill to fashionable Stoke Newington, the London boroughs of Hackney and Haringey are steeped in Jewish culture and history.
Now these London boroughs are set to become two of the most fiercely fought battlegrounds in next month’s local elections – political clashes that may point to the community’s future in Britain.
The two traditionally Labour councils had historically enjoyed the support of Jewish voters, at least until the Jeremy Corbyn era. But latest polling suggests the Greens may be set to make once unthinkable gains on May 7.
The result could put areas with some of the largest Jewish populations in Britain under the control of Zack Polanski’s stridently anti-Zionist party.
The prospect alarms many residents who hoped the antisemitism and hatred of Israel that infected Labour under Corbyn’s leadership had been banished from mainstream politics.
In Hackney, speculation mounts that local resident Polanski may one day even try to claim the parliamentary seat currently held by Diane Abbott.
For now, the borough’s Charedim may have a crucial role. Historically they have tended to vote for Tory councillors from within their community who may become kingmakers if the final tally between Labour and the Greens is close.
Local Labour activists certainly fear they may be about to lose the council. One despondent party member said: “The Charedim will keep their Tory seats but there’s a good chance everywhere else will go Green. There is an alliance between the Independent Socialists and the Greens and they are both campaigning under a Gaza banner.
“It doesn’t help that we have spent so much time fighting each other over the past few years – there is a huge amount of animosity between the parts of Labour that are left.
“The moderates have taken control, but to do that, they have shut things down to keep the far left out. But all that’s happened is people have gone to the Greens.”
The election may see a change of mayor, who chairs the council’s cabinet, directs its strategy and sets the budget. The directly elected incumbent is Caroline Woodley, a former Green activist who joined Labour under Corbyn.
Vying against her is Hackney Green leader and London Assembly member Zoe Garbett. She is under fire for an electoral pact she made with the Hackney Independent Socialist Alliance, whose membership includes Heather Mendick, a Jewish supporter of Corbyn who was expelled from Labour in 2022 and said of October 7: “Our starting point for any discussion of the Hamas attack on 7 October must be understanding it as an act of armed resistance not terrorism.”
Labour said the pact “risks legitimising views that are deeply offensive”. The Greens ruled out ending the pact but said: “The comments do not reflect the Green Party’s position on the horrific attacks of October 7, which we have repeatedly condemned.”
Some Green would-be councillors support the “Zionism is racism” motion proposed for the party conference. One candidate, Laura-Louise Fairley, advocates under the banner “Hackney can vote for Palestine”.
Despite all this, if the six strictly Orthodox Conservative councillors do hold their seats and are asked to join a coalition, it may be the Greens are preferable to Labour – according to a Charedi source who is, unusually, a Labour member.
He said: “The Greens have reached out to the Tories and although I am in Labour I would agree that Hackney Labour was not good to the Charedi Jewish community in any way, shape or form.
“The Greens will be worse but people felt let down with Labour. One example is to do with planning and rules around what is called a ‘type 3 loft’, which can massively increase the size of house. The Charedim have such big families and these are important for people who want to stay in the area.
“Labour seemed to promise one thing and deliver another. I am not surprised people in the Charedi community think that they would rather go with someone else.”
In Haringey, polling suggests Labour dominance may yield to no overall control, with a pivotal role for Greens in alliance with a group of independent socialists.
As in Hackney, Labour was beset with infighting under Corbyn. His loyalists have largely left, some joining the Greens.
Now Labour faces a two-pronged threat. In the west of the borough, Muswell Hill, Crouch End and Highgate may go Liberal Democrat, as they have before.
The Greens, meanwhile, are focusing on areas further east such as Tottenham, where young couples priced out of Hackney are moving in. It is here particularly that the Greens’ pro-Palestine message is most apparent.
One local Labour councillor travelled to the north-west England constituency of Gorton and Denton to help campaign in February’s by-election before the seat was lost to Green candidate Hannah Spencer.
There, in a constituency with a sizeable Muslim population, the councillor recalled: “We might see one or two Palestine flags in a street.
“But in parts of Haringey you might get seven in a road.”
Why does the Middle East loom so large in a local election?
“When I asked one person why they were voting Green they said, ‘Palestine.’ I said, ‘You know these are local elections?’ And she just replied, ‘Yeah but Palestine.’
“There was another guy and when I asked how he was voting he pointed to a Palestine sticker on his door. I said, ‘OK what does that mean?’ He said ‘Green’. When I reminded him these were local elections, he said, ‘I don’t really use local services.’’’
This Labour councillor worries over being forced into a coalition with the Greens, who have no idea of how to run local government. “I still have mild PTSD from our brutal fight with the hard left in our own party. These are the same people.”
The issues were crystallised at a hustings at Muswell Hill Synagogue last week. Green candidate Jo Kuper insisted she would “always call out antisemitism wherever I saw it”, while also stating she believed Israel was an “apartheid state”, saying: “I have every right to have my opinion as a Jew on what is happening in Israel.”
One audience member shouted out: “Shame on you!”, to which Kuper responded: “I also believe it’s antisemitic to chase down people who have different views to you.”
Labour council leader Peray Ahmet, meanwhile, defended her social media posts that have been critical of Israel while still upholding “the Jewish state has the right to exist”. She said: “My views are quite open: I also believe a Palestinian state has a right to exist as well. I believe in a two-state solution.”
There is little doubt that Jewish voters in both areas face some tough choices. Haringey resident and veteran activist against antisemitism Jonathan Glass said he believed Jews needed to recognise the Greens are a bigger threat than Labour, despite the Corbyn legacy.
He said: “During the ghastly period when Haringey Labour was taken over by nasty, antisemitic Corbynistas, the Jewish community rallied around at the local election and we helped the Liberal Democrats to take eight previously held Labour seats, when Labour was expecting a clean sweep.
“We need to step up again to fight the Greens, who are a significant threat to the Jewish community here and around the country.”
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