Jewish UKIP member says party not anti-Semitic

By Lloyd Levy

LONDON–The “Peoples’Army” is the name given to the supporters of UKIP , a comparatively new right of centre political party that is gaining ground at a remarkable rate in the UK. There is a General Election here in May 2015, and UKIP is likely to get a great number of seats.

Readers in USA will need a short background briefing. UKIP is shorthand for “United Kingdom Independence Party”., and its primary aim is to put clear blue water (ie the English Channel!) between us and the European Union..

It is a very British party, whose members make up a cross section of society.  However it is perceived as a mortal threat by the two main political parties, namely Conservatives and Labour. It is very much akin to the situation in USA, where the Republicans and Democrats completely dominate the political life of the country.  Here, the two existing parties, have been in existence so long that they feel they have a divine right to rule. They are a “closed shop,” drawn from a clique of people who are in truth interchangeable.

For example, our “conservative” Prime Minister David Cameron, is in the forefront of pushing environmental and non-conventional concepts of marriage etc, ideas that would fit well in any left political party nowadays.  The mainstream media are closely linked with these elites, and no longer seem to give objective news.
These elites see a major threat to their power from new parties, and  will expend enormous energy in destroying newcomers.  As a result, we have seen a huge effort by the mass media and the “powers that be” to discredit UKIP with all kinds of adverse propaganda and dirty tricks, especially the accusation of ”racism,” or in the case of the Jewish establishment that of anti-Semitism.

Thus the question to be answered is – is the UKIP racist, or indeed anti-semitic ? The answer to my definite knowledge is a firm “not guilty“.  I have to declare some interest in this topic, as I have been a UKIP member since its earliest days, and do have some knowledge of the subject.

UKIP has partly evolved from the now defunct  “Referendum Party” established some years go by James Goldsmith, and a few of the main UKIP people were associated with that party, and are clearly not anti semitic . Several of the leaders of UKIP are Jewish to various degrees,  and would certainly be classified as Jews in the Nazi definition of a Jew. There is an Asian UKIP member of the European Parliament (MEP), and a gay UKIP MEP. A very large number of the leading members are women. The party accepts anyone of ability for senior positions, regardless of their race, colour or gender.

Nigel Farage the UKIP leader, made the specific point of holding a large public meeting for the Jewish community in North London a year or so ago, and made it clear that he admired the Jews, and supported Israel’s right to security. Compare this to some of the anti Israel attitudes in much of the Labour and Liberal parties (but not the ruling Conservative Party which is generally quite supportive of Israel.)

To summarize, ignore what you read or see in the mainstream media. UKIP as a Party is certainly not anti-semitic, nor racist, nor homophobic, nor misogynist. They are perhaps eccentric, and individualists, but that is the British way, and why they are so popular.
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Levy is a freelance writer who divides his time between London, England, and Eilat, Israel.  He may be contacted via lloyd.levy@sdjewishworld.com