Gulzabeen Afsar described Miliband as 'Al Yahud'
Gulzabeen Afsar described Miliband as 'Al Yahud'Reuters

A Conservative Party local election candidate has been suspended for an anti-Semitic Facebook post in which she said she would never support "the Jew", referring to Labor leader Ed Miliband.

Gulzabeen Afsar made the comments in an exchange on her social media page, which ended with her stating: "never ever will I drop that low and support the Al Yahud [Arabic for "Jew" - ed.]! Lol"

A spokesman for the Jewish Leadership Council was quick to condemn the comments.

"This is clearly unacceptable and the relevant authorities should investigate this matter swiftly," Jay Stoll told the Jewish News.

Responding to the anti-Semitic slur, a Conservative Party spokesman had acknowledged that "Her comment was offensive and wrong. She has removed it and apologised."

That response was criticized as unsatisfactory, but now the party has suspended Afsar indefinitely - though it has yet to expel her altogether.

The scandal comes less than two weeks ahead of Britain's general elections, scheduled for May 7, and as a recent poll showed UK Jews - concerned over growing anti-Semitism and the aggressive anti-Israel sentiment of the British Left - would be voting overwhelmingly for the center-right Conservatives.

The controversy surrounding Afsar, who was a minor candidate standing for local council elections, is unlikely to change that significantly, but it will raise fears among British Jews of the spread of anti-Semitism, which has often emanated from the UK's sizable Muslim community.