Councillor Lee Garvey, an independent representative for Pallister and Berwick Hills, United Kingdom, applied to become a member of the Labour Party and was rejected due to concerns about antisemitism after initially being accepted, The Northern Echo reported on Friday.
Garvey appealed the decision to reject his membership.
Garvey's application was rejected because of the party's concerns about Garvey's past social media posts comparing Israel's treatment of Palestinians to the Holocaust and referencing conspiracy theories about the Rothschild family, according to the Echo.
In a Facebook post from 2015, Garvey said "Just saw an interview with snow and CaMORON where he says, we need to stop the Demonisation of Jews ... Lets [sic] look at how I see it...... Israel is doing to the Palestinians what they themselves suffered at the hands of the Nazi's [sic]..."
Garvey also suggested that Jewish characters are overrepresented on television, saying "Watch any US sitcom or show, you will find the vast majority have at least one Jewish character if not a Jewish family. Why is this when they make up JUST 2.2% of the population?? And if like me you fear the TV is just a Propaganda [sic], it certainly makes you think."
Furthermore, replying to a 2015 Facebook post, Garvey alluded to antisemitic conspiracy theories about the Rothschild family:
"... I also take the sleeping enhancer from those drug companies I despise, use money to purchase items given to us by the Rothschild family who I regard as less than poo and I also make most of my living in churches and we all know how I feel about them..."
Garvey denied being an antisemite, however, saying, "I am not racist or antisemitic, in any form. Apart from comments about Palestine and Israel, there is nothing that even suggests that I might be bigoted or racist or anti-anything."
According to the Echo, when asked about his comments regarding the Rothschilds, Garvey said, "So you can’t have a conversation about a family just because they’re Jewish."