Plaid Cymru’s call to boycott Israel at its party conference has been criticized by a Welsh Jewish group.
The Jewish Representative Council of South Wales (SWJRC) said it was “deeply disappointed” by the decision, pointing out that the date coincided with Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
Laurence Kahn, chairman of the SWJRC, accused Plaid Cymru of providing justification for the October 7 attacks carried out by Hamas, the armed Palestinian group in Gaza.
Plaid Cymru said it had been “firm and unequivocal in condemning Hamas’ horrific attacks on October 7”.
A motion supported by the party’s four MPs and passed by party members at the Plaid conference described Israel as an “apartheid state” and accused the country of “ethnic cleansing and war crimes.”
The conference heard the top Palestinian envoy in Britain, Husam Zomlot, call on Wales to put pressure on the British government over Gaza.
About 1,200 people – mostly Israeli civilians – were killed in the October 7 Hamas attacks just over a year ago.
Hamas, which is labeled a terrorist organization by many Western governments including Britain, also took 251 hostages, 97 of whom remain missing.
About 42,000 people have been killed as part of Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry.
Yom Kippur took place from Friday evening, October 11, through Saturday. The vote on the motion took place on Saturday, the second day of the conference.
The SWJRC said in a statement: “We are deeply disturbed by Plaid Cymru’s decision to call for a boycott of Israel. Yom Kippurthe holiest day on the Jewish calendar”.
The Council described the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7 as the “worst atrocities committed against Jews since the Holocaust” and accused Plaid of “justifying these heinous acts of terror.”
“Despite Plaid Cymru’s accusations of genocide, it was Hamas – not Israel – that deliberately targeted civilians on and after October 7. This false equivalence is not only unjust, but also dangerously misleading.”
The council accused Plaid of “giving in to extreme positions that not only alienate the Jewish community but also undermine the pursuit of real peace.”
A spokesperson for Plaid Cymru said in response: “Plaid Cymru has firmly and unequivocally condemned the horrific attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7.
“We have also made it clear that the Israeli state’s response has been disproportionate and unjustified, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent civilians in Gaza. We have consistently argued that international law must be enforced without fear or favour.”
The spokesperson added: “Plaid Cymru will continue, as it has always done, to call for an immediate ceasefire, an immediate release of all hostages, a halt to arms sales, an end to hostilities by all parties , and for the intensification of the war. of diplomatic efforts to achieve a stable and lasting peace for the entire people of Israel and Palestine and the wider region,” the spokesperson added.
