"Absolutely unacceptable" SP kicks out city parliamentarian for anti-Semitic comments
City parliamentarian Regula Hess from Illnau-Effretikon repeatedly shared anti-Semitic posts on social media. The SP is shocked - and kicks her out of the party.
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- The SP has initiated expulsion proceedings against a city parliamentarian from Illnau-Effretikon.
- The politician regularly shared anti-Semitic posts on social media.
- The SP says it was unaware of the posts and was shocked.
The SP has initiated expulsion proceedings against politician Regula Hess following anti-Semitic posts on social media. "We are shocked by the posts that came to our attention on Monday," party president Maxim Morskoi told the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper. "Such positions in no way reflect the values of our party."
Hess has been a member of the Illnau-Effretikon municipal parliament for the SP for eight years now and actually deals with typical local issues. Online, on the other hand, she tends to speak out internationally, specifically on the war in the Gaza Strip.
However, she crossed boundaries several times. According to the report, she regularly shared posts on Middle East issues from two accounts on Platform X - and made no secret of which side she was on. The Christian-conservative party EDU of the canton of Zurich first drew attention to the posts in a press release.
"Every single war is because of the Jews"
Among other things, the 50-year-old politician shared a music video with the following lyrics: "Every single war is because of the Jews. They own all the banks, control the media. Gay porn is because of the Jews. That's why I hate the Jews." Dancing orthodox Jews can be seen in the background.
According to the report, other comments also bristled with extreme anti-Semitism. These included posts that could also be criminally relevant. For example, as recently as February, it reposted a post claiming that Adolf Hitler never ordered the Holocaust. Rather, the Nazis had tried to keep the interned Jews alive.
When confronted with the accusations, Hess distanced herself from anti-Semitic content. She was only concerned with criticizing Israel's government. However, her assurances did not help her, and the expulsion proceedings have already been initiated.
"The posts are absolutely unacceptable to us and unambiguously cross the line of what has a place in the party and is acceptable as a personal expression of opinion," said an SP spokesperson.