Politics, environment, farming and more in your new free Western Morning News newsletter - direct to your inbox every day Sign up Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Labour's General Election candidate for St Ives has hit back over claims that the band she performs in sings anti-Semitic lyrics.

Alana Bates, of Penzance, insists she is not anti-Semitic after a song by her band The Tribunes came under fire on social media.

Called From the River to the Sea, the song was released on Soundcloud in 2015 but was mentioned yesterday on Twitter by Tim Dwelly, Independent Cornwall Councillor for Penzance and former member of the Labour Party.

Mr Dwelly tweeted: "Labour’s candidate in St Ives Alana Bates wants Israel abolished.

"Her band sings that Palestine should be “one state”. Israel should be “out of the Middle East”, is a “racist state”. Repulsive racism. She should be expelled by Labour immediately."

But Ms Bates, who has been a member of the Labour Party for four years, has vehemently denied the claims.

She said: "Tim Dwelly, a disgruntled former Labour Cornwall councillor, has launched a politically-motivated attack on me. He claims that I am ‘anti-Semitic’ on the basis of a song recorded by The Tribunes, a band that I play the bass in.

"The song, written by lead singer and guitarist Kate Shilson, is called ‘From the River to the Sea’ and talks about the injustice of the plight of the Palestinian people. It is not, as Dwelly describes it, an ‘anti-Semitic anthem’ but a song about justice for the Palestinians and peace in the Middle East.

"Dwelly claims the song calls for Israel to get ‘out of the Middle East’. In fact the lyric ‘troops out of the Middle East’ refers to British and American troops in the region. Dwelly claims I want to destroy Israel. This is not true."

She added: "The song also says ‘occupation is a crime’. Israel has been occupying the West Bank since 1967. It has also turned Gaza into a virtual prison camp. In 2005, I visited the West Bank and observed first-hand the horrors of the occupation.

"Dwelly conflates criticism of Jewish people with criticism of the state of Israel. Many Jews oppose the state of Israel.

"I believe that Palestinians, Christian, Muslim and secular, and Jewish people should live together with equal democratic rights in a state not based on religion or ethnicity.

"From the River to the Sea is a song. It is not a political treatise on the Palestine situation, which requires careful and peaceful negotiation and dialogue of which the ‘one state solution’ is a respectable and well-rehearsed contribution to that dialogue."

Mr Dwelly told Cornwall Live that he was sent a copy of the clip recently.

"I was pretty shocked by this," he said. "It has a pretty sinister message.

"It's just very upsetting. It is anti-Semitic by any definition, including the Labour Party's definition.

"It's very easy to be sympathetic to the Palestinian without calling for Israel to be wiped out.

"I think she should be dropped as a candidate."