Antisemitic dual loyalty trope levelled at Gibraltar MP and daughter of former Chief Minister Sir Joshua Hassan

Social media comments described as “racist and antisemitic” have been levelled at the Jewish leader of the Together Gibraltar party.

The Gibraltar Government condemned the abuse levelled at Marlene Hassan Nahon and said that it would refer the matter to the Royal Gibraltar Police.

Ms Hassan Nahon is the daughter of former Chief Minister Sir Joshua Hassan. A historian, journalist and member of the Gibraltar Parliament since 2015, she said that the latest barrage of abuse “was of particular concern” as it contained the “age-old antisemitic trope of dual loyalty.”

This was a “new and dangerous phenomenon in Gibraltar politics,” she said. “I urge the Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition to condemn this discourse immediately.”

Fabian Picardo, the Chief Minister and Leader of the House, would “refer the comments to the Royal Gibraltar Police as aggravated racism,” said a spokesperson. “Untruths” on social media, including a claim that Ms Hassan Nahon held dual nationality with Israel, which she does not, had been designed to fuel suggestions she should “somehow not be trusted,” said the spokesperson.

The Opposition leader also said: “There is no place for racism, discrimination, antisemitism, prejudice or intolerance in Gibraltar.”

Ms Hassan Nahon said that her message and her father’s legacy had been “manipulated to fire up nationalist sentiment.”

Some of those reactions, particularly on social media, had crossed the boundaries of legitimate and lawful political debate, Ms Hassan Nahon said.

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