When questioned by openDemocracy, Morris refused to comment on whether the latest advert could reignite the situation. He also said the newspaper wasn’t fictitious because he owns a registered company of the same name – although official records suggest it is a dormant real estate company with just £1 in the bank.
“The fact they haven’t punished them appropriately is worrying, because people are still doing it,” Ozarow said.
He said the new billboard advert was done out of “sheer spite”, adding: “I had to drive past it with my son in the car this morning praying to God that he didn’t see it.”
The “hate” campaign against Ozarow started while his wife was heavily pregnant, and he received threatening messages about the unborn baby.
“It was a terrifying time,” he said. “I wasn’t equipped to deal with it – I had to have counselling afterwards.”
The episode caused his wife so much stress that Ozarow says they were worried they would lose the baby. “It was just earth-shattering at the time,” he told openDemocracy. “And even before they put the billboard back, I still get trauma every time I go through my own town centre.
A petition calling for Dowden, the local Tory MP, to speak out about the case, has now been shared by prominent figures including the Labour MP Clive Lewis, who criticised the “light” punishments handed out.
Ozarow said: “When MPs get harassed or abused, they’ve got armies of people to help them deal with it. But when it happens to a local councillor, there simply aren’t the support networks in place. I had to deal with an incredible amount of it just with my family and on my own – and a few people in the party I happened to be friends with.”
Despite ruling against the councillors, the inquiry appeared to downplay the allegations made by Ozarow, saying that they “may well have been exaggerated”. Asked by openDemocracy, the Conservative Party did not comment on whether it endorsed this claim.
The Hertsmere Conservative Association said it was “deeply concerned” that Labour had released the investigation’s findings before an appeals process had been completed, adding that allegations of negative campaigning were disputed by all the councillors.
“The named individuals, four out of five of whom are proud members of the Jewish Community, are hurt and dismayed over what are clearly politically motivated claims of antisemitism from Labour.”
Paul Morris refused to comment on the “ongoing” investigation, but said the campaign against Ozarow “at the time was factual”.
A spokesperson for Hertsmere Council said it had not been party to the investigation and hadn’t been approached or formally notified about it.
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