Illustrative. Photo: Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa.

A renters’ union in the United Kingdom has apologized after it rejected a Jewish man’s membership query through its Instagram account with a message saying, “No time for Zionists sorry,” the Jewish News reported on Tuesday.

The ACORN Union said it was conducting an internal investigation into messages that were sent to the applicant who was trying to join its Manchester branch. He was also told, “We are a pro Palestine organisation.”

The union apologized for the “upset and offense” it caused its Jewish members and the Jewish community, adding about the messages: “In no way do they represent the views of our organization.”

ACORN said it would review its social media operation and all ACORN UK members who had access to the Instagram account had been suspended while the probe was underway.

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“It is clear that there has been a lapse in our social media access practices,” The Jewish Chronicle quoted the union as saying.

ACORN is a “community-based union of working-class people” that is “supporting and empowering low-income communities across the country to fight for a better life.” It is supported by the Jewish Volunteering Network.

Stephane Savary, a national vice chair of the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM), drew attention to ACORN’s messages to the Jewish applicant and also noted that the union blocked the man on Instagram. JLM called for an immediate firing of the person responsible for the Instagram messages.

The Jewish applicant, whose name has not been revealed, uses his Hebrew name on Instagram and has a profile picture that features a Star of David and the hashtag NoSafeSpaceForJewHate, which was used to show solidarity with a boycott of Twitter and Instagram last month in response to antisemitism on the social media platforms.

A staff member at ACORN’s Manchester branch at first blamed the messages on “a security breach.” Acorn UK later said the matter had been “escalated to the highest level.”