The Green Party faced accusations on Sunday of selecting local election candidates who openly promote 'abhorrent' anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, despite boasting of 'compassion' in their campaign materials.
Candidate Controversies
Prospective councillors chosen for next month's polls include individuals who have claimed that Jews and Zionists were behind the 9/11 terror attacks, that they 'love genocide', and have referred to them as 'cockroaches'. Some of these candidates also highlight 'compassion in action' and 'safe and inclusive communities' in their campaign leaflets.
Aziz Hakimi, a civil engineer and local businessman, was selected to stand for the Greens in Camden, north London, despite reposting content that blames 'Zionists' for the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre and expressing support for Hamas in 2018. He also shared a post suggesting that arson attacks on four Jewish charity ambulances last month were a 'false flag'. Richard Olszewski, Labour leader of Camden council, described Mr Hakimi's posts as 'abhorrent' and expressed dismay that the Greens had selected him.
Raja Ateeq, standing in Walsall, speaks of 'compassion' in his election flyer. However, after the October 7 attacks, the travel company salesman posted messages stating 'Finally Muslim countries are being united' and referred to 'Jewish cockroaches'.
Further Examples
Feda Shahin, a candidate in Bournemouth, falsely claimed that in the Soviet Union 'the Zionists killed 20 million Christians' and that they 'love genocide'. Green Party literature describes her as someone who 'cares deeply about social fairness' and advocates for 'a safe, inclusive community'.
In Lambeth, south London, charity boss Saiqa Ali was selected but later resigned after it emerged she had posted 'England has a government overrepresented with Zionists' and shared an image of a snake with the Israeli flag wrapped around the globe, captioned 'It's time to cut the head of this snake. #FreePalestine.'
Reactions and Responses
A spokesman for the Campaign Against Antisemitism urged the Greens to 'expel those peddling dangerous conspiracies'. Ms Ali stated: 'I unequivocally reject anti-Semitism in all its forms.' A Green Party spokesman confirmed they were 'investigating' the comments, noting that in Mr Hakimi's case, the posts were discovered after candidate nominations had closed, and that both his and Mr Ateeq's posts were being removed. The spokesman added: 'These examples don't represent the views of the Green Party.'
