CAA writes to Conservative Party over disturbing pattern of incidents in Bury
Campaign Against Antisemitism has this week written to the Conservative Party in relation to a disturbing pattern of incidents in the Bury North and South Conservative Association, which we and others have publicised in recent weeks.
On 17th February, it was reported that a Jewish councillor, Jordan Lewis, was deselected by the local association and was thereby unable to run with the endorsement of the Conservative Party. Ordinarily, in and of itself this would not have been a matter of concern, were it not for the pattern of incidents in the association that was to come. He was replaced by Shahbaz Mahmood Arif in the new Bury West ward, more on whom below.
On 31st March, it was reported that Dr Shadman Zaman, a prospective Conservative candidate in Besses ward, was asked to remove messages sympathetic to Jewish victims of terrorism of Israel. Although the local association claimed that it wanted to keep the election “local” and said in a statement that “Dr Shadman Zaman was not confirmed as a Besses ward candidate because of his failure to comply with instructions regarding electoral law and Party guidance and not because of any of his expressed views,” again, in view of the pattern of incidents, this defence was not entirely as believable to the Jewish community as it might otherwise have been.
On 12th April, it was reported, Sham Raja Akhtar, a Conservative candidate for Sedgley ward, had his endorsement by the Party revoked after numerous historic and inflammatory social media posts were uncovered, including one allegedly comparing Israeli footballers to “assassins”. However, it was claimed that Mr Raja subsequently represented the Conservatives at a hustings as late as 23rd April.
On 13th April, it was reported that Shafqat Mahmood, a Conservative candidate for Redvales ward, also had his endorsement by the Party revoked after historic and inflammatory social media posts were uncovered, including one saying that “Jews r at it again” in reference to a fake news item from a Pakistani propagandist outlet about an Israeli national supposedly being involved with ISIS. The baseless and offensive notion that Jews or the Jewish state created ISIS or direct it is an antisemitic trope that has developed over the past decade. According to a report, Mr Mahmood, who had backed George Galloway’s Workers’ Party in the Batley and Spen by-election last year, had allegedly also shared a social media post which labelled Sir Keir Starmer a “Zionist”. As the Home Affairs Select Committee has made clear, “‘Zionism’ as a concept remains a valid topic for academic and political debate, both within and outside Israel. The word ‘Zionist’ (or worse, ‘Zio’) as a term of abuse, however, has no place in a civilised society. It has been tarnished by its repeated use in antisemitic and aggressive contexts.”
Also on 13th April, it was revealed that Mr Arif, the Conservative candidate for Bury West ward who had replaced Mr Lewis, had allegedly shared an inflammatory article from the controversial far-left website, The Canary, about how Sir Keir Starmer was in receipt of donations from a “pro-Israel lobbyist” and that such “pro-Israel” figures who were backing Sir Keir had been opponents of Jeremy Corbyn. The undercurrent of the claims were – as was by that time common on the far-left – that those who had opposed Mr Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party had done so in service to Israel or in order to silence his opposition to Israel, a type of antisemitic trope known as the ‘Livingstone Formulation’, which was highlighted in the EHRC’s investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party.
At around the same time, concerns were raised about Mazhar Aslam, another Conservative candidate in Sedgley, over his past social media activity. The Party accepted his apology and stood by him.
The foregoing does not represent the first time that the local association has been rocked by allegations of antisemitism. Last year, Cllr Robert (Bob) Caserta was found to have breached the Code of Conduct for Councillors and Other Voting Representatives four times over comments apparently made during an interview to recruit a senior officer at the Council in July 2019. During that interview, Cllr Caserta was alleged to have referred to “grot spots” in Sedgley and said that it would be difficult to communicate with residents “unless you are able to speak Hebrew”. He had the whip removed but was reinstated by the Party. He was not a candidate in Bury in the 2022 local elections.
The recent incidents have raised urgent questions about the local association’s vetting processes, how it handles the revocation of endorsements, and whether the association has tolerated or indulged in prejudice towards Jewish people among its membership or has sought to exploit perceptions of such prejudice in any target electorate.
We have called on the Conservatives to investigate the local association as a matter of urgency.
Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.
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