Conservative councillor who claimed America, Israel and Saudi Arabia are a “trilogy of Zionists” and that “Zionism is one of the worst afflictions on the world” is permitted to re-join party after suspension
A Conservative councillor who was suspended last year over social media posts has reportedly been permitted to re-join the Party.
A spokesperson for Peterborough Conservatives reportedly confirmed that Ishfaq Hussain, who represents the city’s Dogsthorpe ward, had re-joined following an investigation.
Cllr Hussain had apologised for sharing antisemitic tropes on Facebook. In one Facebook post, he accused the “Saudi regime” of being “long standing puppets of America and Israel,” and went on to label them “a trilogy of zionists.” He then remarked that “Islam doesn’t breed terrorists the zionist trilogy do.” Mr Hussain also shared a video that was captioned: “The Jews in Israel are not true Jews.”
Cllr Hussain had also captioned his profile picture: “This person does not recognise the State of Israel.” He also reportedly claimed that “Zionism is one of the worst afflictions on the world” and made other inflammatory comments about “Zionists”.
In his apology, Mr Hussain said: “I recognise Israel’s right to exist and wholeheartedly support a two-state solution. I deeply regret that my frustration at events in Israel and Palestine led me to suggest otherwise. Some of my previous language was ill-judged and offensive. It also echoed antisemitic tropes in ways I had not fully understood. However strongly we feel, we should never let our emotions get the better of us. By doing so, I allowed myself to become part of the problem. I am truly sorry.”
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “It is right that Cllr Hussain apologised for his inflammatory remarks, but suspensions pending an investigation are not in themselves a sanction. The Party must reveal the results of any investigation and require Cllr Hussain to undertake antisemitism training so that he understands why his comments were so detrimental.”
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.
