Several of the new MPs elected in Thursday's UK elections have made anti-Israel comments, called for BDS, denied October 7, and have ties to Hamas and other terrorist organizations, various UK media reports have noted over the weekend.
Five pro-Palestinian MPs succeeded in ousting other candidates from their seats, effectively becoming the sixth largest party, the Telegraph said on Saturday.
The Jerusalem Post reported on election day that Shockat Adam, an optometrist by trade and independent Muslim candidate, accepted his Leicester South seat on behalf of the “people of Gaza” while holding a keffiyeh.
However, an exclusive report by Jewish News on Saturday revealed that Adam's brother, Ismail Patel, is the founder of the hardline Islamist group Friends of Al Aqsa and has previously visited Hamas leaders in Gaza.
According to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Ismail Patel, like his brother, a British citizen of Pakistani descent, has called in the past for the demise of the state of Israel, with comments such as, "The Zionist edifice… will soon fall. It’s a matter of time now.”
He has also expressed support for Hamas by stating that it was not a terrorist organization and saluted Hamas for "standing up" to Israel.
Ismail Patel also met with Ismail Haniyeh, according to the Center, and during the second intifada, celebrated that the "Zionist nightmare is at its end."
Terrorist ties
His brother, the new MP of Leicester South, wrote on his website that he condemns “weaponising terms like antisemitism, a heinous prejudice in itself, to smear any objector of the actions of the Israeli military" and that he is in opposition to "Zionist organizations."
In Birmingham, Khalid Mahmood, England’s first Muslim MP, who has held the seat since 2001, lost to the barrister Ayoub Khan, a former Liberal Democrat councilor who left his former party over Gaza.
Shortly after October 7, Khan posted several clips on TikTok questioning Israeli reports of Hamas’s actions, such as the beheading of babies and widespread rapes, saying he had yet to see evidence, the Jewish Chronicle reported.
The liberal democrats investigated Khan, and said he agreed to receive antisemitism training, which Khan himself denied, claiming that there “was no need.”
The situation in Blackburn was similar. Adnan Hussain, on hearing the news of his election as Member of Parliament, said, “We will raise our voice for Gaza! We will continue to fight, until death, inshallah!"
Adnan Hussain from Blackburn has just been elected Member of Parliament "We will raise our voice for Gaza! We will continue to fight, until death, inshallah!" pic.twitter.com/sEBusXT867
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 6, 2024
The independent candidate Iqbal Mohamed in Dewsbury and Batley, whose key focus area was a ceasefire in Gaza, was seen in a rally video last week saying to children that they should boycott Israel.
“Go home, find every brand and every product that has been supporting Israel and Zionism from the beginning of time and throw it away, throw it away,” the Telegraph cited him as saying.
Another candidate said that any British Muslims who supported Labour would feel the “wrath of Allah.”
Divided over stance on Gaza war
Jeremy Corbyn, the former head of the Labour Party, with a notorious history of antisemitism accusations as well as alleged ties to Hamas, won back his seat in Islington North.
"Our message to the government: we are a movement for Palestine, and we are never, ever going away," Corbyn wrote on X.
Our message to the government: we are a movement for Palestine, and we are never, ever going away. pic.twitter.com/1UCNdT8x7w
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) July 6, 2024
Abubakr Nanabawa, coordinator of The Muslim Vote (TMV), an organization that endorses independent candidates and supports certain MP candidates, said that Muslim communities in Britain wanted MPs who "represent their policy positions."
“This goes beyond Gaza,” said Nanabawa, according to the Guardian.
The strapline of TMV is “Peace in Palestine. Equality in the UK. We are uniting as a community.”
In the section of their website titled “Who to vote for”, it states that every candidate in the list is “pro-Palestine”, and it is possible to filter the names based on who did or did not vote for a ceasefire.
The Telegraph revealed previously that The Muslim Vote organization is supported by two groups who are undergoing investigation for extremism, including the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) and Muslim Engagement and Development (Mend).
Michael Gove said in March 2024 in Parliament that MAB was the “British affiliate” of the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the BBC.
Muslims within the Labour party
Newly appointed Labour justice minister Shabana Mahmood also has a record of anti-Israel rhetoric. In March, Mahmood accused Israel of killing innocent civilians.
"I have always supported a diplomatic process to stop the killing of innocent civilians, get humanitarian aid in and get the hostages out," Mahmoud wrote in a letter to constituents. "But it is clear that diplomatic processes have not made sufficient progress. The conduct of this war has been intolerable, with a disproportionate level of attacks on innocent people that has rightly been the deliberations in international courts."
Mahmood has, however, experienced criticism from the Muslim community for choosing to abstain from the November Gaza ceasefire vote and for not resigning from the shadow cabinet due to her party’s support for Israel.
She acknowledged this, and, in February, voted for a ceasefire. Mahmood has previously supported the BDS movement, according to Fox News.