The Green Party has suspended a London council candidate who shared social media posts blaming Israel for the arson attacks on Jewish volunteer ambulances in March.
A repost on the social media profile of Aziz Rahman Hakimi, one of the Greens’ election candidates for Haverstock ward in Camden, provoked outrage in April as it suggested that the fiery destruction of Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green was in fact a “false flag” operation carried out by Israel.
A dossier of election candidates’ social media activity shared with the press revealed that Mr Hakimi’s account also reposted allegations that “Zionists” were responsible for 9/11. Labour and the Liberal Democrats at the time urged the Greens to drop him as a candidate for allegedly peddling “abhorrent and anti-Semitic” conspiracy theories.
The Green Party at the time told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) the comments “did not reflect the party’s views or values” and subsequently placed him under investigation. Now, the LDRS can confirm Mr Hakimi has been suspended by the party as a result of the probe triggered over two weeks ago, while the issue is investigated.
A civil engineer and local business owner, Mr Hakimi’s account posted directly in 2021 that Sir Keir Starmer was an “Israeli poppet” [sic]. His account also shared a post urging Muslims not to smoke because it helped the tobacco industry to “fund the Jews to kill our brothers”.
The candidate did not respond to a request for comment. Labour sources have claimed Green Party election posters have since been removed from his shop window.
When the social media posts first emerged, Leader of Camden Greens, Lorna Jane Russell said the local party “unequivocally rejects anti-Semitism and all forms of racism”. The LDRS approached Camden Greens to ask if they would still be endorsing Mr Hakimi’s candidacy following his suspension, but the party did not respond in time for publication.
However, even if the party withdraws support for its candidate, there is now no legal way for his name to be removed from the ballot paper.
If a party nominates someone as their official candidate with a political party description and a logo, once the nomination deadline has passed, the ballot paper cannot be amended even if that candidate is suspended or expelled. If they are then elected, the result would stand and they would sit as an independent, in the event they are stripped of their party membership, though there has been no finding of fact by the Green Party against Mr Hakimi.
The Metropolitan Police is treating the Hatzola arson attacks as an anti-Semitic hate crime and has arrested four people in connection with the incident. They have all since been charged.
Mr Hakimi’s suspension comes as other Green Party election candidates have been involved in controversy surrounding social media posts, including two in Lambeth and one in Croydon who has also been suspended.
Golders Green became the site of another attack on Wednesday, April 29 in a double stabbing of two Jewish men aged 34 and 76. Both individuals remain in a stable condition and the alleged perpetrator has since been charged with attempted murder.
The incident, which is being treated as a terror attack, has led to Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis claiming that anti-Semitism is being “normalised” in the UK.
On Friday, Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley urged the government to fund putting 300 more officers on the streets to combat an “epidemic of anti-Semitism”.
