Phil Twyford says he didn't know about the donor's public anti-Semitic rhetoric about the March 15 attacks, despite having a long-standing relationship with him
Labour MP Phil Twyford has returned a $2,000 donation after Newsroom found that it came from a man who claimed the Christchurch terror attacks were part of a Jewish conspiracy.
Twelve days before voting closed in the 2020 election, the Te Atatū MP and new disarmament minister accepted the donation from Ahmed Bhamji, who in 2019 baselessly alleged that the gunman behind the Christchurch massacre was funded by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and “Zionist business”.
A spokeswoman for the New Zealand Jewish Council, Juliet Moses, said Bhamji’s “anti-Semitic conspiracist comments” came while “just up the road, at the largest Jewish community centre in New Zealand and the only Jewish school, there were armed police standing outside”. She said his comments were “extremely distressing for the community” at the time.
She also noted: “As for the donations, it is up to each politician to decide what that politician’s values are and what their criteria are when they take donations from an individual.”
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When approached by Newsroom, Twyford said he was unaware of Bhamji’s previous rhetoric and stressed that “receiving a donation from an individual does not mean I endorse all their views”.
“Nonetheless, I have decided to return the donation he made to my electorate campaign last year, in order to avoid any confusion about my position.”
News reports of Bhamji’s comments are among the top results when ‘Ahmed Bhamji’ is searched in Google; it took Newsroom less than 10 minutes to discover Bhamji’s background and past rhetoric after first identifying him as a donor to Twyford.
In 2019, Bhamji spoke at an anti-racism rally in Auckland’s Aotea Square which was organised by the group Love Aotearoa Hate Racism following the March 15 attack. In a video of his speech, he can be heard saying “I have a very, very strong suspicion that there is some group behind [the Christchurch gunman] and I am not afraid to say I feel Mossad behind this.” In the video, another attendee at the rally can be heard shouting “It’s the truth, Israel is behind it.”
Speaking to Newsroom, Bhamji confirmed he had made the donation and said he had become friends with Twyford in the late 1980s, when the politician (a journalist at the time) covered protests Bhamji helped organise against the 1987 Fijian coup. When asked whether he stood by his statements at the 2019 rally, Bhamji refused to comment further.
In response to questions from Newsroom, Twyford said he had “known Ahmed for many years. I wasn’t aware of the comments he made, which I completely disagree with”.
When told of Bhamji and Twyford’s long-standing relationship, and Twyford’s statement that he wasn’t aware of Bhamji’s 2019 comments, Moses said, “That concerns me. That leads me to wonder whether Mr Twyford, if he does have a long-standing friendship with Mr Bhamji, did know of his attitudes. I doubt this statement came completely out of the blue.”
A spokesperson for the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand said Bhamji “has no involvement with FIANZ in any capacity”. At the time of Bhamji’s comments, Mustafa Farouk – then the president of FIANZ – emphasised that “recent comments by an individual do not represent the views of the Muslims of New Zealand”. Umar Abdul Kuddus, a prominent immigration lawyer and White Ribbon ambassador, described Bhamji’s statements as “absolutely absurd and unacceptable”.
The Human Rights Commission also condemned Bhamji’s statements at the time, stating in a tweet linking to a story about his comments: “Prejudice against Jewish people has no place in New Zealand. We must condemn racism, hate and anti-Semitism wherever we see it.”
Despite a turbulent three years in Parliament (poor ministerial performance led to him being demoted out of Cabinet in Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s post-election reshuffle), Twyford was one of Parliament’s highest-performing fundraisers in 2020. He collected $51,999 in large donations disclosed to the Electoral Commissions, and almost certainly more in donations under the $1500 disclosure threshold.
In the days following Bhamji’s comments in 2019, Moses said, “These conspiracy theories are dangerous lies. They put the Jewish community at risk … Conspiracy theories – particularly the idea that Jews (whether through the Jewish state or otherwise) are a malevolent controlling force in the world – are at the very core of anti-Semitism.”
