Leeds: Green Party councilor Mothin Ali apologizes for Gaza comments

A Green Party councilor has apologized after being criticized for calling his victory in local elections a “victory for the people of Gaza”.

Mothin Ali, 42, made the comments after being elected for the Gipton and Harehills ward in Leeds on Friday.

His remarks prompted calls from the city’s Jewish community for him to be suspended.

He said he was “sorry for any upset”, while the Green Party said it was investigating his comments.

Mr Ali apologized after a video was shared on his TikTok channel showing him giving a speech while standing in front of a Palestinian flag.

In it he said: “We will not be cut off. We will raise the voice of Gaza. We will raise the voice of Palestine.” He then proceeded to shout “Allahu Akbar” meaning “God is the greatest” in Arabic.

Responding to the video, Simon Myerson KC, chairman of the Leeds Jewish Representative Council, wrote to Green Party co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay calling for Mr Ali to be suspended.

He said: “It’s been 48 hours since he was elected and your silence is now past the time when – I accept – you must have been thinking about how you are dealing with the disastrous effect of the video of his behavior on his count. .”

He went on to say that he believed it was “completely wrong” that the party “should seek to benefit from his views and behaviour”.

He wrote: “It is antithetical to the ethics of which you boast. It is nothing but hypocrisy.”

In a statement released on Monday, Mr Ali said: “I am sorry for any upset my comments on the Gaza conflict have caused.

“That was not my intention. Like many around the world, I have been deeply affected by the horrific conflict currently unfolding in Gaza.

“I don’t support violence on any side: violence leads to more violence and that’s what I tried to convey.”

He said he hoped to work soon with “both Jewish and Muslim Greens to discuss sensitive ways to work on communicating our shared passion to end the conflict.”

He added that it was “not unusual” for Muslims to use the phrase “Allahu Akbar” as an “expression of gratitude and celebration”, adding that any misrepresentation of his comments “suggests Islamophobia to me”.

Mr Ali won Gipton and Harehills by 3,070 votes – 747 more than his Labor rival.

The Green Party said it is fully investigating all the context surrounding this matter and has nothing further to add at this time.