The Labour Party has denied that a local councillor who said Jews carried out the 9/11 attacks and created Daesh has had her suspension from the party lifted.
March 23, 2016 10:59
The Labour Party has denied that a local councillor who said Jews carried out the 9/11 attacks and created Daesh has had her suspension from the party lifted.
Beinazir Lasharie was suspended from her position as a councillor in west London in October after posting a video on Facebook called “ISIS: Israeli Secret Intelligence Service.”
On the post, she wrote: “Many people know about who was behind 9/11 and also who is behind ISIS. I’ve nothing against Jews . . . just sharing it!” Later, she added: “I’ve heard some compelling evidence about ISIS being originated from Zionists!”
This morning, Ms Lasharie, a former contestant on the TV reality show Big Brother, wrote on Facebook that “the haters discovered that I'm still a Labour Party Councillor and are upset that they're [sic] smear campaign against me didn't work.”
In response to the news - originally revealed by the Guido Fawkes blog - Paddy Hennessy, Labour’s deputy director of communications, said: “She was suspended while investigations took place into her case and those investigations are still ongoing.
“She is definitely still suspended.”
According to the party's general secretary, Iain McNicol, this confusion can be explained by the fact that Labour rules "require that whilst a Labour Councillor is suspended they remain registered as a Labour Councillor under the Local Government Act."
However, in the message to prominent Jewish Labour supporter Andrew Gilbert and Jewish Labour Movement chair Jeremy Newmark, he added that "any suspended Labour Councillor may not represent the Labour Party as a Labour Councillor, attend Labour Group meetings, or seek re-selection as a Labour Councillor. This is the position for any Labour Councillor, whatever the reason for their suspension."
The news follows the suspension last week of Labour member Vicky Kirby, who was allowed back into the party following her suspension over comments on Twitter.
Labour activist Gerry Downing, who posted a tweet in 2014 referring to what he called “Hamas heroism” and who appeared to have questioned aspects of the Holocaust, was also suspended earlier this month after being readmitted to the party following a previous suspension.
This week, Jewish anti-Zionist activist Tony Greenstein said he had been suspended by Labour pending an investigation. Mr Greenstein said he had rejoined the party after 23 years because Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader.
Two senior members of the Oxford University Labour Club have also resigned over the last two months, both citing internal discrimination as their main reason.
Former Bradford Lord Mayor Khadim Hussain has been accused of making a series of offensive comments on social media – including a suggestion that Israel was secretly arming terrorist-group Daesh.
Mr Hussain, the Labour district councillor for Keighley Central in Bradford, has also been accused of promoting a Facebook message that said Hitler killed “six million Zionists”.
The Facebook post, which was reportedly shared by Mr Hussain, attacked Holocaust education in schools. It read: “Your school education system only tells you about Anne Frank and the six million Zionists that were killed by Hitler.”
In another post, he implied that is was Israel “who created the so-called ISIS and who is arming those vile terrorists”.
Both posts appeared on his Facebook page last month.
In response a Labour party spokeswoman confirmed that Mr Hussain, who served as Lord Mayor from 2013-2014, had already been suspended from the party prior to the accusations.
She said: “Mr Hussain is suspended from the Labour party pending an investigation.”
She would not disclose when the investigation was launched – or over what.
Mr Newmark confirmed that there had been complaints from members as a result of the allegations. He said Mr Hussain was suspended and deselected by Labour yesterday.
He added: “They are limited in what they can say whilst an investigation is in progress.”
