According to Sky News, councillor Munsif Dad of Hyndburn was present at the activists’ meeting where it was claimed that Azhar Ali and Graham Jones made antisemitic slurs.
The head of the Labour group in the local authority, Munsif Dad, a councillor from Hyndburn, is said to have attended the event where two parliamentary candidates are accused of making antisemitic statements.
Azhar Ali, who is running under the Labour banner in the upcoming Rochdale by-election, was suspended and Labour withdrew support from him on Monday. During the meeting, he allegedly said that “people in the media from certain Jewish quarters” were to blame for the criticism of a Labour MP who supports Palestine, and he also claimed that Israel intended to “get rid of [Palestinians] from Gaza” and “grab” some land.
Subsequently, on Tuesday, Graham Jones, a former Labour MP for Hyndburn who is running for the seat again in the upcoming election, was suspended for allegedly calling the Israeli Defense Forces “f***ing Israel” and saying that British nationals who volunteer to serve in the force “should be locked up” at the same event.
Sky News has learned that Mr. Dad was “spoken to” by Labour authorities; however, no further action has been taken, and it is unclear if he contributed anything to the discussion.
We have reached out to Mr. Dad and the Labour Party for comments.
