An asylum seeker in the UK who calls Zionists a “virus” is behind a petition with seven million signatures opposing the normalisation of relations with Arab states, the JC can reveal.

Ahmad Al Shaiba has claimed political asylum over fears of being tortured. He was charged in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in absentia in 2013 for plotting to overthrow the government and sentenced to 15 years in jail.

His campaign UAE4Palestine opposes the normalisation deal with Israel that was announced last year. The UAE was the first Arab state to sign up to the Abraham Accords, followed by Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

The petition website describes itself as “the public campaign to support the Palestinian cause and reject normalisation.” It claims that the “number of participants” who have signed stands at more than 7.5million worldwide.

After the UAE government last month invited Israel’s prime minister to visit, he condemned “this humiliating rush to bring the Zionists in”, adding in a tweet: “It is our duty all of us to strengthen the immune wall to protect the nation from this virus.”

Speaking to the JC, Al Shaiba denied that his campaign fuelled the rhetoric of groups such as Hamas. “If you say something peacefully and someone takes it and commits violence, you think it’s my responsibility?” he asked. Calling Israel “the occupier who kills children”, he added: “Hamas and these other groups didn’t come from nowhere. There is an occupation there which caused the violence on this land. I am against killing innocent people and if the UAE want to stand against Hamas or any other groups, they don’t need to stand with the other killers [Israel].”

Justifying his opposition to normalisation, he said the people of the UAE were not consulted. He said: “It’s corruption, politically and financially.”

The UAE is vocal about its commitment to the accords after decades of backdoor diplomacy. Al Shaiba said he has no issue with Jews, only the “Zionist occupation”.