The Green Party’s deputy leader has been criticised for suggesting that the “Israeli lobby” is successful in exerting influence over British politics because it has lots of money.
In an hour-long YouTube video with the CEO of the National Zakat Foundation, Dr Sohail Hanif, Mothin Ali talked about how he wanted a change to how power is structured in politics.
He criticised what he saw as Thatcherism’s destructive influence over local communities but said that he didn’t want an overtly strong state imposing decisions on communities.
“What I want is more a bottom-up power structure where members of the ordinary public (sic) are able to dictate policy … to influence and change policy.”
Ali continued: “We have these protests and we have these demonstrations and we have … canvassing and people feel like … lobbying from ... the public … doesn't have any effect, but lobbying does have an effect when it's concentrated with power… when it comes with money.”
He went on: “So, that's why the Israeli lobby or the mega corporations, they have such an influence because they back it up with lots of cash. And that's the thing that local communities lack”.
The Green Party deputy leader’s remarks were criticised by the Jewish Leadership Council.
A spokesperson from the group told the JC: "For the Deputy Leader of the Green Party to make conspiratorial claims about the ‘Israeli lobby’ exerting financial influence over British institutions, draws on well-established tropes about Jewish power, which are widely recognised as antisemitic.
"It is no surprise to see someone who previously described Hamas terrorists as ‘indigenous people’ fighting back deploying such rhetoric, as the Green Party's tolerance for antisemitism is on full display once again."
In a now-deleted social media post on October 7, Ali wrote: "White supremacist European settler colonialism must end!"
In videos posted online following the attack, he said Israel would, “use the pretext of the fightback by Hamas fighters or supposedly Hamas fighters this morning” to attack Gaza.
People should “support the right of indigenous people to fight back,” he claimed, before adding: “They are not victims, they are occupiers, they are colonialists, they are European colonialists”.
Ali was also criticised by former Leeds University rabbi, Zecharia Deutsch.
The rabbi and his family were forced into hiding after pro-Palestine activists discovered that Deutsch had returned to Israel for reserve duties with the IDF.
Ali labelled Deutsch a “creep” in a now-deleted video, adding: “that’s the only way I can describe him politely, is someone who went from Leeds to Israel to kill children and women and everyone else over there.”
The rabbi told the Sunday Times that Ali’s actions “personally caused harm and distress” to his family, adding: “His social media posts had a really significant impact on the Leeds community. I’m surprised and concerned that he has been elevated to a senior position in the Green Party.”
The Green Deputy leader, who shouted Allahu Akbar in front of a Palestinian flag as he was victorious in his election to Leeds city council in 2024, previously apologised for the language he used on social media relating to Israel and the conflict in Gaza.
Asked by the Sunday Times about his video about Deutsch he said he was “a plain-speaking Yorkshireman who calls it as it is. I have young children, so I can’t help but be moved when I see other children being massacred daily. Although the wording was clumsy, I will still call out anyone choosing to travel to join the IDF.”
A Green Party spokesperson told the JC: “Mothin Ali makes it clear in the clip you refer to that ‘It's not about race and it's not about religion.’ It is about class.
“As people will see from the context in the full video, Mothin Ali was talking about the need to reinvigorate the public's trust and confidence in politics. Where lobbying is exercised by those with power – foreign powers such as the Israeli government or large corporations, it is often effective. Politicians need to do more to help build public trust and do more to create avenues for their voices to be heard.”
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