And yesterday, following London-based firm Riverway Law’s revelation that they were representing Hamas in its attempt to remove its designation as a terrorist organisation in the UK, Tam heaped praise on one of the barristers involved.
“Extremely proud of my brilliant comrade and lawyer Franck Magennis for being among those blazing the way on this intervention”, she said in a social media post.
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Magennis previously used a photo of Hamas gunmen storming into southern Israel on October 7 as his X banner and on the day of the atrocities called for “Victory to the intifada”.
Tam’s social media feed is full of posts in support for the Palestinians. In her X profile, her name features alongside emojis of the Palestinian, Sudanese and transgender rights flags.
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Her profile’s banner image is a picture of an anti-Israel demonstration in Lewisham, with protesters holding up placards calling for divestment from Israel and demanding the government “stop arming Israel”.
As part of her online advocacy of the Palestinian cause, Tam expressed support for Francesca Albanese, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, who has previously been accused of making antisemitic comments.
In November last year, she said her X account had become a “stan account” – an online term meaning enthusiastic fan – dedicated to the UN official. She would later share an image posted by Albanese suggesting parallels between the process that led to the Holocaust and the current conflict between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.
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In other posts, the left-wing councillor, who is also a school governor and a member of Lewisham council’s Safer Stronger Communities Select Committee, called David Lammy and shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel “coconuts”.
The term is considered by many to be racially offensive as, according to The Guardian’s Ella McLeod, it refers to “a person who is ‘black on the outside and white on the inside’” and carries implications of being a “race traitor”.
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Although she was elected as a Labour councillor in 2022, Tam was suspended after she was accused of helping organise a pro-Palestine protest at Lewisham council, which she denied.
In a statement in July last year, she said she decided to leave Labour and serve as an independent.
In her resignation, she alleged that “several Lewisham Labour colleagues organised with Labour London Region to expel me, by falsely alleging I had ‘organised a pro-Palestine protest’ - absurdly arguing I posed a security threat and thus dented the Council's limited financial resources”.
On November 22, 2023, demonstrators disrupted a council meeting, which had to be resumed later in a more secure location.
“They [Labour] claimed (hypocritically) that I acted out of retaliation, given that the Israel-Gaza ceasefire motion I proposed had been denied a debate by colleagues at Labour Group. They did not succeed. I was reinstated in February 2024 after a thorough Party investigation”, Tam’s statement added.
However, a letter from the Labour Party seen by the JC claimed that, while Tam was reinstated, she had received a formal warning from the party.
In March this year, she joined the Green Party and is pictured prominently on the local party website alongside Deputy leader Zack Polanski and other activists.
A Green Party spokesperson told the JC that they had "never condoned Hamas and has always condemned the brutal terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023. We are also clear that the Israeli government is guilty of war crimes and genocide in its extreme and disproportionate actions in Gaza."
They did not answer questions on whether the party endorsed Tam’s comments on Zionism, whether they were aware of her being reprimanded by Labour or whether she would face any sanctions for her comments.
Councillor Hau-Yu Tam has been contacted for comment.
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