The Rochdale by-election should be seen as a "referendum on Gaza", the head of a Muslim youth organisation has said.
This comes just days after the Labour Party was forced to withdraw support for its candidate, Azhar Ali, after he was accused of antisemitism.
But Mohammed Shafiq, the chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, dismissed the suggestion that next week's by-election is a referendum on antisemitism, describing such an assertion as "deeply offensive".
The head of the anti-extremism charity instead suggested it should be a referendum on Gaza.
The Rochdale by-election should be seen as a "referendum on Gaza", the head of a Muslim youth organisation has said
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Shafiq said: "I think that’s deeply offensive to suggest that an election campaign should be fought just on anti-Semitism. What about Islamophobia? What about anti-black racism?
"I think this is a referendum on Gaza. I think this is a referendum on our political establishment and an opportunity for people to participate in a peaceful democratic process.
“I think that’s the key issue that faces voters in my hometown of Rochdale."
He also said that a candidate "galvanising the Muslim vote on the single issue of Palestine" would be "really powerful" in the by-election.
Rochdale candidate George Galloway, an ex-Labour MP standing for the Workers Party, has campaigned outside a mosque in Rochdale as part of his campaign.
Speaking about the decision to campaign outside the mosque, the vocal pro-Palestine campaigner said: "I will speak on Gaza first, then Rochdale."
Asked about the risk of mosques becoming politicised as a result of election campaigning, Shafiq told the BBC: "I think the mosque in Rochdale made a very clear statement that they are not participating in endorsing any particular candidate and that’s absolutely right, because there are community hubs and places of worship.
"But outside the mosque, yeah, absolutely, there are candidates, well there’s only one candidate here that I’ve seen galvanising the Muslim vote on the single issue of Palestine and that is going to be something which is really powerful."
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Former Labour candidate for Rochdale, Azhar Ali, was recorded at a meeting of the Lancashire Labour Party claiming that Israel deliberately relaxed its security in October, ahead of the Hamas attacks, following warnings of an imminent threat
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Galloway has been accused of trying to turn the by-election into a referendum on Gaza, distributing leaflets in Rochdale claiming the vote is a "straight choice between George who will fight for Palestine…. and Keir Starmer who will fight for Israel."
Former Labour candidate for Rochdale, Azhar Ali, was recorded at a meeting of the Lancashire Labour Party claiming that Israel deliberately relaxed its security in October, ahead of the Hamas attacks, following warnings of an imminent threat.
Ali was heard saying: "The Egyptians are saying that they warned Israel 10 days earlier … Americans warned them a day before [that] … there’s something happening. They deliberately took the security off, they allowed … that massacre that gives them the green light to do whatever they bloody want."
George Galloway has been distributing leaflets claiming the vote is a 'straight choice between George who will fight for Palestine…. and Keir Starmer who will fight for Israel'
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He has since apologised "unreservedly to the Jewish community" for the remarks, admitting that they were "deeply offensive".
The Jewish Labour Movement will not campaign in Rochdale, Mike Katz, the national chair of the organisation said.
He said Ali "destroyed his past record of allyship with the Jewish community” with his “totally reprehensible” comments.
But Katz continued: “We know how far the party has come under Keir Starmer in tackling antisemitism and that the party, from Starmer down, is as shocked and disgusted by Ali’s comments as we are.”
The Lancashire county councillor and former government adviser was made an OBE in 2020 for public service.
Apologising for the remarks, he admitted they were "deepy offensive, ignorant and false".
