Camden’s Greens have withdrawn support for one of their election candidates who was suspended by the national party after he shared claims linking Israel to the arson attack on Jewish ambulances in March.
A repost on the social media profile of Aziz Rahman Hakimi, who was nominated as a Green candidate for Haverstock ward in Camden, provoked outrage in April as it alleged that the torching of Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green in March was in fact a “false flag” operation carried out by Israel.
Last Friday, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) confirmed the national Green Party had suspended Mr Hakimi following an investigation into his social media activity, which included sharing allegations that “Zionists” were behind 9/11. Labour and Liberal Democrats branded his conduct as “abhorrent and anti-Semitism”.
The LDRS can now report that Camden Greens have dropped all support for Aziz Hakimi’s candidacy at a local level. He has also been removed from its full list of candidate profiles on the Camden Greens website.
But despite the local party removing him from its official list of candidates he will remain on Thursday’s ballot paper as a Green Party candidate.
This is because under electoral law, if a party nominates someone as their official candidate with a political party description and a logo, once the nomination deadline has passed the ballot paper cannot be amended – even if that candidate is suspended or expelled.
If they are then elected, the result would stand and they would sit as an independent in the event they are stripped of their party membership, though there has been no finding of fact by the Green Party against Mr Hakimi.
A civil engineer and local business owner, Mr Hakimi’s account posted directly in 2021 that Sir Keir Starmer was an “Israeli poppet” [sic]. His account also shared a post urging Muslims not to smoke because it helped the tobacco industry to “fund the Jews to kill our brothers”.
The candidate did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Sources from both Labour and the Greens have claimed campaign posters have since been removed from his shop window.
Mr Hakimi’s suspension comes as other Green Party election candidates have been involved in controversy surrounding social media posts, including two in Lambeth and one in Croydon who has also been suspended.
The local elections will take place on Thursday, May 7.
