A HARDLINE anti-Israel Green Party councillor has apologised for a Gaza tirade — but kept his job.
When elected to Leeds City Council last week, Mothin Ali screamed: “We will not be silent! We will raise the voice of Gaza! We will raise the voice of Palestine! Allahu Akbar!”
In his acceptance speech, recorded on TikTok, he stood in front of a Palestinian flag as he said: “This is a win for the people of Gaza.”
The clip showed Green Party supporters arguing with rivals and one of Mr Ali’s team shouting: “Palestine will be free!”
Yesterday, he issued a statement through the Leeds Green Party which said: “I am sorry for any upset my comments caused about the Gaza conflict. That was not my intention.”
But he stopped short of apologising for slurs made against a rabbi in the city.
He previously called Leeds University’s Jewish chaplain Zecharia Deutsch “a creep”, “low-life” and an “animal”.
The Green Party has previously defended his comments, citing its commitment to free speech. Yesterday it said it was investigating but has defied calls to suspend him.
Meanwhile, Mr Ali claimed some had misrepresented his “Allahu Akbar” cry of joy.
“It suggests Islamophobia to me,” he added.
Mr Ali was one of dozens of new Green Party councillors elected last Thursday as part of a swing against Labour in the Muslim community.
Yesterday, ex-Labour election strategist Peter Mandelson warned: “The Green Party is becoming a dustbin, a bit of a repository, not only for climate activists, but for disgruntled hard-leftists leaving the Labour Party and some fairly unpleasant hardline Free Palestine activists as well.”
Meanwhile, PM Rishi Sunak will summon university bosses to a meeting at Downing Street amid growing anti- Israel protests on campuses.