Hackney Green Party stands by our councillor, Ifhat Shaheen, following a smear campaign. While a candidate, Ifhat was the subject of an article by the Spectator, a right-wing magazine, which included a number of allegations that were reheated from over a decade ago - and were the subject of a successful legal action.

To these were added several more recent social media posts which were referred to an internal investigation, which found the allegations related to these being misrepresentations. Moreover, Ifhat has repeatedly and over a period of years expressed condemnation of antisemitic attacks in the UK and attacks on civilians in Israel and Palestine. This stands in contrast to the leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer, who notoriously said it was acceptable for the Israeli armed forces to cut off water supplies to the two million people in Gaza.

It is repellent to seek to exploit real antisemitic attacks with an opportunistic partisan attack on Ifhat, making the battle against antisemitism that much harder.

Hackney Green Party will always stand in solidarity with oppressed peoples within the UK and overseas. That means working across communities, in good faith, and building long-term relationships.

Source: Centre for Media Monitoring report: The State of British Media 2025: Reporting on Muslims and Islam