British academic and economist Faiza Shaheen was dropped as the Labour party’s candidate on Wednesday, May 29, over engagement with tweets on Israel. Shaheen was told that she would not be endorsed by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to stand for the Chingford and Woodford Green seat for the general election on July 4, over allegedly liking series of posts on X discussing Israel and alleged anti-semitism.
It may be noted that globally any leader who has been critical of Israel’s killings in Palestine gets branded as ‘anti-semite’, even if it is simply a criticism of the heinous killings of innocents. Prior to this, MP Jeremy Corbyn was dropped and prevented from contesting as a Labour candidate over similar allegations. American-Jewish comedian Jon Stewart, over whose tweets the incident took place, expressed his disapproval after the UK’s Labour Party barred the prominent left-winger Faiza Shaheen for liking one of his videos that allegedly downplayed anti-semitism accusations.
Taking to X on Thursday, May 30, Shaheen said, “I’m in such shock, but I’m a fighter.”
“At 9pm last night, by email, I learned that Labour has removed me as its candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green, less than six weeks before the General Election, after working to win this seat for over four years. As you can imagine, I’m a little overwhelmed right now, so will use this morning to meet with my campaign and legal teams to discuss my next steps, as well as have some hugs with my baby,” stated Faiza Shaheen.
She thanked her supporters and said she would divulge more details about her treatment by the NEC “very soon”.
Speaking on the BBC’s Newsnight programme with Victoria Derbyshire an hour later, Faiza Shaheen said that the Labour party had concerns about 14 tweets she had engaged with over the past decade. The programme highlighted a post by Stewart discussing freedom of expression in the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The post on X, read, “Every time you say something even mildly critical of Israel, you’re immediately assailed by scores of hysterical people who explain to you why you’re completely wrong, how you’re biased against Israel.”
“Moreover, you can’t easily ignore them because those are not just random people. They tend to be friends or people who move in the same circles as you. Those people are mobilised by professional organisations,” it added.
“I don’t remember liking this tweet. I know what’s wrong with it, of course. The line that’s there, about they’re in ‘professional organizations,’ that plays into a trope and I absolutely don’t agree with that and I’m sorry about that. And I expressed that I was sorry in that meeting yesterday over my crying baby but that’s one tweet. I’ve organised an interfaith vigil with a local Rabbi after the attacks, Hamas’s attack,” Faiza Shaheen said.
She went on, “I feel foolish. Because everyone said I was the one socialist that was running, you know, it was a surprise that I wasn’t blocked earlier, everyone knows that. And of course they were going to come for me and I did something stupid and honestly I don’t remember liking that (tweet).”
Shaheen expressed shock and offered an emotional apology to her supporters.
Journalist Mehdi Hasan brought the row to Stewart’s attention on X, saying, “Hey @jonstewart, not sure if you’re following the Jon-Stewart-related news out of the UK but Labour parliamentary candidate and Muslim woman @faizashaheen has just been suspended tonight from the Labour Party for liking on X this old Israel video sketch of yours.”
Stewart took to X and responded to labour actions, saying, “This is the dumbest thing The UK has done since electing Boris Johnson…what the actual fuck..”
In reference to Shaheen’s deselection, veteran Labour politician Diane Abbott accused the party of carrying out a “cull” of left-wing candidates.
“Appalling. Whose clever idea has it been to have a cull of left wingers?”
Taking to X, Labour Muslim Network wrote on X, “The deselection of @faizashaheen is unacceptable.”
“To use her tweets accounting personal experiences of Islamophobia as evidence for deselection is utterly outrageous. Telling a Muslim woman she is not allowed to talk about her own experiences of racism is clear Islamophobia.”
