Camden's Green Party has withdrawn support for one of its election candidates after he was suspended by the national party for sharing 'appalling' claims blaming Israel for the arson attack on Jewish ambulances in March.
Aziz Rahman Hakimi, nominated as a Green candidate for Haverstock ward, faced outrage in April when his social media account reposted allegations that the torching of Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green was a 'false flag' operation carried out by Israel. The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) confirmed on Friday (May 1) that the national Green Party had suspended Mr Hakimi following an investigation into his social media activity, which also included sharing claims that 'Zionists' were behind 9/11. Labour and the Liberal Democrats condemned his conduct as 'abhorrent and anti-Semitism'.
The LDRS can now report that Camden Greens have dropped all local support for Aziz Hakimi's candidacy. He has also been removed from the full list of candidate profiles on the Camden Greens website. However, despite this development, Hakimi 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 logo, once the nomination deadline has passed, the ballot paper cannot be amended—even if that candidate is suspended or expelled. If elected, the result would stand, and they would sit as an independent if stripped of party membership, though no finding of fact has been made by the Green Party against Hakimi.
A civil engineer and local business owner, 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.
Hakimi's suspension comes as other Green Party election candidates have been involved in controversy over 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.
