‘Allah sees everything’: Gaza groups tell Muslims who to vote for

From The Telegraph

Pro-Gaza activists are telling Muslim voters who to back in next month’s local elections.

A campaign video which declares that “Allah sees everything” suggests which county council candidates voters in Wycombe should support based on whether they will back a boycott of Israeli goods if elected on May 1.

The video was condemned by Kemi Badenoch on Wednesday night as “evil Islamist sectarianism” that had no place in the UK.

The reference to Allah risks raising concerns that voters are being subjected to “undue spiritual interference”, a criminal offence under electoral law.

The video features the logos of the High Wycombe branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and Palestine on the Ballot, a nationwide pressure group. The PSC said it had no knowledge of the video and was not involved in producing it. Palestine on the Ballot was contacted for comment.

Eighty-one Buckinghamshire county council hopefuls are pictured alongside a summary of their views on the controversial BDS (boycott, divestment and sanction) movement against Israel. Eighteen candidates appear alongside a green tick after telling activists they would “support and promote divestment from companies involved in human rights violations”. The names of the remaining 63 candidates appear in red text with a cross next to their names because they either said they were opposed to a boycott or did not give a response.

The previous Tory government had planned to ban allowing public bodies to run their own boycott campaigns but the legislation was ultimately dropped.

At the start of the video, text that appears beside a Palestinian flag reads: “Think before you vote! It’s clear who is supporting genocide and subservient to their masters. . . Don’t sell your soul as Allah sees everything.”

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, described the video as further proof that groups are casting their ballots along religious lines. Mr Farage said: “This is sectarian politics, as I predicted. Do they realise these are local elections?”

The Muslim Vote, a campaign group which urges Muslim voters to vote on a pro-Gaza basis, said in a social media clip last month that it is “playing to win” at all future elections. In the clip, a spokesman in the group said there will be “100 seats in play” at the next general election. They said: “We will organise on every front. We will play the game but from now on we play to win.”

A spokesman for the High Wycombe branch of the PSC said: “This video was not produced by our branch, and we have no knowledge of who created it.