From the Telegraph, photograph from XYZ Law
A lawyer has been accused of “blatant discrimination” after refusing to represent an Israeli client because it conflicted with his Muslim faith and his opposition to Israel.
Kassam Boota, a partner with XYZ Law Solicitors, told Nissim Malca, a 55-year-old mortgage adviser based in
Leeds, that the firm would reassign his case to another solicitor.
Mr Boota has now been reported to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), which acts as a watchdog for all solicitors and law firms in England and Wales, which his lawyers say are in direct breach of equalities legislation.
Mr Malca, an Israeli national, had instructed XYZ Law in February 2024 to work on a remortgage and sale for himself before going on to instruct the firm on two other properties as part of his job.
In October, midway through the process, he mentioned to Mr Boota that he was in Israel for a family visit. Mr Boota, who has decorated his social media pages with the pro-Palestinian watermelon slice symbol, then told Mr Malca that he would no longer represent him.
Mr Malca told The Telegraph: “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, I never experienced anything like that before and didn’t know how to react as it caught me by surprise. I felt humiliated and angry at the same time that a solicitor allowed himself to say that to me in the open, with no shame or worry about any consequences, as if it was a very normal and ok thing to do or say.”
UKLFI accused XYZ Law, which has offices in Manchester, Dewsbury and London, of allowing Mr Boota to discriminate against Mr Malca in breach of the Equality Act 2010.
The organisation argued that Mr Malca had a protected characteristic of race, religion or belief under the Act.
Mr Boota declined to comment when approached by The Telegraph. XYZ Law was also approached for comment.
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3 Responses
I wouldn’t think the client would want him to be his lawyer.
An Israeli Jew who wants a Muslim as his attorney has learned nothing.
An Israeli Jew who lives in the UK has learned nothing.
Israeli Jews who are still Left Wing in Israel have learned nothing.
It’s the choice of all these people to be stupid, but that’s on them.
Islam is the enemy of everyone who is not a Muslim. The Left won’t say it, but it needs saying.
It is morally questionable for Mr Boota to refuse to represent Mr Malca in merely commercial transactions. Other Muslim and Leftist lawyers throughout the UK may also want to similarly reject Jewish and Israeli clients. In which case, acceptance of such political bigotry would deprive British Jews of equal justice before the law and equal access to legitimate commercial enterprise. This infection would easily spread to the courts where a legal client’s religion or ethnicity becomes a factor in whether fair justice is rendered. In well-known cases in France, families of Jews murdered by Muslims could not obtain justice from Leftist judges who broadly interpreted “insanity” defenses (ex. murderer smoked marijuana).
I trust UKLFI to know what it is doing in bringing an ethics complaint against Mr Boota.
Naturally, Mr Malca and other Jews should ask whether they can trust Muslim and Leftist professionals to faithfully perform their services. In the US, this has crossed my mind in recent years.