Jewish community leaders in Birmingham have called on new council leader Roger Harmer to reconsider appointing a Palestinian councillor to his cabinet because of his views on Israel. Green Party councillor Kamel Hawwash, a lifelong anti-Israel activist, has been appointed cabinet member for children, young people and families in a new coalition leadership group headed by Liberal Democrat Coun Harmer.
Concerns over alleged antisemitism
Jewish organisations in the region had previously implored Coun Harmer not to give Coun Hawwash any influence, citing tweets and views they said appeared to support proscribed terrorist group Hamas, who were behind the October 7 border terror attacks, and amounted to antisemitism. Ruth Jacobs, chair of the Jewish Representative Council of Birmingham and West Midlands, said she was very disappointed to see the concerns of her community ignored. Her group has since emailed Coun Harmer and the new cabinet member for equalities, communities and social justice, Jane Baston, of the Green Party, to further voice concern.
But we understand the coalition partners deemed Coun Hawwash, a former professor of engineering, the best choice to sit in the cabinet and were content he had not crossed the line into antisemitism. He was elected to represent Stirchley and is the first Palestinian to sit on the council.
Letter highlights controversial statements
Mrs Jacobs wrote to Coun Harmer about Coun Hawwash's views two weeks ago, highlighting her concern that he had expressed support for Hamas and made reference to them having courage. These included tweets apparently blaming Israel for the October 7 attack. He had also previously described Zionism, support for the existence of the state of Israel, as Jewish supremacy and described Hamas as a liberation and resistance Islamic movement, she said in her letter.
In her letter sent to Coun Harmer, Mrs Jacobs said recent attacks on Jewish people and at synagogues across the country had left people extremely concerned for our safety. The promotion of Coun Hawwash to any position in the council administration is totally unacceptable. The Birmingham Jewish community is small in number but plays a proportionally active role in civic society. We are heavily involved in interfaith activities and simply seek to be contributing members of society, living peacefully as one of the many communities making up the fabric of Birmingham.
You have the power to stop Coun Hawwash from running our city. We urge you to take whatever action is necessary to stop the local Liberal Democrats from entering into a coalition which includes this individual. Now is the time for you to take the tough action necessary to deal with antisemitism.
Coun Hawwash's background and views
Coun Hawwash is of Palestinian heritage and has lived in Birmingham since he was 15, learning English and carving out an engineering and then academic career. He has been chair of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the largest Palestinian solidarity group in Europe. He has always openly proclaimed his belief that the creation of Israel on Palestinian land in 1948 was against the will of those living there and caused a major refugee crisis, amounting to an act of terror.
He was a member of the Labour party until his resignation in 2023. He wrote to Keir Starmer quitting the party then, stating: You have aligned yourself with blind support for Israel whatever it does and literally thrown the Palestinians under the bus or, as in Gaza now, the bombs. He further added: You have accepted pro-Israel groups' conflation of anti-Zionism and antisemitism. That is completely wrong and dangerous. As you should be aware, not all Jews are Zionists and not all Zionists are Jews.
Coun Hawwash's mother was born in Jerusalem before Israel was created and now lives in Birmingham. He said in his letter to Mr Starmer: She has no right to return to her home city but a Jewish woman from Birmingham with no connection to the holy land has a right to return to a place she does not come from, Israel. That is the injustice. He has also spoken of the horror of seeing the destruction of Gaza livestreamed and has urged the global community to act.
He stood as an independent candidate in Birmingham's Selly Oak constituency at the general election in 2024. He then joined the Greens and was elected in May. We have approached Coun Hawwash for a comment and he declined to respond. We also contacted Coun Harmer and Green Party group leader and council deputy leader Julien Pritchard for comment.
