Pro-Palestinian activist to challenge Labor Party's Wes Streeting in election

Lynn Mohamad spoke at a pro-Palestinian march in October, declaring that “every Israeli supporter has blood on their hands.” < p>Pro-Palestinian activist has been chosen to challenge Labor's Wes Streeting in the next election amid dissatisfaction with the party's position on the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Leanne Mohamad was selected as an independent MP on Monday. Candidate for Ilford North after campaigning open to local residents.

Ms Mohamad's nomination will complicate the chances of electing Mr Streeting, the shadow health secretary, after the Labor Party faced backlash over its response to the Gaza war.

Redbridge Community Action Group, which organized Ms Mohamad's choice, said on its website that its aim was to «challenge Wes Streeting for the seat of Ilford North and defeat him at the next election».

The group said it would also «prepare» . an independent candidate who is strong on the issues of Palestine, the NHS, racism, Islamophobia and the cost of living crisis.»

The shift in electoral dynamics as a result of Labour's stance on the conflict is expected to be seen in other constituencies.

One Labor MP predicted that some colleagues could lose their seats due to pro-Palestinian candidates will take votes away from the party. The MP said Mr Streeting would face a «real battle» once Mohamad was elected.

One Labor MP predicted Wes Streeting would face a «real battle» Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA

In October, Ms Mohamad, a British-Palestinian activist, spoke at pro-Palestinian marches in central London and said: Every supporter of Israel has blood on their hands, every Western politician who gave the green light to these war crimes has shed the blood of more than 3,000 Palestinians.” children in arms.”

She also spoke at the first international conference of the Peace and Justice Project, founded by Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labor leader, which took place last November.

Photo: Facebook

Ilford North is in the London borough of Redbridge, where the Muslim population is 31.3 percent, according to the 2021 census.

A number of polls conducted after Israel's invasion of Gaza following the Hamas attacks on October 7 showed a decline in support for the Labor Party among the Muslim community. One Muslim Census poll showed that Labour's Muslim vote had fallen by 66 percent to just five percent at the end of October.

Although Sawanta's polling team had predicted a much firmer result of 64 percent, it emerged in November that that almost half of Muslim Labor voters had a more negative view of the party as a result of Sir Keir Starmer's handling of the Gaza conflict.

Mr Streeting won a large majority of more than 5,000 in 2019, but any drop in support would theoretically make it more difficult for him to win re-election.

Labour suffered a surprise defeat in a council by-election in the neighboring ward of Plaistow North in east London late last year, when a former Labor councilor won as an independent candidate after resigning from the party in protest at Sir Keir's refusal to demand a ceasefire.