LEO MCKINSTRY: How the accountant elected as a Green councillor presented himself as a campaigner for local unity... but was quite the opposite
The Leeds branch of the Green Party presented Mothin Ali, one of its city council candidates in last week's local elections, as a benign, humanitarian campaigner for local unity and social justice.
According to the party's publicity, Ali, an accountant by profession, is passionate about 'tackling anti-social behaviour and community well-being', as illustrated by his involvement with horticultural projects, his activism against drug-dealing and his voluntary work at his mosque.
He was portrayed as a man who devoted himself to improving his neighbourhood and challenging bigotry.
The Leeds branch of the Green Party presented Mothin Ali (pictured), one of its city council candidates in last week's local elections, as a benign, humanitarian campaigner for local unity and social justice
The editor of Garden News, Simon Caney, whose weekly magazine regularly features articles by Ali, recently proclaimed: 'As gardeners we should all want a better, more sustainable world but that can't be achieved until we have a society that celebrates diversity and inclusivity.'
But the reality behind this bucolic, gentle image could not be more different, and it was fully exposed at the declaration of the municipal results in Leeds at the end of last week.
In the ward of Gipton and Harehills, Mothin Ali received just over 3,000 votes, winning the seat easily.
But instead of taking the chance to promise action on environmental issues such as hedgerows and pollution, Ali used his victory speech to express his uncompromising support for the Palestinian cause. 'We will not be silenced. We will raise the voice of Gaza. We will raise the voice of Palestine. Allahu akbar!' he cried.
Ali hailed his election as really 'a win for the people of Gaza', an echo of black Labour candidate Paul Boateng's boast when he was elected an MP in 1983: 'Tonight, Brent South. Tomorrow, Soweto.'
But Ali's inflammatory rhetoric belies the claims in his election campaign literature about 'inclusion' and 'community'.
The moment that Green Party councillor Mothin Ali shouted 'Allahu Akbar' after being elected in Leeds
A 42-year old graduate of Leeds Beckett university, he runs his own accountancy firm, which goes by the name of 'My Leeds Accountant'.
Married to Bangladeshi-born Selina, 36, whom he describes as 'the boss', he has three children: daughter Khadija and sons Tayyib and Zaky.
He likes to call himself 'an accountant by day and an Islamic teacher by night' and is a qualified 'Mufti' – an expert in Islamic law.
Much of his time outside his profession, however, is taken up with his enthusiasm for horticulture. A keen user of social media, he has since 2009 run an online video channel called 'My Family Garden' which is said to have 53,000 subscribers.
But in the hands of a political obsessive such as Ali, even gardening advice is turned into another tool of his political ideology. So in 2020, he established the campaign group Dig It Out, which he boasts is Britain's 'first horticultural equality and inclusion organisation'.
Mothin Ali giving advice to Marcus Waring on his BBC show Tales from a Kitchen Garden
The group's mission is to work 'throughout horticulture, gardening and farming communities to challenge discrimination, encourage inclusive practices and argue for positive change'.
The group's website trumpets it as a 'safe space where victims of racial abuse can openly share their experiences with the hope that this will encourage more of us to speak out'.
Tellingly, he was a supporter of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn, but he defected to the Greens when Keir Starmer took over and took on the Left-wing anti-Semites.
Indeed, there are fears among Jewish groups that the Green Party is now becoming a haven for pedlars of bigotry, as growing numbers of militant Muslims abandon their traditional support for Labour because of Gaza.
Certainly Mothin Ali's case is not unique.
In Bristol, several Green councillors have spoken of the 'Zionist enemy police', the 'Palestinian resistance' and Israel's 'apartheid', while throughout the country, but especially in the North, Muslim pro-Palestinian campaigners have been elected as independents.
How could Greens not know about vile rant over rabbi? Party leader claims ignorance about councillor in anti-Semitism row... despite Mail exposé months ago
By James Tozer, Greg Heffer and Martin Beckford
The Greens were last night facing fury over their failure to suspend a councillor who launched a hate-filled tirade against a rabbi.
Mothin Ali, who was elected to Leeds city council last week, had called Leeds University's Jewish chaplain, Zecharia Deutsch, a 'creep', a 'low-life' and an 'animal'.
The 42-year-old had been allowed to stand for the Greens despite branding Israelis 'white supremacists' after the Hamas Palestinian terror group killed 1,200 people on October 7 last year. He was filmed shouting 'We will raise the voice of Palestine – Allahu Akbar!' after winning his council seat.
Yesterday the party faced a string of calls to take action against him, including from Jewish leaders who accused it of hypocrisy for not distancing itself from his 'extremist nonsense'. Back in February Daily Mail feature writer Guy Adams presented the Greens with a dossier of offensive comments made by Mr Ali, including the tirade against Rabbi Deutsch, who was later forced into hiding.
When presented with the evidence at the time, the Green Party told this paper it 'believes in free speech' and Mr Ali was allowed to stand, and win, as a councillor. But staggeringly, when asked about Mr Ali's offensive remarks in a television interview on Sunday night, Carla Denyer co-leader of the Green Party, appeared not to know about them.
When asked about Mr Ali's offensive remarks in a television interview on Sunday night, Carla Denyer (pictured) co-leader of the Green Party, appeared not to know about them
She declined to comment when asked about how well the party vets candidates, saying she was 'not familiar with all of the details' and didn't have 'the full facts at hand.' She added the remarks sounded 'very concerning' and that she would 'make sure that those are looked into'.
Last night there was still no indication Mr Ali faced being suspended, with the Greens only saying they were 'investigating'.
It came as the party faces a showdown with the Government's independent adviser on anti-Semitism, ex-Labour MP Lord Mann, over its vetting of candidates. Ahead of a high-level meeting this week, he warned: 'Doing nothing is not an option.'
Analysis has showed that more than 40 councillors were elected in England last week after making the Middle East crisis part of their campaign.
Mr Ali, a prominent YouTuber who works as an accountant and runs a gardening blog, sparked outrage in February after he released a video aimed at Rabbi Deutsch.
Calling him a 'kind of animal', 'creep', 'absolute low-life', 'absolutely disgusting' and 'shameful', he falsely claimed he had tried to kill women and children in Gaza after temporarily returning to his IDF unit after the October 7 attacks.
The rabbi and his wife and children were all forced into hiding after receiving an avalanche of threats. Yet Mr Ali remained the Green candidate in the Leeds ward of Gipton and Harehills, where he last week celebrated his victory as a 'win for the people of Gaza' – a territory he has called a 'concentration camp'.
Mr Ali was one of dozens of candidates who ran on a Gaza ticket at the local elections and managed to defeat a Labour candidate
Leaders of Britain's Jewish community yesterday condemned the Green Party as 'breathtakingly foolish, dangerous and insensitive' for having stood by Mr Ali and demanded his immediate suspension.
In an open letter to co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay, the chairman of Leeds Jewish Representative Council, Simon Myerson KC, wrote that Mr Ali had a 'substantial history of views which are concerning to the Jewish community'.
Accusing the Greens of 'hypocrisy', Mr Myerson said it was wrong for the party to continue to associate itself with Mr Ali.
He accused Mr Ali of attempting to justify 'rape, murder and kidnap' and using 'anti-Semitic tropes'. 'These matters do, I suggest, call the Green Party's own integrity into question,' Mr Myerson wrote.
He added: 'The deliberate exploitation of a particular issue which is never going to be addressed by the election of a local councillor as a major factor in that councillor's election campaign is nakedly opportunistic.'
Saying the party had 'known about Mr Ali's views for a considerable time', he insisted it was time to act and 'formally suspend Mr Ali as a Green Party member'.
Claudia Mendoza, head of the Jewish Leadership Council, added: 'Mr Ali's record speaks for itself and if the Green Party is serious about dealing with anti-Semitism rather than just paying lip service to it in meetings with community leaders, action will be taken.'
A spokesman for the Board of Deputies of British Jews said it was 'appalled' by Mr Ali appearing to 'celebrate and attempt to justify the October 7 mass terror attack on Israel', saying the Greens had 'serious questions to answer'. The party has failed to respond to this newspaper's requests for comment since Mr Ali's acceptance speech emerged.
But a spokesman told the Daily Telegraph: 'The Green Party is investigating issues drawn to our attention in relation to Councillor Mothin Ali, so cannot comment further. However, we are clear that we never support anything that extols violence.'
Mr Ali has also been approached for comment. He has said he has been inundated with death threats himself, insisting his video about the Leeds rabbi 'has absolutely nothing to do with violence'.
