Birmingham Green councillor under fire after hailing October 7 attacks as ‘courageous’
A Birmingham Green councillor, who has been appointed as the Cabinet Member for Children and Families, has come under fire after hailing the October 7 attacks as "courageous".
Kamel Hawwash, elected in last month's local elections, shared a post on October 16, 2023, titled: "10 days since Al-Aqsa Flood: Courage in the face of aggression."
The brutal attacks on Israel by terrorist group Hamas was referred to as "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood".
Mr Hawwash has been named to the council's new cabinet administration, a coalition of Liberal Democrats, Greens, and Independents.
Liberal Democrat councillor Mumtaz Hussain, his deputy, led calls to ban fans from the Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv from Villa Park in November.
She served on the safety advisory group which called on West Midlands Police to ban fans from setting foot in the stadium.
There were claims police had succumbed to pressure from pro-Palestinian campaigners, which led to the resignation of chief constable Craig Guildford.
Also elected to Birmingham City Council was Green Party member Atikur Rahman, who has now been appointed Housing and Homelessness Deputy.
While a civil servant, he had liked a post from a lawyer representing singer Bobby Vylan, who sparked fury after he chanted "death to the IDF" at Glastonbury Festival.
The post claimed "all [Vylan] did was raise alert to the genocide in Gaza given that so many were deaf to the crimes of the IDF".
Mr Hawwash, a former professor of civil engineering at the University of Birmingham, had previously falsely claimed Israel "killed its own citizens, including children" in the October 7 attacks.
He has also described Zionism as "Jewish supremacy", adding that "millions" would mourn the death of a Hamas leader, despite its proscription as a terrorist group.
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In 2017, he was banned from visiting Israel, according to a pro-Gaza publication named "The Electronic Intifada".
He claimed he was brought aside by an Israeli officer and told he could not enter the country to visit family due to his support of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.
A former Labour member, he resigned in the wake of the attacks, citing Sir Keir Starmer's "blind support for Israel".
He stood as an independent candidate in Birmingham's Selly Oak constituency at the general election in 2024 before joining the Greens.
Lord Austin of Dudley, a former Labour MP in the West Midlands, said his appointment was hugely divisive.
He told The Times: "Decent Brummies will be appalled that people with such divisive views have seized power in Britain’s second city.
"It beggars belief that the person in charge of children and families is a man who allegedly thinks it was courageous for Islamist terrorists to slaughter and rape hundreds of people in the October 7 atrocities in Israel, and his deputy is a woman who led the ban on Israeli football fans from the city last year.
"It makes me fear for the future of Birmingham."
A Green Party spokesman previously said: "The Green Party takes any allegations of antisemitism extremely seriously, and where candidates or members have said anything or acted in a way which does not meet Green Party values, we have an investigation process."
Mr Rahman previously said: "I am horrified to learn that I might have selected the wrong reaction to a post.
"Any interactions I have on social media are not intended as endorsements or agreement. During my time in the Civil Service, I adhered to the Civil Service Code and carried out my duties impartially, with professionalism and integrity.
"I will engage appropriately with any process in the background."
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