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Ex-Council leader: Pro-Gaza and far-right identity politics is tearing communities apart
Arooj Shah says 'Netanyahu is not waiting for Arooj from Oldham to give him a call'
The former leader of Oldham Council has said she fears pro-Gaza and far-right identity politics are tearing communities apart.
Arooj Shah, who quit as the leader of the Greater Manchester council last month, said: “You’ve got the far right telling white working-class communities: ‘You’ve been left behind because of immigrants’, and you’ve got the Oldham Group saying: ‘Nobody cares about you, nobody’s done anything about Gaza.’”
Speaking to the Guardian, she added: “I’m pro-Palestine, pro-Israel and pro-humanity – (but) Netanyahu is not waiting for Arooj from Oldham to give him a call.”
Oldham Council has been plunged into chaos after last month’s local election with political parties yet to agree leadership or any way of working together, with no one group in overall control.
Oldham has previously been the centre of flashpoints caused by sectarianism, but had in recent years made significant progress, and had been named the most improved council last year as regeneration schemes appeared to be making a difference.
But in the May elections Reform became the second-largest party with 16, and the Oldham Group of pro-Gaza independents now have 10, while Labour have 18, but are so far unable to find common ground with their opponents.
Lewis Quigg, Oldham’s Reform group leader, insisted Labour councillors have done nowt and said nowt for years. Labour failed to deliver for Oldham.”
Kamran Ghafoor, the Oldham Group leader, denied “weaponising Gaza”, saying it mattered deeply to people in the borough.
But Shah revealed she had been targeted by extremists, and her car was torched last year, with many using her Muslim identity as an excuse to accuse her of covering up for grooming gangs.
Shah told the Guardian: “The thing that makes me so sad about the identity and grievance politics is that when my parents came over in the late 1950s, they did everything they could to integrate – everybody was one.
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