Labour councillor shared song calling for bombing of Tel Aviv

The Labour leader of Brent Council has said he was “appalled” after learning that he had shared a recording of a popular Palestinian song that included the chant “Hit, Hit, Tel Aviv” in a social post.

Councillor Mohammed Butt told Jewish News he was not aware of the “translated connetation” of the lyrics to the song Edreb Edreb Tal Abib by the group Palestine Dabke.

The song is played by activists at pro-Palestinian marches, and is widely interpreted as a call for missile strikes on Tel Aviv, in retaliation for Israeli action in Gaza.

The councillor, who was elected as leader of the north west London council in 2012,  shared a film of three men on a walking trip in South Wales, who were shown at one point raising a Palestinian flag, last year.

It is believed one of the three males was his son, who had taken part in the charity walk.

The Arabic title of the song is clearly displayed on Cllr Butt’s post, which appeared on Tik Tok last May, during the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas.

In a statement to Jewish News, the council leader said:”Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

“Of course I am appalled at finding out the translated connotation of the lyrics.

“I would never and never have endorsed the message in this song. As soon as it was highlighted to myself, it was removed.”

During the past two weeks Israel has been rocked by a series of terror attacks including a shooting spree incident in Tel Aviv last Thursday, which killed three people and caused multiple injuries.

Cllr Butt has previously used his TikTok page to post messages urging his followers to vote Labour, including one in which he is photographed amongst Jewish members of Brent Labour.

In 2016, Cllr Butt issued an apology for sharing a Facebook post which compared Israel with Islamic State.

He shared a clip which appeared to show a Palestinian girl in a skirmish with an Israeli soldier, which at the bottom claimed “Israel is a terrorist state like ISIS.”

In May that year Butt stepped down from his equalities role at London Councils, which represents all 32 boroughs and the City of London, over the same post.

Butt later wrote an article for Jewish News in which he condemned the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment movement’s actions over Israel.

Butt added: “My Jewish residents will have parents, siblings and children in Israel.

“That’s why I have no time for boycotts. As far as I can see, it does nothing for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. It only provides more ammunition to those who wish to divide and polarise.”