West Midlands Labour official suspended over anti-Semitic Facebook posts
A senior Labour Party official in the West Midlands has been suspended after it emerged his social media account contained posts blaming Jews for “all the wars in the world”.
Mohammed Yasin faces a full investigation after his Facebook feed was seen to feature anti-Semitic material and 9/11 conspiracy theories.
Mr Yasin was recently promoted to the position of West Midlands regional organiser, based in Terry Duffy House in West Bromwich.
He started working for the party's West Midlands office in early 2015 and was on the campaign team when Rob Marris was elected as the Labour MP for Wolverhampton South West in that year's General Election.
In the posts, which have been seen by the Express & Star, Mr Yasin shared a meme in February 2016 featuring actor Mel Gibson's statement that "Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world."
The account also featured a meme depicting two men laughing under the headline: “When someone tells me it’s not the Jews.”
Other material on the account included a video describing the Rothschilds as the world’s “most wicked and wealthiest family”.
Another image was of a cartoon showing broadcasters including the BBC and CNN ignoring butchered Palestinians and focusing their camera on a crying baby wearing a Star of David.
'Shocking'
Pat McFadden, the Labour MP for Wolverhampton South East, said: "The reports of these social media posts are shocking.
"Anti-Semitism and these conspiracy theories have no place in the Labour Party. They are not what we stand for and they represent no decent Labour tradition that I recognise."
A spokesman for the West Midlands regional Labour Party said: “We take all allegations seriously and fully investigate them in accordance with our rules and procedures.
"Mohammed has been suspended from work pending a full investigation."
Mr Yasin's Facebook feed, which has now been deleted, showed an image of him with party leader Jeremy Corbyn at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on September 27.
He wrote: “Great to catch up with Labour colleagues and the Shadow Cabinet at the staff event yesterday. JC for PM.”
Labour has been embroiled in a long running row over anti-Semitism, with Mr Corbyn accused by some of his own MPs of failing to tackle the problem.
It peaked in the summer when the party initially refused to adopt in full the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition, and accompanying examples, of anti-Semitism.
Labour has since adopted the definition, although it included a statement saying it should not undermine free speech on Israel.
Mr Yasin is not to be confused with the Labour MP for Bedford, who has a similar name.
