A newly elected Labor councilor from Birmingham has apologized after posting historic “anti-Jewish” messages on Facebook. Shabina Bano had accused Veolia council waste contractor of being a “Zionist supporter” in a post.
In other messages, the Facebook account of the newly elected councilor of Small Heath wished that a defendant – a survivor of childhood cancer – had died. Historical publications came to light when faced with an independent Labor Party investigation into Covid’s controversial comments.
Cllr Bano was contacted by BirminghamLive about the “discriminatory” comments earlier this week and initially said he did not remember making them. But tonight he has publicly apologized and said he would be doing an “awareness training”.
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A statement issued on his new Facebook account read: “My historic posts on social media have come to light in recent days. I take full responsibility for them, I acknowledge that they are completely unacceptable and I apologize unreservedly. they also regret the harm they have caused, especially to the Jewish community.
“Since I joined the Labor Party, my views on many issues have changed and these historic posts reflect ignorant opinions that I no longer have.”
He added: “It will give me more awareness training and I look forward to meeting with the Jewish communities in Birmingham to discuss what more we can do to eliminate anti-Semitism in our city.
“There is no room for racism or discrimination in our society and I remain committed to serving all the people of Small Heath, who trusted me in last year’s election.”
The messages were posted to friends of Ms. Bano’s previous Facebook account since 2014. In one, the account responds to someone asking for opinions about not paying the TV license fee and seems to criticize Veolia, the waste collection designated by the city council. At the time, the council contractor had been publicly criticized for his waste management work in Israeli settlements in Palestine.
The future councilor’s account had been answered: “Even our rubbish is given to the Zionist. The government is destroying our souls, we can’t even get rid of the rubbish without feeling guilty! Veoli (sic) is a supporter of the Zionist! b in a country you call (sic) yours, but your leader sympathizes with bad dogs. “
In another 2014 message, Mrs Bano’s account responds to a Jewish Chronicle article about former Labor leader Ed Milliband. The account commented: “Brothers most of the UK is run by Zionists, even the place we are discussing is run by a Jew! Time (sic) is Zionist or not, I don’t know.”
In an apparent discussion on gender and children, Ms Bano’s account had also posted: “Won’t birth certificates now mention gender? Surely that should also be stopped, as the government wants the “Your son (sic) should choose his own sex.
In a 2020 message, which appeared to refer to a defendant in a Birmingham court case, the same Facebook account posted: “His lawyer claims that he ‘had cancer when he was a child,’ ‘he would never have died, as it only became (sic) a waste of space on earth.’
Cllr Bano’s apology came after a formal complaint was lodged with the Labor Party over the comments. The complainant had said: “She has very discriminatory views which are clearly evident in her Facebook posts. I hope the Labor Party shares my concern that these views are unacceptable to society, let alone being a Labor councilor and representing her party in office “.
A Labor Party spokesman said: “The Labor Party takes all complaints seriously. They are fully investigated in accordance with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate action is taken.”
When our reporter initially contacted her, Ms. Bano stated that she did not remember making the comments and said she did not think she would. He said he had had previous problems with his Facebook account and had been blocked since February this year.
He also said that he accessed his Facebook account via his laptop and said that it was possible that someone could access it that way. As for Veolia, he praised the company and said “they are great” and denied believing that the Zionists run the UK.
Birmingham City Council said: “The matter has been referred to the Board’s Monitoring Officer to advance the Board’s procedures in relation to the elected members. At the end of this process, another statement will be issued. The council continues to support the COVID-19 vaccination program and advocates for equality and anti-discrimination practices. ”
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Last week, controversial Facebook posts about Covid that Cllr Bano had published in 2020 came to light. In response to an individual post claiming that coronavirus deaths had been exaggerated, Ms Bano’s account said: ” “Well, I’m sure the government has to reach a certain number of deaths before the blockade ends. So they’re playing (sic) the game at our expense.”
Ms Bano’s account also commented on another post about two people suffering from allergic reactions to the vaccine, saying: “Six deaths means nothing. The masses must die before any legal action can be taken.”
Councilor Bano had apologized “wholeheartedly” for Covid’s comments, acknowledging that they were “deeply inappropriate”. “I’m not an anti-vaxxer and I’m grateful for the vaccination against Covid.”
A spokesman for Birmingham Labor said of Covid’s comments last week: “We will look into these comments and make sure our members are reminded of the behavior that is expected of them on social media.”
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