Sajjad Raja: Who’s Sajjad Raja? Reform UK candidate under-fire for saying ‘from river to the ocean | World Information
A Reform UK candidate for the Leeds native elections is below investigation after a video confirmed him chanting a controversial slogan at a 2024 protest linked to Gaza, in response to The Instances (UK).Professor Muhammad Sajjad Raja is described as a extremely educated social and political determine and has been chosen as Reform UK’s candidate for the Moortown ward in Leeds forward of the 7 Could native elections.The difficulty centres round a video from June 2024, the place Raja took half in an indication organised by the Staff Social gathering of Britain. Within the footage, he’s seen main a part of the march and chanting slogans together with “from the river to the ocean, Palestine shall be free”, together with “finish apartheid” and “Israel is a terrorist state”.Raja had shared a 23-minute video of the protest on his TikTok account, stating that he had led an indication in Leeds “in solidarity with the folks of Palestine”. He was additionally seen holding a Staff Social gathering signal studying “For Britain, for Gaza”.Reform UK, a right-wing celebration led by Nigel Farage, started because the Brexit Social gathering in 2018 earlier than rebranding in 2021 following the UK’s exit from the European Union.Reform UK mentioned it’s wanting into the matter after the footage emerged. The slogan has been extensively debated in UK politics. Social gathering chief Nigel Farage has described it as a “hate slogan” that requires “the abolition of the state of Israel”, whereas Reform’s economics spokesman Robert Jenrick has beforehand referred to as it “genocidal”.Raja has a background of activism past this protest. He has beforehand campaigned with the Staff Social gathering of Britain, a fringe left-wing group based by former Labour MP George Galloway, which helps wealth redistribution and opposes Nato.His political journey has included a number of affiliations. Raja stood as a Conservative candidate within the 2023 native elections in Leeds, the place he completed third. He later aligned with Reform UK, stating: “I help Reform UK as a result of I wish to repair the damaged Britain and I stand with Nigel Farage as a result of he’s the one man who can clear up the mess now.”Reform UK mentioned its investigation is ongoing. Raja has been approached for remark.
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