A female Labour Party Member of Parliament has become the subject of a campaign of intimidation by primarily Muslim, Labour activists over the last 24 hours, based on her position on bombing the Islamic State in Syria.
Anti-war protestors gathered outside her office in Walthamstow in East London, reportedly harassing her staff as the House of Commons met today to debate military intervention in Syria.
The anti-war activity may be a front for a wider campaign to oust her from her seat, and the left-wing New Statesman magazine has pointed to the fact that Asim Mahmood, a local Labour councillor, may be acting as a stalking horse for his sister, the current mayor of Waltham Forest, Saima Mahmood, who could be put up as an alternative candidate in the event of a trigger ballot against Ms. Creasy.
Openly undecided on the question of military intervention in Syria going into today’s debate, she is said to be one of a number of Labour MPs who received a threatening email, apparently from a Labour Party member.
The email suggested that any Labour MP who voted in favour of military intervention would find themselves deselected by their local branch in short measure, and therefore out of Parliament at the next election.
However, only Ms. Creasy appears to have come in for more extreme intimidation tactics, including phoning her office staff to hurl abuse as the debate progressed, and last night a protest outside her constituency office.
The protest, which numbered some 150 people, featured a local imam, members of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPACUK), and even a local, left-wing vicar.
MPACUK, according to its website, focuses on “non-violent Jihad and political activism.” In a short video at the scene filmed by a Channel 4 employee, a man can be heard quoting the Quran, telling the crowd that they ought to oppose military action in Syria because “whoever saves a life, it is as though he has saved all of humanity. Whoever takes a life, it is as though he has slain all of humanity.”
The quote is from Chapter 5 verse 32 of the Quran, and in full reads: “We ordained for the Children of Israel that if any one slew a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.”
According to some, the protest moved on to occupy the road directly outside Ms. Creasy’s home, though there was some confusion leading to them missing their target. Feminist activist Caroline Criado Perez tweeted an image showing a large crowd, apparently led by an imam, storming up a residential street, but later added “looks like … they were actually just up the road.”
https://twitter.com/CCriadoPerez/status/672003405511028736
A spokesman in Ms. Creasy’s press office told Breitbart London today that neither he nor Ms. Creasy had any idea whether a protest had taken place outside her home, as they had been in Westminster all evening. The organiser, meanwhile, is denying that her house was a target at all
But the anti-war protest may simply be a front for a broader campaign to oust the MP. On Monday, Ms. Creasy responded to an attack by Asim Mahmood, a Labour councillor within her constituency.
Taking to Facebook, she posted a screenshot of a message he had earlier posted to the social networking site which read “In my opinion any Labour MP who supports the killing of innocents in this way should automatically go through a trigger ballot for reselection. Anyone want to word a motion to that effect?”
Ms. Creasy commented “Am in parliament listening to lots of differing perspectives on this both for and against extension. Many powerful points being made, which correspond to what local residents have said to me in last few days.
“Will continue to listen and reflect but want to be clear that one thing I will not do is be bullied by a sitting Walthamstow Labour councillor with the threat of deselection if I don’t do what he wants.
“On a matter of national security such intimidation is completely unacceptable and disrespectful to the residents of Walthamstow.”
Follow Donna Rachel Edmunds on Twitter: Follow @Donna_R_E or e-mail to: dedmunds@breitbart.com
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