Blackburn councillor: I sent controversial Israel email too (From Chorley Citizen)

Blackburn councillor: I sent controversial Israel email too

6:10am Monday 27th April 2009 in

By Tom Moseley » Reporter

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THE “OFFENSIVE” email at the centre of a Lancashire County Council racism probe was also sent by a leading Blackburn with Darwen councillor to 63 of his town hall colleagues, it has emerged.

Lancashire County Council has suspended 14 of its staff pending an investigation into the email, which compares the Israeli occupation of Gaza to Nazi Germany.

Salim Mulla, a community leader and Blackburn councillor, spoke out in support of the workers after they were suspended earlier this month.

Now he has admitted he sent the same email to all his fellow council members during the Israel Palestine conflict in January. And he said he did not think the content was offensive.

Coun Mulla, the senior vice chairman of Lancashire Council of Mosques, said: “I shared it with my colleagues. I send a lot of emails.

“A lot of people didn’t fully understand what was going on. I felt at the time, when the war was taking place, that it was important there were discussions within the council.

“It’s something I feel very strongly about and I wanted to share it with the elected members. I speak my mind - some people like it, some people do not.

“I have supported Holocaust Memorial Day every single year and I will continue to do that. But if there are other similar atrocities going on, not just in Gaza, I will say they are not acceptable.”

Coun Mulla’s email was passed to the Lancashire Telegraph by a member of the council who did not want to be named.

It is called “Holocaust Survivors and was sent to all Blackburn with Darwen councillors on the evening of January 19.

It contains pictures of 1930s and 1940s Germany and puts them next to modern-day images of the Gaza conflict.

The introduction to the email says: “The grandchildren of Holocaust survivors from World War II are doing to the Palestinians exactly what was done to them by Nazi Germany.”

As revealed by the Lancashire Telegraph earlier this month, the 14 county council staff, who came from different departments within County Hall, were suspended after sending or receiving the email.

Disciplinary hearings have yet to take place and unions are acting on behalf of some of the workers.

It is now understood bosses took action after a worker discovered the content on a colleague’s email account.

Blackburn with Darwen council leader Michael Lee said he could not remember whether he had received the email from Coun Mulla, but did not believe any action had been taken.

He added: “I have not seen it so I don’t want to comment.”

But one of the suspended workers, who did not want to be named, said: “If they have sent it round they should be in the same boat.

“It wasn’t meant to be offensive towards Jewish people, it was about the state of Israel. We know we shouldn’t have forwarded it on because it’s not related to work.”

Union bosses said the revelation weakened the case against the suspended staff.

Les Parker, who has been a Unite union rep at County Hall for 40 years, said: "People have been suspended for receiving this email.

"If you follow Lancashire County Council's principle, the whole of Blackburn with Darwen council should be suspended.

"Have you heard anything more ludicrous in your whole life?

"None of my members are involved - but I would be pointing out that a pillar of society had sent this email without any comeback whatsoever.

"If it's good enough for him, it's good enough for these guys. Or is it one rule for them up there and one rule for us down here?"

Mr Parker said he believed the email's content was "political", rather than of a racist nature.

He added: "I am quite adamant nobody should be suspended. They are using a sledgehammer to crack a nut."

County Council leader Hazel Harding said the latest revelation did not alter the county hall investigation.

She said: “We have standards that we expect for people at work in terms of their behaviour.

"That has nothing to do with what a member of the public may think is acceptable in their own time and is not influenced by anything externally.

"Our investigation is continuing.”

Comments(32)

samspence says...
8:05am Mon 27 Apr 09

MICHAEL LEE SEEMS TO BE A BIT ABSENT MINDED.