United Kingdom Conservative Party Vice Chairman Mohamed Ali saw echoes of his own family’s history when he visited those impacted by the October 7 Massacre in Israel in February.
The long-time advocate for Muslim-Jewish interfaith cooperation in the UK had watched a 47-minute video of the attack and visited the harried Israeli towns.
Israel “has a right to defend itself, and we need to get rid of this cancer that is Hamas.”Ali, who at the age of three fled with his family from ethnic cleansing and war in Somaliland, told The Jerusalem Post that he could see in Israel similar trauma to what “my mother suffered in having experiences of the war and the loss of life and family and property.”
Somaliland, said the politician, had to fight for its independence and to oust the dictator Siad Barre. It has faced diplomatic ostracization and reticence for international recognition, a challenge that Israel has also faced.
“I understand when you guys say never again, what that genuinely means, because we can’t ever allow what happened in the ‘40s and ‘30s to happen again,” said Ali. “The Israeli state has a legitimate right to exist, and when you threaten that, I think Britain will stand with you and defend you.”
The British people had extreme sympathy for what Israel had suffered, said Ali, and the government immediately condemned Hamas for the pogrom in the Gaza periphery.
“We stand behind you,” said Ali.
Ali said that the UK had shown that it is an ally to Israel with the Royal Air Force aiding in the interception of Iranian drones and missiles on April 13. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had also come out quickly in support of the Jewish State.
“It’s clear to me that our two nations share a strong relationship, and that’s going to continue regardless of what’s going on in the Middle East at the moment,” said Ali. “I think these attacks from the Iranians will draw us closer together.”
The strong relationship between the two countries is based on values that both Israel and the UK Conservatives hold dear, fairness and freedom. Ali praised Israel for contributing so much in “terms of the agriculture and other projects that you guys are doing in Africa and the developing world.”
These same values drew Ali to the Conservative Party. Growing up in Cardiff on a council estate as the eldest son in the family, he had been burdened with some of the duties of the father figure.
“I grew up in this place where my mother had to adapt to a new way of life, a new language,” said Ali. “We didn’t have much, but we made the best of what we did have. My mother believed in education and community, the values of the Conservative Party. That’s how I find myself in the Conservative Party.”
Ali ran for Parliament for Cardiff North in 2019, and while he wasn’t elected, then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson invited him to become party vice chair, a role usually reserved for elected parliamentarians.
“I’ve been in the role ever since, serving three prime ministers now,” said Ali. ‘It’s been a tremendous honor.”
With the ethic of the elder brother role, Ali described how he had extended his sense of responsibility to his local community, Wales, and across the country. Even before he had entered politics, Ali had been “ championing community causes and interfaith initiatives, bringing people together.”
Importance of ties between Jews and Muslims
Ali made Jewish friends when he moved to London. He said that it was bizarre that people didn’t focus more on the similarities between Islam and Judaism. His friendships led him to believe that it was important to deepen ties between the two communities, and that the two would be stronger together. He said that without the Jewish community in the UK, extreme far-right anti-Muslim elements would disallow convergent practices.
“I sat on the Metropolitan Police Advisory Board, tackling hate crimes against communities and bringing communities together to work on some of those issues. When there have been attacks in Israel or other parts of the world affecting the Jewish or Muslim communities, I brought people together here in the United Kingdom to say, ‘This is not in our name,’” said Ali.
“I’ve built these contacts with the Jewish Leadership Council, I’ve been really close with the Conservative Friends of Israel, a number of other Muslim organizations, bringing people together, rabbis and Imams, doing mosque visits, going to synagogues with Muslim community. So it’s been a journey that I’ve gone down for well over 10 years now and something that I’ve enjoyed and I am depressed to see how things have deteriorated here in the UK since the attacks on Israel on October 7.”
Ali said that a small population of radicals entrenched in anti-Israel rhetoric had scared off those that had been doing work on behalf of the communities.
“So much has happened, and the communities seem to be both heading in the wrong direction,” said Ali. “I think it’s going to take a decade again to build back that trust that we once had. I think we will get back there, but it’s going to be a tall order.”
Ali said that he would continue to work to build those interfaith ties, potentially as a member of parliament. While the Conservative Party is facing strong challenges from rivals, he hoped to be standing at the next election. If elected, he said that “you’ll have a strong Muslim friend in the House of Commons that will speak up for the State of Israel.”
He also hoped “that once the community starts coming back to the kibbutzim seeking to rebuild, I’ll come out and lend a hand.”