By World Israel News Staff
A convicted Islamist terrorist and anti-Israel activist who has spread false accusations regarding the IDF is planning on running for a seat on the Birmingham City Council as part of an independent pro-Hamas ticket.
The terrorist, 60-year-old Pakistani-born Shahid Butt, is set to run as part of the Independent Candidates Alliance, established by activists Akhmed Yakoob and Shakeel Afsar in 2024 with a pro-Hamas platform.
Butt will represent the list in a race for Birmingham’s overwhelmingly Pakistani Sparkhill ward.
“With the help of Allah, with your support and with these guys behind me, I know we are going to take this,” Butt told supporters in a video statement announcing his candidacy.
The alliance aims to siphon Muslim votes away from the ruling Labour Party, which is widely perceived to have alienated British Muslims since it came to power in 2024, in part over the government’s refusal to impose a complete arms embargo on Israel.
Despite his terrorist conviction, Butt hopes he will be able to ride growing resentment towards Labour to victory in the May 7 election.
In his 30s, Butt became involved in a terrorist cell working under the direction of Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, also known as Abu Hamza, a radical Islamist preacher who orchestrated a series of attacks.
After plots to bomb a British diplomatic facility, a hotel, and a church in Yemen were foiled, Butt was arrested and jailed for five years.
He later claimed that he had been convicted on the basis of a confession extracted through torture.
However, Butt had previously been jailed for violence, having been a member of a Pakistani street gang in Birmingham in his youth.
Openly hostile towards Israel, Butt has accused Israeli soldiers of being “baby killers,” and last November called on Muslims to rally in protest of a planned soccer match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
