A Labour councillor has refused to apologise to Newcastle United Football Club (NUFC) for posting an image of ISIS fighters waving the club’s emblem on social media.
Newcastle City Councillor, Dipu Ahad, posted a photo-shopped image on Twitter and Facebook of Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) fighters holding the Premier League team’s crest.
The image, which was not created by Cllr Ahad, shows three men, with guns and wearing balaclavas, holding a flag with NUFC’s logo with the text, “New Islamic State jihadist accidentally packs wrong black flag”.
Cllr Ahad who represents Elswick Ward said he posted the picture writing “Toon Army!” without any intention of causing offense and was in fact making fun of ISIS.
He said to 5Pillarz: “Newcastle United fans are the most committed and loyal in the world and we have stuck by the club thick and thin.
“Managing Director of NUFC, Lee Charnley has asked for an apology. I am not going to apologise to NUFC, however If I’ve upset any fans, I whole heartedly, unreservedly apologise as this wasn’t my intention to do so.
“The intention of the tweet was to mock extremists, this was very clear on the tweet, however the opportunist far right stirred it up and made it look as though I’m a supporter of extremism, which you can see on their Facebook page, and the media jumped on it as usual.”
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Criticism
The Twitter account for Parklands Ward, run by councillors in the Newcastle area, tweeted: “The Chairman of Newcastle’s Holocaust Memorial Day working group has deleted tweet linking Toon Army to what looks like armed Jihadists.”
Twitter users and the English Defence League (EDL) on Facebook criticised Cllr Ahad for posting the image linking the Al Qaeda splinter group to NUFC.
Steve Wraith, presenter of Toon Talk Radio, said he thought it was ill advised considering Cllr Ahad’s position.
“As a councillor you are in the public eye, you have to be careful what you tweet and put out there,” he said.
“We are all susceptible of putting something out without thinking, it is hard to criticise a councillor in that respect. He should have thought clearly about it, if I was in local government I would think twice about being on Twitter.”
Steve added: “I am sure he is probably regretting it now, I presume there was no malice, from his perspective it was a joke.
“I did not take offence, it happens on a regular basis, these things happen.”
Cllr Ahad said he noticed the image was being circulated widely on social media when he decided to post it himself, thinking it would not cause controversy.
Targeted for being Muslim
Cllr Ahad told 5Pillarz that he felt that he was being targeted for being a Muslim involved in politics.
He said: “As a Muslim who’s in politics, I feel as though I’m constantly targeted and made a scapegoat, not only by the far right but by many others.
“I’ve always been honest and upfront which has made many uncomfortable, but I’m not going to change my ways for anyone, as I believe my religion teaches me the fundamental principles of being honest and a good human being.
“Some of my Labour colleagues in Newcastle are very principled; this was evident recently with their tireless campaign with regards to the situation in Gaza.
“I am now going to seriously consider if I’m going to stand again next year as a councillor, and I’ll make my final decision in November. This isn’t because of pressure from anyone, but because of my integrity being questioned constantly.
I do feel as a Muslim I am scrutinised a lot more than others, I might be wrong, but that’s how I feel.
I am not perfect, and I do make mistakes, maybe more than others.
All I want to do is serve the people to the best of my ability and do what is right.”
The post has since been removed from his Twitter account.
A council spokesman said: “The council has received a complaint under its corporate complaints process which it will be responding to shortly.”
