The Muslim sister of Zac Goldsmith has criticised his London mayoral campaign which has been described as the most Islamophobic in British election history.
Jemima Goldsmith, the ex wife of Pakistani politician and former cricketer Imran Khan, tweeted: “Sad that Zac’s campaign did not reflect who I know him to be – an eco friendly, independent-minded politician with integrity.”
The tweet came shortly after another tweet congratulating Sadiq Khan on his victory. She said he was the “Ist Muslim Mayor of London – a city for all cultures, backgrounds & religions. A great example to young Muslims.”
Goldsmith’s Tory colleague, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, also called Goldsmith’s campaign “dog whistle” and said it lost them the election, their reputation and credibility on issues of race and religion.
During the campaign Goldsmith was accused of gratuitously exploiting anti-Muslim prejudice in order to win the election.
He sought to portray Sadiq Khan as the pawn of “Islamic extremists.” He tried to link him to the views of people he had defended as a human rights’ lawyer, or shared platforms with when he was director of Liberty.
David Cameron used parliamentary privilege to link Khan to Sulaiman Gani who he falsely smeared as a supporter of ISIS.
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Goldsmith also penned an article for the Mail on Sunday – accompanied by a photo from 7/7 – arguing a triumph for Khan would be a “catastrophe” because of the threat of terrorism. And he used racial profiling to target Gujarati Indians to falsely claim Khan would tax family jewellery.
