Two councillors sent an “intimidating letter” to thousands of colleagues threatening to publish the names of anyone who was opposed to a ceasefire in Gaza.
The “abhorrent” message was sent to all 19,102 councillors in England and Wales alleging that anti-Semitism had been “weaponised” to silence those who opposed Israeli actions in the wake of the Oct 7 attacks.
The Local Government Association (LGA) said the letter “went against everything it stood for” and confirmed it was urgently investigating.
The co-authors of the letter, Cllr James Giles, an independent, and Conservative Cllr Jamal Chohan, wrote to members on Sunday asking them to sign a public letter calling for a ceasefire.
In it, the pair, both from Kingston Council, in south-west London, wrote: “To be clear and stating the obvious, anti-Semitism is wholly unacceptable.
“However, this term cannot continue to be weaponised to absolve Israel of any accountability in how it has contributed to the ongoing tensions and its failure to comply with international law.”
‘In the interest of accountability’
The councillors said that they would be publishing a list of all the people who supported the ceasefire, although anyone who “feared retribution from their parties” could be anonymous.
They then added: “We will also be publishing the names of those who have been invited to sign but choose not to, in the interest of accountability.”
The pair later backtracked after being confronted by a wave of angry responses from councillors who said the letter was “dangerous at a time when councillors were already feeling under intense pressure”.
One anonymous Labour councillor told The Telegraph she had already spoken to police after receiving death threats for her stance on the conflict.
She added: “Councillors are public property, we live in our communities, many people know where we live.
“We don’t get the same level of protection that MPs get, however, and we don’t have police protection when we are meeting the public.
“It has made me think about whether it is even worth being a councillor. The allowance is pitiful; we do it because we want to help our residents. But is it worth being this scared?”
She described the letter as “performative”, adding: “As a council, we had just been talking about safety measures that could be implemented for councillors and then this letter came out.
“The people that wrote it will know we are not protected and are saying they will name the people who don’t agree with their bullying tactics. It’s abhorrent.”
She added: ‘We are all aware of what happened to Jo Cox and David Amess and what we feel now is this fear of the unknown. There is this anger out there and we don’t know what is going to happen.’
‘Big opinions and small brains’
A number of councillors, including Barnet Conservative Alex Prager, shared his response to the letter on social media.
He wrote: “If you serve your residents as a local councillor with the same passion as you perpetuate anti-Semitic tropes, you’d be doing them a real service.”