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Leanne Mohamad knocks on a car's window and asks if she can “count on your support”.
In a response she could not have stage-managed better, the man in the passenger seat whips out one of her general election campaign leaflets and gives a big smile of approval.
Ms Mohamad is pounding the streets of Ilford North to gain support in the east London constituency where she is standing as an independent candidate against the Labour Party's Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary.
The British-Palestinian is one of a number of independents running against Labour candidates in constituencies where there are a significant number of Muslims, galvanised by anger at the party’s stance on Gaza.
The refusal by party leader Keir Starmer to back an unconditional ceasefire, and a radio interview in which he appeared to suggest it was acceptable for Israel to withhold power and water from the territory, has meant one in five Muslim voters are set to turn away from the party, polling shows.
About four in five UK Muslims voted for Labour in the 2019 general election.
Seeing hundreds of thousands of people marching gives us hope because people haven’t forgotten about us
Leanne Mohamad
Ms Mohamad, who grew up in the area, has come to prominence as a regular speaker at the pro-Palestinian marches that have been taking place in central London since the Israeli incursion into Gaza following the Hamas attack of October 7.
“As a British-Palestinian, Gaza has resonated hugely,” she told The National.
“What's happened is something that's unforgivable. We told Labour, we warned them that we would hold them accountable at the ballot box. Labour has absolutely abandoned us and betrayed our views on Gaza.”
But while Gaza has been the catalyst for her campaign, she is also bringing issues such as the National Health Service, poverty and a lack of opportunities for young people into play. The aim is to attract traditional Labour voters, as the party nationally has moved to the centre in a bid to defeat the Conservative Party government of Rishi Sunak.
On a rainy evening, The National caught up with Ms Mohamad’s campaign as she walked the streets of her constituency, knocking on doors and handing out leaflets.
Leaning down to smile at a baby, then posing for a selfie with a passer-by, the 23-year-old seems to have an ease in dealing with strangers that belies her short time in politics.
“Nobody can deny Gaza has brought about an awakening but my community is suffering and I’ve seen that as a youth worker and as a food bank volunteer,” she said.
“I've seen working people, families and pensioners, who are all struggling to make ends meet. So I’m standing on a number of issues, not just Gaza.”
Turning her attention to Mr Streeting, she said: “What I've been hearing from people is that he has been locally invisible, not in the area, he has not represented their views.”
Mr Streeting, who is from London and went to Cambridge University, has held the seat since 2015. The party’s health spokesman has a high national profile as he promises to reform and save the “broken NHS”. But he is also part of a front bench suffering a backlash over Gaza.
“When many people implored him to vote for a ceasefire [in Gaza], he refused,” she said, referring to the House of Commons motion held in November in which a number of Labour MPs rebelled against the party's official stance.
“He's also the shadow health secretary and many local doctors I've been speaking to here in Ilford North are very worried about the future of our NHS in the hands of Labour.”
The constituency has a Muslim population of 23 per cent, which puts it outside the top 20 seats with the highest number of Muslims.
Ms Mohamad insists her campaign is aimed at “all faiths and none”.
The seat is on the fringes of London, where the cultural melting pot of the city meets the more suburban areas of the county of Essex.
With city dwellers traditionally leaning towards Labour, and those further out backing the Conservatives, the seat has swung between the two parties since it came into being in 1945.
Ms Mohamad, whose grandparents were forced out of their homes in the city of Haifa in 1948 and made refugees, is a graduate of King’s College London. She worked in human rights and policy advocacy but has put that on hold for the general election campaign.
She was first in the public eye back in 2016 when, aged 15, a video of her giving a winning speech in a public speaking competition was taken down after she was accused of “vicious blood libels against the state of Israel”.
She told the story of her one-year-old refugee cousin, who had not been given treatment for severe heart disease “because he was Palestinian”, and then died.
Ms Mohamad says what is happening now in Gaza has parallels with what her grandparents experienced.
“My grandparents never thought they would see something like this in their lives, it’s worse than 1948,” she said.
“I think that's why now, for us it's a huge shock. Seeing hundreds of thousands of people marching gives us hope because people haven’t forgotten about us. But at the same time there’s absolutely no words for what’s happening.”
Knocking on doors, she seems to have a fan in the shape of Salim Patel, whose family come with him to greet her.
“We used to support the Labour Party but Palestine is a big issue,” he told The National, while holding a campaign poster to stick in his window.
“I’ve heard her speak before, outside the town hall, and I was very impressed. I’ve told her guys I can volunteer.”
At a separate address, Ammara Patel, 23, is another disillusioned voter who says she will also be supporting Ms Mohamad.
“The Labour Party is no longer the Labour Party, their views have changed too dramatically,” she said.
But it’s not all plain sailing and one man who she stops in the street puts her on the spot about her views, in a frosty but friendly encounter.
“What’s the top three things you will do if you get in, without looking at that,” said the man, who declined to be identified, pointing to the leaflet.
“Giving our community a voice in Westminster,” she replies before he cuts her off with a sarcastic: “That’s your biggest thing?”
Both smiling, the pair spar as the man talks about wanting better access to his doctor, dismissing her answers as “generic”.
Eventually he concedes that he’s “convinced that you have everything good in mind” and “you're doing it for the right reason”.
“But my objection to generally voting for independents is, they're very limited in what they can achieve,” he tells her.
Ultimately the pair agree to disagree but it’s a reminder that candidates sometimes need a thick skin as well as ideas.
Back at the home of her local organiser, volunteers out canvassing had earlier gathered to be briefed about what to say on the doorstep.
Matthew Simpson, 32, was a former Labour Party member who quit over what he said was its “disgusting” handling of Gaza.
He was there with his dog Jeremy, named in honour the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was suspended and then expelled from the party after choosing to run as an independent against its official candidate in north London.
“I first saw Leanne when I was at the protests in central London and she’s an amazing speaker so I was really impressed,” he told The National.
“I love her story. She’s part of the community and volunteered at the local youth centre.”
Ms Mohamad appears to be relishing the campaigning and despite the odds insists she can pull off what would be a seismic political upset.
“I’m actually really enjoying it. We’re hoping to win and I’m putting 100 per cent effort into winning,” she said.
Destroyer
Director: Karyn Kusama
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Toby Kebbell, Sebastian Stan
Rating: 3/5
UAE release: January 31
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
INDIA'S%20TOP%20INFLUENCERS
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Under 19 Cricket World Cup, Asia Qualifier
Fixtures
Friday, April 12, Malaysia v UAE
Saturday, April 13, UAE v Nepal
Monday, April 15, UAE v Kuwait
Tuesday, April 16, UAE v Singapore
Thursday, April 18, UAE v Oman
UAE squad
Aryan Lakra (captain), Aaron Benjamin, Akasha Mohammed, Alishan Sharafu, Anand Kumar, Ansh Tandon, Ashwanth Valthapa, Karthik Meiyappan, Mohammed Faraazuddin, Rishab Mukherjee, Niel Lobo, Osama Hassan, Vritya Aravind, Wasi Shah
Brief scores:
Everton 2
Walcott 21', Sigurdsson 51'
Tottenham 6
Son 27', 61', Alli 35', Kane 42', 74', Eriksen 48'
Man of the Match: Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur)
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Small%20Things%20Like%20These
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Tim%20Mielants%3Cbr%3ECast%3A%20Cillian%20Murphy%2C%20Emily%20Watson%2C%20Eileen%20Walsh%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Mubalada World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule
Thursday December 27
Men's quarter-finals
Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm
Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm
Women's exhibition
Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm
Friday December 28
5th place play-off 3pm
Men's semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm
Saturday December 29
3rd place play-off 5pm
Men's final 7pm
TICKETS
For tickets for the two-day Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) event, entitled Dubai Invasion 2019, on September 27 and 28 go to www.meraticket.com.
Company%20profile
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The specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 217hp at 5,750rpm
Torque: 300Nm at 1,900rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh130,000
On sale: now
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Under 19 World Cup
Group A: India, Japan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka
Group B: Australia, England, Nigeria, West Indies
Group C: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Scotland, Zimbabwe
Group D: Afghanistan, Canada, South Africa, UAE
UAE fixtures
Saturday, January 18, v Canada
Wednesday, January 22, v Afghanistan
Saturday, January 25, v South Africa
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
WHAT ARE NFTs?
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are tokens that represent ownership of unique items. They allow the tokenisation of things such as art, collectibles and even real estate.
An NFT can have only one official owner at one time. And since they're minted and secured on the Ethereum blockchain, no one can modify the record of ownership, not even copy-paste it into a new one.
This means NFTs are not interchangeable and cannot be exchanged with other items. In contrast, fungible items, such as fiat currencies, can be exchanged because their value defines them rather than their unique properties.
THE SPECS
Aston Martin Rapide AMR
Engine: 6.0-litre V12
Transmission: Touchtronic III eight-speed automatic
Power: 595bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh999,563
Last-16
France 4
Griezmann (13' pen), Pavard (57'), Mbappe (64', 68')
Argentina 3
Di Maria (41'), Mercado (48'), Aguero (90 3')
LIKELY TEAMS
South Africa
Faf du Plessis (captain), Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock (wkt), Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Lungi Ngidi.
India (from)
Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wkt), Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
