George Orwell's magazine taken over by Muslim TV channel founder
George Orwell's former magazine has been taken over by the founder of a Muslim TV channel.
Tribune has traditionally been a key publication for the Labour movement, and Orwell served as literary editor for the magazine, which published leading writers including HG Wells and George Bernard Shaw.
The magazine, founded in 1937, has now been acquired by Mohamed Ali Harrath, chairman of the E Media Group, which owns the Islam Channel.
The channel, which was fined £40,000 by Ofcom in 2023 for broadcasting content the regulator found to be 'anti-Semitic' and 'highly offensive', is now run by Mr Harrath's son Mohamed Harrath, who acts as chief executive.
Mohamed Ali Harrath will serve as chairman for the newly acquired Tribune magazine, for which Labour MP Jon Trickett acts as an editorial adviser.
He said: 'A new future for Tribune should excite anyone who wants real change, and a better and brighter future for all.
'The editorial independence and the tradition of Tribune are assured, and I'm confident that it can become an even more powerful voice for the entire progressive Left, whether inside or outside the Labour Party, as well as for the huge numbers who feel they have no voice in politics and public life.'
Mr Harrath was granted refugee status by the UK in 2000 after fleeing Tunisia, where he had established the Tunisian Islamic Front, intended to provide non-violent opposition to Ben Ali's dictatorship. He founded the Islam Channel in 2004.
The Islam Channel announced the news of the new magazine acquisition, stating that the new deal for ownership of Tribune would continue a 'proud tradition of anti-fascism, anti-imperialism, and advocacy for peace and equality'.
Tribune plans to produce more issues than its current quarterly output, while also 'pursuing an ambitious expansion of its editorial mission', according to an editorial message on the magazine's website.
Mr Trickett, chairman of the Tribune advisory board, has welcomed the takeover.
He said: 'The UK is crying out for an alternative to the establishment media. The scourge of growing poverty alongside extreme wealth should be at the top of the news agenda.
'The voices of socialists, trade unionists, anti-racists, peace campaigners and anti-imperialists need to be heard far more loudly and clearly.'
The takeover comes after the Islam Channel was sanctioned by Ofcom for broadcasting the documentary The Andinia Plan, the name of a conspiracy theory that claims Jews made plans to establish a state in South America.
Ofcom found that the 'the theme of a world Jewish conspiracy is one which incites, promotes and justifies hatred based on anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli feeling across the globe, including in the UK'.
The channel has also been the subject of a complaint to Ofcom by Dr Taj Hargey, the director of the Oxford Institute for British Islam.
Dr Hargey, regarded as a liberal thinker within British Islam, has claimed that the channel consistently portrays Islam as under siege from an oppressive West, and presents Hamas, Iran and Islamist Jihadi groups as legitimate 'resistance' movements against Western democracies.
Ofcom said that it is 'assessing the complaints against our rules, but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate'.
The Islam Channel denied the accusations in an April rebuttal, adding that 'for many years, Islam Channel has been under sustained attack from elements of the UK media'.
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