‘Pro-Iranian' children's camp axed amid extremism fears
AIM, which is based in Cricklewood, north-west London, has been accused of backing Iran's theocratic regime. In posts on social media, the charity has repeatedly praised Ayatollah Khamenei, the country's supreme leader, and described his books as 'a great read'.
The charity has also refused to condemn the terror group Hamas, and said in the wake of the Oct 7 2023 attacks on Israel that 'Zionists brought this disaster upon themselves'.
In an indication of the kinds of activities children at Camp Wilayah were likely to take part in, one AIM video posted on Instagram showed a group of young boys and girls drawing and colouring in Palestinian flags and watermelon symbols.
The children, described as Mahdi's Little Believers, could also be seen making kites – in an apparent reference to the paragliders used by Hamas on Oct 7 to attack southern Israel.
Pictures posted online of the camp show Hasan Ali al-Taraiki, a cleric associated with AIM, attending.
In an interview posted on YouTube a year ago, he said that the persecution of Jews by Germany and European countries had been 'justified at the time'.
He was pictured last year at a commemoration in north London for Ebrahim Raisi, a former Iranian president who died in a helicopter crash. Iranian dissidents were attacked as they protested peacefully.
'Punished simply for their faith'
Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, raised concerns that children should not be allowed to attend camps run by 'supporters of the Iranian regime'. There had also been opposition from local Reform UK politicians.
On Wednesday, AIM said it had cancelled the camp because of fears of threats to families and children taking part.
It said: 'No evidence of wrongdoing has ever been found at Camp Wilayah, yet our children are being punished simply for their faith.
'To attack such a wholesome and positive tradition is shameful, especially when threats are made by the Reform party to mobilise protests and disrupt children's camps.
'Not only is this despicable behaviour, but it is Islamophobia in plain sight, and it should alarm every member of society.
'In an age where far-Right hate is being normalised, it is more important than ever to stand together against prejudice in all its forms.'
UK Lawyers for Israel, which had said the camp's activities could be seen as 'symbolically connecting very young children with nationalist resistance' and 'embedding ideological allegiance at a formative age', welcomed the cancellation.
Call for background checks
Caroline Turner, the organisation's director, said: 'We are relieved that Camp Wilayah will not be going ahead.
'We were concerned for the safety of the children, and that event may be used as a platform to radicalise children, incite hatred or violence, and glorify terrorist ideology.
'We hope that in future there will be background checks on the organisations running children's camps, so this cannot happen again.'
Lord Walney, a former government adviser on extremism, also welcomed the decision, saying: 'It is right that this camp organised by a group sympathetic to Iran's extreme theocracy is not going ahead – there was a clear risk of kids being indoctrinated.
'No one should be taken in by the Ahlulbayt Islamic Mission's victim narrative, they are a world apart from the vast majority of moderate Muslims in Britain
'This episode shows why it is essential that the UK Government does not bring in a definition of so-called Islamophobia that could prevent vital scrutiny of potential extremism risks seeking to target British Muslims in the name of Islam.'
'Increased threat'
Security officials have warned of an increased threat from Iran, saying Tehran had used groups in the UK to spread its influence. Two London charities with links to Iran, Dar Alhekma Trust and Abrar Islamic Foundation are being investigated by the national terrorist financial investigation unit. They have denied any wrongdoing.
Police and MI5 have disrupted more than 20 assassination and kidnap plots linked to Iran since January 2022.
Earlier this year, counterterrorism officers arrested five Iranians suspected of plotting an attack on the Israeli embassy.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
32 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Labour's war on boomers: Gordon Brown stole your old age, now Starmer and Reeves plan to finish the job, writes RICHARD LITTLEJOHN
Shortly after Gordon Brown destroyed Britain's genuinely 'world-class' private pensions system, I dubbed him The Man Who Stole Your Old Age. Now it seems Surkeir and Rachel From Complaints are determined to finish the job.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
IAN WILLIAMS: Ministers blinded by Beijing's cash cannot see their dangerous folly
The warning from America is stark: selling Thames Water, Britain's biggest water and sewage business, to a Chinese company would be a 'national security threat' – or as Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, puts it, 'stupidity on stupidity'. That the Labour government cannot see the dangerous folly of handing China control of the capital's water supply – a necessity for 15 million people – beggar's belief. It is only four months since the Chinese owner of British Steel was accused of trying to sabotage the company's blast furnaces, potentially to undermine UK production and increase reliance on imports from China. There have been multiple warnings about the need for vigilance in the face of industrial scale Chinese cyber espionage as well as influence operations to undermine our democracy. The world is becoming more dangerous – to a large extent because of China's behaviour. Yet ministers seem unable or unwilling to see beyond the cash – seemingly oblivious to the risks that come with inviting China into sensitive corners of the economy. Ministers are reportedly preparing to take struggling Thames Water into temporary public ownership, with Hong Kong-based CK Infrastructure (CKI) a leading contender to then take it over. CKI already has investments in British firms, including UK Power Networks, Northumberland Water and Northern Gas Networks. It also has a 65 per cent stake in UK Rails, which leases rolling stock to Britain's railway companies. Surely this is reason for caution, especially as relations with China deteriorate and Beijing seeks to exert greater control over CKI's parent company, CK Hutchison Holdings (CKH). The US government has raised the alarm over CKH, which controls ports at either end of the Panama Canal, because Washington fears the firm could hand China control of the vital waterway. In March, CKH agreed to sell the ports to an American-led consortium, but the deal has effectively been vetoed by Beijing, which has threatened CKH's business interests in China unless it takes on a partner closely linked to the Chinese Communist Party. CKH is headquartered in Hong Kong, which for a long time was a relatively autonomous place for business, free from the heavy hand of Beijing. No more. Hong Kong is now darkly repressive – as the trial and pending prison sentence of 77-year-old pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai, a fierce critic of China, will surely attest. Burner phones and throw-away laptops are commonplace for visiting foreign executives, fearing surveillance. Companies based in the former British colony cannot escape laws that oblige all Chinese firms do the Party's bidding on demand when it comes to issues of 'national security' – an infinitely elastic concept in China. As Beijing deepens its partnership with Russia, underwriting the Ukraine war, and grows increasingly hostile to the West, its 'Trojan horse' investments look dangerous and foolhardy. Selling Thames Water will be the first big test of the Labour government's 'China audit', which was supposed to forge a more coherent policy with this rising power. That followed disastrous decisions to invite firms linked to Beijing into sensitive industries, such as nuclear power and advanced telecoms. They were reversed only after political outcry – and American pressure. Sir Keir Starmer now claims to be trying to balance security concerns against economic opportunities. To sell Thames Water to a Chinese company would show how little he has learned.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Anthony Albanese erupts over Trump ambassador Mike Huckabee's 'disgust' at Palestine move
The Prime Minister has returned fire at a US diplomat, throwing his words back at him to defend Australia's recognition of Palestine. Australia on Monday revealed it would join other Western nations, including the UK, France and Canada, in recognising a state of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly in September, in response to the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Mike Huckabee, who was appointed America's ambassador to Israel by President Donald Trump in April, said the US was taken aback by the move, and stressed there was an 'enormous level of disappointment and some disgust' over the announcement. But Anthony Albanese backed Australia's decision, saying the continued human suffering in Gaza had disgusted the nation. '(Mike Huckabee) is an ambassador of a country - not Australia - to another country,' he told ABC Radio on Friday. 'My job is to represent Australia's interest and Australians have been disgusted by what they see on their TV every night. 'When you have children starving, when you have children losing their lives with families queuing for food and water, that provokes - not surprisingly - a human reaction.' Mr Huckabee also criticised the timing of the statehood announcement. 'What Australia and the other countries may have done inadvertently is to push Israel towards doing exactly what they're afraid of,' he told ABC's 7.30 program on Thursday night. 'The result of this has been to completely halt any type of thoughtful negotiations going forward.' Almost 150 out of the 193 UN member states already recognise the state of Palestine. While the ambassador said the US got 'no heads up' about Australia's decision, Foreign Minister Penny Wong did inform US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ahead of it being made public. Mr Albanese also spoke in advance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a tense phone call. Liberal senator Jane Hume claimed Americans on both sides of politics had been shocked by Australia's decision on statehood. 'This decision by the Labor government has bewildered the Americans, that (the government) essentially departed from years of a strong alliance between Israel and America and Australia to make this decision unilaterally,' she told Seven's Sunrise. The Coalition has pledged to reverse Australia's position if it wins the next election. Australia's decision to recognise a Palestinian state was fuelled in part by Israel's newly unveiled plans to occupy Gaza City and came after at least 90,000 people marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in support of Palestine. 'There have been tens of thousands of people suggesting this is not the way forward. You just can't continue with the same pattern without an endpoint,' Mr Albanese said. 'The endpoint has to be to isolate Hamas.' The conditions for Australia's recognition include assurances that the designated terrorist group Hamas, which controls Gaza, plays no role in a future state. Many within the pro-Palestine movement say recognition will do nothing to change the situation on the ground, urging the government to go further and impose sanctions on Israel. Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed almost 62,000 Palestinians, including 18,000 children, since October 7, 2023, according to local health authorities. It began after Hamas's invasion on October 7, 2023, when it killed more than 1200 Israelis and took about 250 people hostage. Not all of the hostages have been released.
