Latest news with #Altikriti
Telegraph
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Muslim Association of Britain director called October 7 a lie
The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) has always denied being an extremist organisation, yet there can be little dispute as to the extremist views of its most 'significant' director. Anas Altikriti, who was president of the MAB from 2004 to 2005, has described the mass slaughter and rape of Israeli citizens on Oct 7 2023 as 'a lie' and called the taking of hostages 'a very important part' of any 'act of resistance'. The MAB has tried to distance itself from Mr Altikriti, saying he 'does not speak for, nor represent the views of the MAB'. Yet Companies House lists Mr Altikriti as not only a current director of the MAB, but also the only director designated as a 'person with significant control' of the organisation. The MAB was founded by Muhammad Kathem Sawalha, the former Hamas chief, and was one of the groups that organised a pro-Palestine march in London on Armistice Day, a month after the Oct 7 massacre. In a video recorded with the US imam Tom Facchine in Nov 2023, British Iraqi Mr Altikriti was asked about Hamas's taking of hostages. He said: 'The taking of hostages is a very important part of any strategic sort of military action or act of resistance or the such because for every hostage you can then negotiate. 'You have personnel who are vital and crucial at least in your thinking and your mind to your adversary, to your enemy, so it's a negotiating power. 'For the people of Gaza, for Hamas, for the resistance, call them as you may, a hostage is very, very valuable, and therefore they will be looked after, they will be cared for, they will be cared for even more than the actual citizens of Gaza simply because they provide cover for the resistance, they provide a negotiating card once the battle arrives at a point where people are sitting around the table or talking at least about some sort of deal. 'Therefore those hostages were taken by Hamas in order to negotiate more freedoms, more rights, the breakout of this prison that we call Gaza, this concentration camp that we call Gaza.' He has also made highly controversial statements on X, including a post on the day of the Oct 7 attack that said: 'What did we think was going to happen? That Palestinians would stay silent whilst forever subjugated, victimised, abused, violated, murdered and tortured?! 'This is for every time western governments stayed silent and whitewashed Israel's crimes and violations.' Rape and slaughter allegations 'a lie' In December 2023 he objected to the British government's designation of Hamas as a terrorist organisation and added: 'Allegations of rape made by Israel are false. It's a lie… 'Just like every other allegation made by Israel turns out to be a lie, including the mass slaughter of Israeli citizens on the 7th of October. That too was a lie.' Michael Gove proposed in Parliament last year that the MAB be considered for inclusion under a new definition of 'extremist' organisations. The MAB was founded in 1997 with the stated aim of helping British Muslims seeking to contribute positively within society. But according to a 2015 parliamentary report commissioned by the then prime minister Lord Cameron, the MAB was in its early days 'dominated' by the Muslim Brotherhood, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and three other countries, though not Britain. The report stated that: 'MAB has links to the Cordoba Foundation, a think tank which is associated with the Brotherhood (though claiming to be neither affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood nor a lobby organisation for it).' That link comes through Mr Alkitiri, who is the chief executive and founder of the Cordoba Foundation, which Lord Cameron described in Parliament in 2009 as a front for the Muslim Brotherhood. The report also said: 'MAB…have consistently opposed programmes by successive governments to prevent terrorism.'
Middle East Eye
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
UK police accused of being heavy-handed at protest against BBC coverage on Gaza
London's Metropolitan Police is facing accusations of being heavy-handed after three people were "violently" arrested for protesting outside the BBC's offices over the broadcaster's coverage of the war on Gaza. One protester told Middle East Eye that he was repeatedly punched by officers late on Tuesday after police attempted to carry out an arrest. "The way the police acted was so violent. I've never seen this level of brutality towards protesters before," Rajiv Sinha, the director of Hindus for Human Rights UK, told MEE. "A large group of officers made their way through the crowd in a single-file line to arrest one person. We started pushing back and began chanting 'this is repression' as they dragged the protesters away." Sinha said the police vastly outnumbered the small crowd, and highlighted footage posted online which appeared to show officers hitting some of those in attendance. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Youth Demand, one of the organisers behind the protest, accused the Metropolitan Police of "extreme policing". "We were met with extreme policing, but we held it together to rally against the ongoing genocide," the spokesperson said in a video posted on Instagram. Earlier this year, the police imposed restrictions banning protests outside the BBC during the national March for Palestine in January. Officers arrested several people for allegedly breaking these restrictions, including Chris Nineham, who serves as the national steward for the National March for Palestine and chairs the Stop the War Coalition. Ben Jamal, who chairs the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, was also called in for questioning. Both Jamal and Nineham pleaded not guilty to breaking the Public Order Act. Following the January protest, the police summoned several people for additional questioning, including Raghad Altikriti, who chairs the Muslim Association of Britain. Altikriti spoke to MEE after her police interview on Wednesday, where she condemned the police's attempts at intimidation. "It was not a pleasant experience being called in for standing up for justice and against oppression, especially when you know you have done nothing wrong," Altikriti told MEE. "Our strength is driven by the fact that we have been largely peaceful, with even statements by the police confirming that." A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police told MEE that three people were arrested and no restrictions were imposed. "One person was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker after an officer received minor injuries," the spokesperson said. "Two people were identified as wanted for conspiracy to commit public nuisance. They were both arrested. However, one of the suspects was later de-arrested."
Middle East Eye
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Police to question Muslim Association of Britain chair over Palestine solidarity protest
The Metropolitan Police has summoned one of the key organisers of the UK's Palestine solidarity protests over an alleged public order breach that took place at a rally earlier this year. Raghad Altikriti, who chairs the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), told Middle East Eye that she received a letter from the police requesting she attend a formal interview on Wednesday over a protest held in London on 18 January. Altikriti is one of several individuals who have been summoned by police over alleged public order offences. Letters were also issued to Stop the War coalition officers Lindsey German, Alex Kenny and Andrew Murray, and Friends of Al-Aqsa chair Ismail Patel. Altikriti described the upcoming police interview as an "act of intimidation" and claimed it was aimed at "making it difficult for people to speak out against this genocide." "We have a right to protest and it's important to defend our freedom to mobilise and speak up," she said. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters During the January protest, police banned protesters from gathering outside the BBC's Broadcasting House because of its close proximity to a synagogue. Police arrested the march's chief steward, Chris Nineham, and charged him with two counts of breaking the Public Order Act. Ben Jamal, the director of the UK-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign, was also among those arrested. Both pleaded not guilty to allegedly breaking the Public Order Act. A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said it was unable to confirm the identity of individuals being investigated. "As part of our ongoing investigation into alleged breaches of Public Order Act conditions on Saturday, 18 January we have invited a further eight people to be interviewed under caution at a police station," the spokesperson told MEE. "While we are aware of names being attributed to those who have been invited for interview, we do not confirm the identity of anyone under investigation." Criticism of protest policing At the time, police accused demonstrators of breaking through a police cordon in Trafalgar Square, a claim that organisers and protestors, including prominent politicians, strongly denied. Metropolitan Police faces fresh questions over crackdown on pro-Palestine protest Read More » Other individuals that were summoned included British-Egyptian actor Khalid Abdalla, 87-year-old Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and former Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell. Following the protest, more than 50 MPs and members of the House of Lords called on the government to order an investigation into the policing of the January protest. They said they were "deeply troubled" by obstacles put in place by the police ahead of the demonstration, and "aghast" at comments made by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley in which he said his force had "imposed unprecedented restrictions" on the protest. Signatories include Labour MPs Diane Abbott, Clive Lewis and Ian Lavery; Green MPs Sian Berry and Carla Denyer; and independent MPs, among them Zarah Sultana, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain and Imran Hussain. At the time, Green Party deputy leader Zack Polanski, a speaker at the rally, told MEE that the police's handling of the protest was a "shambles", adding that he "and thousands of others have been smeared by claims that we forced our way through" the police cordon.
