4 days ago
UK Islamic summer camp ‘risks radicalising children'
A summer camp sponsored by an Islamic charity accused of backing Iran could expose children to extremist views, it has been claimed.
The camp, run by the Ahlulbayt Islamic Mission (AIM) charity, is aimed at children aged nine to 14, with activities including climbing and abseiling along with 'lectures and discussions'.
AIM describes Camp Wilayah, which is set to take place in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, next month, as an 'amazing place to enjoy the outdoors, make new friends, learn and build on Islamic values'.
It promotes the four-day camp as 'a unique opportunity to explore your true potential amidst the serenity of nature and an Islamic ambience!'
Girls who attend are required to wear the hijab and are segregated from the boys, other than for daily prayers, talks and a team photo.
In an indication of the kinds of activities children at Camp Wilayah are likely to take part in, one AIM video posted on Instagram shows a group of young boys and girls drawing and colouring in Palestinian flags and watermelon symbols.
The children, described as Mahdi's Little Believers, can also be seen making kites – in an apparent reference to the paragliders used by Hamas on October 7 to attack southern Israel.
Legal lobby group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) criticised the activities shown as 'symbolically connecting very young children with nationalist resistance. This exploitation of cultural education is a way of embedding ideological allegiance at a formative age'.
In social media posts AIM, based in Cricklewood, north-west London, repeatedly praises the leader of Iran's theocratic regime, Ayatollah Khamenei, declaring that his books are 'an excellent source of knowledge and a great read', and refuses to condemn Hamas. It also posted material shortly after the October 7 attacks stating that 'the Zionists brought this disaster upon themselves'.
There are now calls for Camp Wilayah to be banned over 'urgent safeguarding and counter-extremism concerns' for the children attending.
UKLFI warned that it 'is being hosted by a group that openly promotes the revolutionary Islamist ideology of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei'.
It has written to Brent council, where AIM is based, and Hertfordshire council, where Camp Wilayah is to be held, warning councillors: 'There is compelling reason to believe that the event may be used as a platform to radicalise children, incite hatred or violence, and glorify terrorist ideology.'
The group goes on to claim that 'of particular concern is AIM's use of social media to disseminate extremist content that is anti-Semitic and conspiratorial'.
One video, titled 'Know Thy Enemy' features a speaker describing Jews as the 'harshest', 'squatters', 'settlers' and 'violent', while accusing Israel, the so-called 'squatter state', of having a policy of murdering children. It also calls moderate Muslims who may be tolerant of Israel 'filth'.
'Other posts glorify and encourage martyrdom and justify Hamas's 7 October 2023 atrocities by reframing them as legitimate acts of resistance, omitting any mention of attacks on civilians, and likening Gaza to Nazi concentration camps. Countless posts accuse Israel of genocide and liken it to apartheid.'
A UKLFI spokesman said: 'AIM's deep ideological alignment with the Iranian regime and its record of extremist propaganda presents an unacceptable risk to children. We hope the local authority and other agencies will act decisively to protect vulnerable young people from exposure to harmful and radicalising content.'
Lord Walney, the government's former extremism adviser, has raised his concerns over plans to stage Camp Wilayah this summer, saying: 'We cannot allow propaganda and influence from this theocratic dictatorship to be spread to children in the UK.'
He added: 'It is deeply alarming that schoolchildren are being taken to these camps. This raises further questions about the influence of Iran here in the UK.'
Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, has said that children should not be allowed to attend camps run by supporters of the Iranian regime.
The concerns over Camp Wilayah come after Parliament's intelligence and security committee (ISC) warned on Thursday that the threat of physical attacks by Iran on the UK now matched that of Russia.
The committee found that Iran's intimidation, including the fear of attacks on British Jews and Iranian dissidents living in the UK, was comparable in scale to the threat posed by Russia.
AIM has run Camp Wilayah, which costs £180 per child, for a number of years. Pictures of the 2017 camp posted online 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'.
Brent council told The Telegraph it had begun its own 'analysis' of Camp Wilayah and AIM's activities and was 'making its relevant partners aware'.
A spokesperson for Hertfordshire county council said: 'We are aware of concerns around this planned activity camp, and we are working with partners to understand the situation and whether it raises any safeguarding issues.'
AIM has been contacted for comment. It has previously defended its role, stating: 'The Ahlulbayt Islamic Mission serves communities in Britain. Unlike the roughly 3,000 Zionist organisations in the UK, it neither takes orders from nor represents the interest of any foreign power.
'We are proud of our record in opposing the 140-year Zionist campaign of genocide against the people of the Levant, which has included forced displacement, ethnic cleansing and indiscriminate aerial bombardment, among many other crimes.'
