IHRC has written to the Telegraph condemning the publication’s gratuitous attack on a Muslim summer camp claiming that it is a training ground for Islamic extremism.

The article, published in the Telegraph on 12 July, amplified allegations by UK Lawyers for Israel that a summer retreat run by the Ahlulbayt Islamic Mission is radicalising young people.

It adduced no evidence for UKLFI’s claims that the camp gives rise to concerns over children’s safeguarding, public order and terrorism.

In a letter https://www.ihrc.org.uk/letter-to-telegraph-re-uklfi-attack-on-muslim-summer-camp/ to the editor IHRC has lambasted the article, the latest in a series which seeks to vilify Muslim civil society organisations, for framing as extremist a camp that has operated without any issue for many years.

“The camp in question, run by the Ahlulbayt Islamic Mission (AIM), has operated lawfully for years, providing children with a space for recreation, learning, and community. To cast suspicion on this initiative based on religious expression or pro-Palestinian sentiment is not safeguarding—it is discrimination.”

The letter points out the irony of UKLFI suggesting that children making kites, an innocent and universal childhood activity, is somehow sinister and linked to the activities of Hamas while the organisation itself has justified the genocide in Gaza and even suggested that the deliberate starvation of Palestinians will help reduce their obesity rate.

it should be remembered that UKLFI is the same organisation that lobbied to remove Palestinian children’s artwork from public view at a London hospital in 2023. To pretend that they are acting in childrens’ interests is plumbing new depths of morality, even by their already very low standards.

UKLFI effectively acts as the attack dog of a genocidal state and for the Telegraph to publish their claims so unquestioningly also draws attention to its possible motives.

UKLFI also wrote to Brent council, where AIM is based, and Hertfordshire council, where Camp Wilayah is to be held. in response to these letters, IHRC has written to both these councils drawing their attention to UKLFI’s politically charged agenda.

“By falsely invoking the spectre of extremism, UKLFI seeks to deprive British Muslim children of their right to enjoy summer holidays. It is essential that UKLFI be recognised for what it truly is: a propaganda organisation working in the interests of Israel, dedicated to silencing any criticism—in this instance, targeting a children’s summer event organised by a group that openly supports the Palestinian cause,” state the letters which can be read here and here.

[ENDS]

For more information or comment please contact the Press Office on (+44) 208 904 0222  or (+44) 7958 522196 or email media@ihrc.org
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