ByMarcus Dysch, Marcus Dysch
Three universities have been slammed for hosting an extremist Muslim who has expressed antisemitic views. Sheikh Abdullah Hakim Quick has previously denounced Jews and homosexuals as "filth".
He was due to speak at King's College London yesterday after being invited by its Islamic Society.
The Qabeelat Al Shams group, a student section of the Islamic education group Al Maghrib Institute, asked him to appear at the University of East London (UEL) this weekend and at City University last week.
Sheikh Quick is an American who converted to Islam in 1970. He has previously given lectures saying homosexuals are "not natural".
Peter Tatchell, of lesbian and gay rights group OutRage!, said: "King's would not host a white supremacist.
"The complacent, hands-off attitude of the vice-chancellor is appalling. King's is not a safe place for Jewish and gay students when it facilitates a speaker like Sheikh Quick."
The Federation of Student Islamic Societies failed to comment on why Sheikh Quick had been invited to speak.
But a UEL spokeswoman said it was "obliged to allow freedom of expression" where it believed speakers would not break the law.
A City spokeswoman said: "It was agreed with the speaker that his content would adhere to the University's values and behaviours."
Chris Coe, a spokesman for King's, said the university had only just been made aware of the issue and would be investigating. However, he said that the Sheikh was speaking on ecology to the Islamic Society "with whom we have very good relations."