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Police launch Al Quds Day rally probe
Police investigate rally leader Nazim Ali over possible hate crimes and the display of Hezbollah flags at Sunday's march.
June 21, 2017 16:42
Police investigate rally leader Nazim Ali over possible hate crimes and the display of Hezbollah flags at Sunday's march.
June 21, 2017 16:42EXCLUSIVE
Claims made by an organiser of the anti-Israel Al Quds Day rally that Zionists were to blame for the Grenfell fire tragedy are now being investigated as a possible hate crime.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police have confirmed that they will review comments made by Nazim Ali – director of the self-styled “advocacy group” the Islamic Human Rights Commission which organised the annual march - during the two-hours he led supporters along the capital’s streets.
The Met also confirmed that they are conducting a second probe into whether an open display of flags of the banned terror group Hezbollah at Sunday’s march contravened UK terror laws.
Around 700 supporters attended the controversial rally which saw men, women, and many children wave the terror group’s yellow and green machine gun flag alongside banners bearing the words “We Are All Hizbollah”, and the website address for the IHRC.
A police spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we have received two allegations in relation to the Al Quds march on Sunday 18 June. The allegations relate to flags displayed during the march and alleged anti-Semitic comments. Detectives from Westminster CID are investigating. “
Meanwhile a spokesperson for the Charity Commission said they were investigating an online Google advert which suggested that the IHRC was a registered charity.
“The IHRC is not a charity nor is it registered with the Commission,” the spokesperson said. “We have contacted the IHRC to ask for its response to the content of the advert.”
On Sunday, the JC reported that Mr Ali, 48, had whipped up the 1,000 anti-Israel fanatics attending the march with a series of chants blaming the Grenfell Tower tragedy on “Zionism”.
He also called for Israel’s annihilation, and accused the Israel Defence Force of being a “terrorist organisation that murdered Palestinians, Jews and British soldiers.”
At one point he spotted pro-Israel counter-demonstrators carrying Israeli flags and ordered the march to halt, insisting that it would not move on until the “Zionist flag” was removed.
He said: “We are fed up of the Zionists. We are fed up of their rabbis. We are fed up of their synagogues. We are fed up of their supporters.”
Mr Ali has been listed as a director of the IHRC since 2003. He is also linked to a private healthcare centre in Chelsea, south west London. The part-time comedian has also expressed support for former Respect MP George Galloway in the past.
Hendon MP Matthew Offord, Labour’s Louise Ellman and Conservative Friends Of Israel president Lord Polack were among those to write to Home Secretary Amber Rudd to raise concern over the raising of Hezbollah flags following Sunday’s march.
