On 12^th April 2019, Jewish News publicised several UK-based imams visiting Israel as part of tour arranged by Journey2Jerusalem. The Imams were:

• Imam Musharraf Hussain al-Azhari – Chief Executive of Karimia Institute and former vice-chair of the Association of Muslim Schools
• Imam Asim Hafiz – Muslim Chaplain to the British Armed Forces
• Shaykh Ghulam Rabbani – Founder of Faizan-e-Islam, Chair of the British Muslim Alliance and Spokesperson for Jamaat-e-Ahle Sunnat UK
• Shaykh Mohammad Asrar – Senior Lecturer at Al-Jamia Suffa-Tul-Islam, Bradford and Imam at Bilal Mosque in Leeds

The tour organisers also arranged to meet Rabbi David Rosen, International Director of Interreligious Affairs for pro-Israeli lobby group AJC. Roshen has invited the imams for a second visit this September.

AJC boasts of their praise by Benjamin Netanyahu on their website:

“AJC has truly become a global player… and a powerful advocate for the Jewish people and the Jewish state.”

AJC also boasts of training young people to defend Israel on college campuses and are actively tackling the BDS movement against Israel.

It’s shocking that such high-profile Imams are meeting with individuals that are active in supporting a racist apartheid state.

All they have achieved is soft propaganda win for the Israeli state.

*ACT NOW*

Tweet or message organisations these imams represent and ask them:

• Do they regret their imams meeting with Israeli lobbyists in Israel?
• Will they confirm their representatives will not go to Israel to meet Israeli lobbyists in September?

Imam Musharraf Hussain: Karima Institute

Shaykh Ghulam Rabbani: Faizan-e-Islam and Jamaat-e-Ahle Sunnat UK

Shaykh Mohammad Asrar: Masjid Bilal  and Bradford Grand Mosque

CAMPAIGN UPDATE:- 02/05/2019:-

Of the back of the pressure that came from our action alert, Musharraf Hussain, Head of Karimia Institute published the following response.

There are a number of things wrong with his post.

1) “Negativity by a few individuals” downplays the severity of the issue. It also ignores the anger this is causing in the Muslim communities.

2) He dodges the question of whether he will go back and meet the same lobbyists in September. Infact, he does not mention it at all.

3) If he really wanted justice for Palestinians, he would not meet with the likes of Netanyahu and those actively working against the non-violent BDS movement.

4) This is not about Jews and Muslims. This is about oppression of the Palestinians. So why bring up the issue of British Muslims and British Jews working together?

We also know, Hussain has been deleting comments that express disappointment with his response on his own Facebook profile. This in itself, shows contempt of being held accountable. Are these the kind of Imams we want leading our community?

It’s clear the pressure is working, please respond to @officialkarimia and hold them to account. 

CAMPAIGN UPDATE:- 08/05/2019:- 

A member of the public brought to our attention the below tweet.

Vivian Aisen describes herself in her Twitter bio as a “Diplomat & Director of Public Diplomacy at the Embassy of Israel in the UK.”

She has tagged the Israeli Foriegn Ministry and the Israeli Embassy in London into her tweet.

This is a cast-iron proof that theses imams are being used as soft propaganda for the apartheid, racist state of Israel. A precedent by the Muslim communities need to be set, otherwise this will continue and become normalised.

Whether they were aware that a member of the Israeli state was escorting them on their tour or not, they need to come out condemning how they are being used as propaganda tools and publicly commit to not going back to Israel in September.

We ask members of the public to continue to put pressure on theses imams, and if not done so already, action our campaign alert.

CAMPAIGN UPDATE:- 15/05/2019:-

5Pillars investigated the story and found out that Ed Hussain was behind organising the trip. Ed Hussain used to work with Quilliam and has his views has not changed since, especially in support for Israel.

Middle East Monitor (MEMO) also covered the story.

CAMPAIGN UPDATE: 28/05/2019:- DR NORMAN FINKELSTEIN SLAMS THE IMAMS WHO WENT TO ISRAEL AND CHAMPIONS MPACUK’S CAMPAIGN

Norman Finkelstein made a series of public posts on his Facebook page demanding his following to put pressure on these imams to cancel their all expenses trip to Israel in September.

The reaction was both of angry Muslim and pro-Palestinian activists, but also expressions of dismay and shock from Palestinians themselves living in West Bank & Gaza. But will these imams come out publicly and do the right thing?

If you haven’t actioned our campaign alert, you can do so above.

CAMPAIGN UPDATE: 03/06/2019:- AFTER MOUNTING LOCAL AND NATIONAL PRESSURE, DR MUSHARRAF HUSSAIN PUBLISHES A 2ND STATEMENT CONFIRMING HE WILL NOT GO TO ISRAEL IN SEPTEMBER

Dr Hussain also expressed dismay at being “attacked” and his intentions misunderstood for going to Israel.

We would like to remind Dr Hussain that we asked two simple questions.

1. Why did you go to Israel and why did you meet Israeli lobbyists active in the oppression of Palestinians?
2. Will you go back in September to meet them as Jewish News reported you were invited

How is asking questions for accountability being “attacked”, unless you find those simple questions deeply uncomfortable?

In his first response (posted above), he had no reply or concern to the above two questions and dismissed it as a “negative comments”. This, undoubtedly angered people and caused the pressure to build up against him. People deserve answers.

Similarly, in his 2nd statement, he only addressed the bare minimum, making no mention of meeting International Director of Interreligious Affairs of AJC, Rabbi David Rosen or the fact the Israeli embassy officials stated they lead to the tour.

At the same time, he mentioned the trip was in the “interest of justice and peace for the Palestinians”, but that’s contradicted by the fact Israeli Embassy officials led the tour and Ed Hussain helped organise it.

Whilst it’s positive he confirmed he will not go back in September, the Israeli state has already used them as soft propaganda. The damage is done. What amends will he make for the Palestinians? Will he publicly endorse BDS?

Also, will Shaykh Ghulam Rabbani and Shaykh Mohammad Asrar now come out and do the right thing? Or will they keep stalling?

CAMPAIGN UPDATE: 02/07/2019:- DR SHADEE ELMASRY TAKES TO HIS FACEBOOK AND TWITTER TO DENOUNCE THE IMAMS WHO WENT TO ISRAEL

Dr. Elmasry posted on the 29th June 2019, pointing out the obvious: “whoever pays your meal eventually dictates your politics”.

Countless people have told these imams the same thing, but they did not listen. Will they listen now? Will Mohammad Asrar and Ghulam Rabbani come out publicly to explain why they went and commit to not going back in September?

CAMPAIGN UPDATE: 24/07/2019:- SHAYKH MUHAMMAD ASRAR CONFIRMS HE WILL NOT GO BACK TO ISRAEL IN SEPTEMBER. 

Shaykh Asrar is now the second Imam who went to Israel, explicitly expressing he will not go back. That only leaves Shaykh Ghulam Rabbani, who has not responded at all to the thousands of Muslims, concerned and angry that he went. Will he finally see that what he has done was wrong?