Imams blame riots on Zionists

Several preachers use their sermons to discuss the motives of rioters after clashes between far-Right rioters and Muslim counter-protesters

Imams around the country are blaming the riots on “Zionists”, The Telegraph has found.
Several preachers have used their sermons at Friday prayer services in recent weeks to discuss the motives of rioters.
Many of these sermons took place during a week which saw violent clashes between far-Right rioters and Muslim counter-protesters.
The trend has been labelled “alarming” by campaign groups which have condemned the rhetoric as “divisive” and urged the charity watchdog to act.
Imam Ashraf Dabous at Lewisham Islamic Centre in south London claimed in his sermon earlier this month that those involved in the riots were being “misled” and “manipulated” by Zionists.
“It is quite well known now, publicly, due to information that has been released online, that they are Zionists and they are supporters of the state of Israel,” he said.
“And that with the ground that has been lost over the past few months something had to take place that would try to win some ground back for the Zionist agenda. And what better way than to paint the Muslims as being savages and killers and barbaric and so on and so forth – which in reality is a projection of the Zionist state itself.”
Meanwhile, worshippers at the Darussalam Education Centre in Blackburn were told that the “leaders” of the “acts of violence” during the riots were “Zionist people”, adding that “exposing them” as such was “very important”. The centre is understood to be investigating the matter.
At Masjid al Husayn, a Muslim community centre in Leicester known as MKSI Leicester, Sheikh Ali Abbas Malik addressed the rioting and explained that there is a “frustration” among the “white working class” as they have been “overlooked by everyone”.
He went on to say: “Then you have Zionists such as Tommy Robinson, paid by, supported by the fathers of all genocides, the Zionist regime, to perpetuate these ideas amongst them.”
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon, is the founder of the anti-immigrant English Defence League.
He left the UK at the end of July following his arrest under terrorism laws, but posted on X, formerly Twitter, more than 100 times as riots spread across the UK in early August.
At Kingston Muslim Association, Shaykh Mostahfiz Gani told those who had gathered for Friday prayers on Aug 9 that  “there is a link between Tommy Robinson and the IDF. There is a link between Zionists and the Right-wing fascists”.
And at Greenwich Islamic Centre, Haitham al-Haddad, the radical preacher, told worshippers that some of the rioters have a “Zionist” agenda and are attempting to “divert the attention” of the Government away from “condemning what the Zionist state Israel is doing”.
All of these mosques are registered charities, meaning they are governed by the Charity Commission.
Dr Paul Stott, head of security and extremism at the think-tank Policy Exchange, said that the trend of blaming the riots on Zionists is apparent at “opposite ends of the political spectrum” with figures on both the far-Left and the far-Right espousing the theory.
“This is an argument that doesn’t give much agency to those involved in the riots and committed criminal offences,” he said.
“Instead it shifts the blame and creates this image of Israel as puppeteers. It puts forward a view of Israel and the Jews as all-powerful and manipulative. Trying to put blame on Israel in one way is pretty desperate, in another it reeks of anti-Semitism.”
A spokesman for Campaign Against Antisemitism, the charity, said: “This pattern of blaming the riots on ‘Zionists’ is as alarming as it is prevalent.
“According to our representative polling, an overwhelming majority of 80 per cent of British Jews consider themselves to be Zionist, and only six per cent do not. They know what these preachers mean when they say ‘Zionists’.
“Religious leaders should be trying to ease communal tensions right now, yet those who invoke these tropes are doing exactly the opposite.
“We urge the Charity Commission to investigate any charities that platform this sort of extremist rhetoric and divisive rhetoric, and we are submitting complaints whenever cases are brought to our attention. They cannot be left unchallenged.”
A Charity Commission spokesman said: “We are aware of potential concerns at several charities relating to claims about the recent public disorder. We are assessing information to determine if there is a role for the Commission.” The individual charities declined to comment on the sermons.