UK Muslim Summer Camp Teaches Antisemitism, Glorifies Terrorism

A legal advocacy group is raising alarms that a summer camp, operated by an Islamic charity with ties to Iran which has hosted am Imam who said that the Holocaust was “justified,” could expose children to extremist Islam, the British Telegraph reported.

The camp, organized by the Ahlulbayt Islamic Mission (AIM) charity, targets children aged nine to fourteen, offering a blend of outdoor pursuits like climbing and abseiling alongside “lectures and discussions.”

AIM promotes Camp Wilayah, slated for Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, next month, as “an amazing place to enjoy the outdoors, make new friends, learn and build on Islamic values.” The organization further highlights the four-day camp as “a unique opportunity to explore your true potential amidst the serenity of nature and an Islamic ambience!”

An image promoting the camp, posted by the Ahlulbayt Islamic Mission on its website, showcases young participants, referred to as “Mahdi’s Little Believers,” engaged in activities such as drawing and coloring Palestinian flags and watermelon symbols. Additionally, the video shows children crafting kites, which appears to be a veiled reference to the paragliders employed by Hamas during the October 7 assault on southern Israel.

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), a legal advocacy group, sharply criticized these activities, stating they are “symbolically connecting very young children with nationalist resistance. This exploitation of cultural education is a way of embedding ideological allegiance at a formative age.”

The legal group further alleges that “of particular concern is AIM’s use of social media to disseminate extremist content that is anti-Semitic and conspiratorial.”

This includes a video titled “Know Thy Enemy” where a speaker describes Jews as the “harshest,” “squatters,” “settlers,” and “violent,” while accusing Israel, referred to as the “squatter state,” of having a policy of murdering children. The video also labels moderate Muslims who might tolerate Israel as “filth.”

“Other posts glorify and encourage martyrdom and justify Hamas’s 7 October 2023 atrocities by reframing them as legitimate acts of resistance, omitting any mention of attacks on civilians, and likening Gaza to Nazi concentration camps. Countless posts accuse Israel of genocide and liken it to apartheid.”

AIM, based in Cricklewood, North-West London, has a history of social media posts praising Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, even recommending his books as “an excellent source of knowledge and a great read.” The group also noticeably refrains from condemning Hamas. Its Instagram account features several videos of Khamenei speaking.

Calls are now mounting for Camp Wilayah to be prohibited due to “urgent safeguarding and counter-extremism concerns” for the participating children.
UKLFI has issued a warning that the camp “is being hosted by a group that openly promotes the revolutionary Islamist ideology of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.”

The group has formally written to both Brent Council, where AIM is registered, and Hertfordshire Council, the location for Camp Wilayah, cautioning councillors: “There is compelling reason to believe that the event may be used as a platform to radicalise children, incite hatred or violence, and glorify terrorist ideology.”

A spokesman for UKLFI emphasized their concerns, stating: “AIM’s deep ideological alignment with the Iranian regime and its record of extremist propaganda presents an unacceptable risk to children. We hope the local authority and other agencies will act decisively to protect vulnerable young people from exposure to harmful and radicalising content.”

Lord Walney, formerly the government’s extremism adviser, has also voiced his apprehension about Camp Wilayah, asserting: “We cannot allow propaganda and influence from this theocratic dictatorship to be spread to children in the UK.” He added: “It is deeply alarming that schoolchildren are being taken to these camps. This raises ­further questions about the influence of Iran here in the UK.”

The Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) issued a warning on Thursday, indicating that the threat of physical attacks by Iran on the UK now rivals that posed by Russia. The committee concluded that Iran’s intimidation tactics, including fears of assaults on British Jews and Iranian dissidents residing in the UK, are comparable in scale to the threats emanating from Russia.

AIM has operated Camp Wilayah, which costs £180 per child, for several years. Online photographs from the 2017 camp show the attendance of Hasan Ali al-Taraiki, a cleric linked with AIM. In a YouTube interview from a year ago, al-Taraiki claimed that the persecution of Jews by Germany and European countries had been “justified at the time.”

Brent Council informed The Telegraph that it has initiated its own “analysis” of Camp Wilayah and AIM’s activities and is “making its relevant partners aware.” A spokesperson for Hertfordshire County Council also commented: “We are aware of concerns around this planned activity camp, and we are working with partners to understand the situation and whether it raises any safeguarding issues.”