https://www.thejc.com/news/news/tax...hat-host-hate-preachers-IBsV7BlPgLnXfsJaiHnle
The Government has vowed to stop giving taxpayers’ money to mosques that host antisemitic hate preachers after a JC investigation revealed that at least four had received grants totalling millions of pounds.
The largest grant was a £2.2 million award to a Birmingham mosque which has hosted a speaker who has described Jews as “people of envy” who “killed the prophets and the messengers”.
In a viral video, its leading imam was filmed teaching how adulterous women should be stoned to death. The money has now been “paused” pending official inquiries.
Three other Muslim centres with a history of offering pulpits to extremist speakers have also received large sums, the JC can reveal.
Finsbury Park Mosque in north London, which hosted an Egyptian imam who pledged to “liberate” Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem from the “filth of the Jews”, received almost £300,000 from the Labour-controlled Islington Council between 2017 and 2022.
The mosque’s general secretary, Mohammed Kozbar, praised Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the wheelchair-bound founder of Hamas who was killed by Israeli missiles in 2004, as a “martyr” on a visit to Gaza in 2015.
Lewisham Islamic Centre in south London, whose chief imam Shakeel Begg once called on young Muslims to “go to Palestine and fight the Zionists”, was given £540,000 between 2015 and 2020, in what its accounts describe as “local authority grants”.
Following the revelations, Communities Secretary Michael Gove and Home Secretary Suella Braverman are demanding tighter “due diligence” checks by both central and local government, the JC understands.
A government source said: “All parts of government including councils are responsible for spending public money appropriately, so they must be far more careful about the organisations they support.
“It’s appalling that mosques and other religious organisations in receipt of taxpayer funding have provided platforms for extremist preachers to spread vile messages of hate.
“We will be taking action to improve due diligence and seek to exclude organisations that fail to deliver their responsibilities effectively.”
The measures that are being considered include a requirement that before granting public funds, both central and local government agencies must check with the Home Office and Levelling-Up departments for evidence that the recipient has sponsored extremism.
A High Court judge found that Begg, who has been imam of the Lewisham Islamic Centre since 1998, promoted “violence in support of Islam” during his failed libel action against the BBC in 2016.
Michael Adebolajo, who murdered Private Lee Rigby in a London street in 2013, was a member of his congregation, although Begg said the killing left him “appalled” and went against Islamic teaching.
In 2021, Begg attended an event at the Lewisham mosque where a speaker expressed support for rocket attacks on Israel, and was praised by the imam as “inspiring”.
Lewisham Council, which is Labour-controlled, claims to have no record of the £539,418 shown as being given to Begg’s mosque in its accounts.
Lewisham Islamic Centre’s 2022 annual report includes an endorsement by local Labour MP Ellie Reeves saying it does “absolutely brilliant work for the Lewisham community” and another by the borough’s mayor, Damian Egan, who described it as “a source of guidance, community and friendship”.
In early August the Department of Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS) was reported to have given £2.2 million towards a scheme run by the Green Lane Masjid in the Small Heath area of Birmingham….
The Government has vowed to stop giving taxpayers’ money to mosques that host antisemitic hate preachers after a JC investigation revealed that at least four had received grants totalling millions of pounds.
The largest grant was a £2.2 million award to a Birmingham mosque which has hosted a speaker who has described Jews as “people of envy” who “killed the prophets and the messengers”.
In a viral video, its leading imam was filmed teaching how adulterous women should be stoned to death. The money has now been “paused” pending official inquiries.
Three other Muslim centres with a history of offering pulpits to extremist speakers have also received large sums, the JC can reveal.
Finsbury Park Mosque in north London, which hosted an Egyptian imam who pledged to “liberate” Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem from the “filth of the Jews”, received almost £300,000 from the Labour-controlled Islington Council between 2017 and 2022.
The mosque’s general secretary, Mohammed Kozbar, praised Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the wheelchair-bound founder of Hamas who was killed by Israeli missiles in 2004, as a “martyr” on a visit to Gaza in 2015.
Lewisham Islamic Centre in south London, whose chief imam Shakeel Begg once called on young Muslims to “go to Palestine and fight the Zionists”, was given £540,000 between 2015 and 2020, in what its accounts describe as “local authority grants”.
Following the revelations, Communities Secretary Michael Gove and Home Secretary Suella Braverman are demanding tighter “due diligence” checks by both central and local government, the JC understands.
A government source said: “All parts of government including councils are responsible for spending public money appropriately, so they must be far more careful about the organisations they support.
“It’s appalling that mosques and other religious organisations in receipt of taxpayer funding have provided platforms for extremist preachers to spread vile messages of hate.
“We will be taking action to improve due diligence and seek to exclude organisations that fail to deliver their responsibilities effectively.”
The measures that are being considered include a requirement that before granting public funds, both central and local government agencies must check with the Home Office and Levelling-Up departments for evidence that the recipient has sponsored extremism.
A High Court judge found that Begg, who has been imam of the Lewisham Islamic Centre since 1998, promoted “violence in support of Islam” during his failed libel action against the BBC in 2016.
Michael Adebolajo, who murdered Private Lee Rigby in a London street in 2013, was a member of his congregation, although Begg said the killing left him “appalled” and went against Islamic teaching.
In 2021, Begg attended an event at the Lewisham mosque where a speaker expressed support for rocket attacks on Israel, and was praised by the imam as “inspiring”.
Lewisham Council, which is Labour-controlled, claims to have no record of the £539,418 shown as being given to Begg’s mosque in its accounts.
Lewisham Islamic Centre’s 2022 annual report includes an endorsement by local Labour MP Ellie Reeves saying it does “absolutely brilliant work for the Lewisham community” and another by the borough’s mayor, Damian Egan, who described it as “a source of guidance, community and friendship”.
In early August the Department of Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS) was reported to have given £2.2 million towards a scheme run by the Green Lane Masjid in the Small Heath area of Birmingham….
