London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 11, 2025

Report clears UK’s largest Muslim charity of institutional anti-Semitism despite controversy over hateful posts on social media

Report clears UK’s largest Muslim charity of institutional anti-Semitism despite controversy over hateful posts on social media

An independent review has found that UK’s leading Muslim charity, Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), is not rife with anti-Semitism, despite a string of controversies over comments made by its high-ranking staffers last year.

“We found absolutely no evidence that the reputational issues that have arisen over the conduct of a few individuals has had any link to the way IRW carries out this charitable work,” Dominic Grieve, who led the review, said.

"On the contrary, the charity has made a lot of effort to ensure there isn’t anti-Semitism, and I saw no evidence of it among staff whatsoever."


Grieve said IRW’s work was “marred by the reputational problems generated by the behaviour of a few individuals who have been putting their personal opinions” ahead of the charity’s mission. He acknowledged that the group has since improved its social media and vetting policies.

Ihab Saad, the chair of the IRW’s board of trustees, said the review and recommendations made by the investigators “will help us become an even more effective humanitarian organisation going forward.”

Grieve, a former Tory MP and former attorney general for England and Wales, was appointed as the chief of the commission to investigate the UK’s largest Muslim charity last year after three of its senior staffers resigned due to anti-Semitic comments they had made online.

In 2020, IRW trustees Heshmat Khalifa and Almoutaz Tayara stepped down after the British media unearthed posts they wrote on social media in 2014 and 2015 before taking jobs at the charity. Khalifa had called Jews the “grandchildren of monkeys and pigs.” Tayara posted a cartoon that depicted former US president Barack Obama with a Star of David emblazoned on his necktie. He also referred to Hamas’ military wing, which is listed as a terrorist group by the UK and the EU, as “heroes.”

IRW denounced these remarks as “unacceptable,” and an entirely new board of trustees was appointed.

The third staffer to leave IRW was its network and resource development director Tayeb Abdoun, who resigned in November. He was said to have been making anti-Semitic tweets under a fake name. Abdoun endorsed terrorist attacks against the Israelis, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Separately, the charity’s co-founder Hany El-Banna was heavily criticized for labelling the Yazidis, a religious group in the Middle East, “devil worshippers” in one of his videos. In November, El-Banna apologised on Twitter for the “offence caused by unfortunate use of words when referring to Yazidi people.”

The UK government has suspended its funding of IRW due to the controversy, as did the German government. The US State Department cut ties with the group earlier this month.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
Pig Heads Left Outside Multiple Paris Mosques in Outrage-Inducing Acts
Nvidia’s ‘Wow’ Factor Is Fading. The AI chip giant used to beat Wall Street expectations for earnings by a substantial margin. That trajectory is coming down to earth.
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
On the Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s Death: Prince Harry Returns to Britain
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
×