A pro-Palestine campaigner who repeatedly criticised Israel during the Al Quds march in London earlier this year will not be facing prosecution for hate speech.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism reported Nazim Ali, an Islamic Human Rights Commission speaker, to the police after he made several anti-Israel and anti-Zionist comments during the march in June, but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has found that he has no case to answer.
Mr Ali says he has been fully vindicated and is a victim of the pro Israel lobby.
Zionists took particular offence when Ali said: “Some of the biggest corporations who are supporting the Conservative Party are Zionists. They are responsible for the murder in Grenfell. The Zionist supporters of the Tory Party.”
A CPS spokesperson said: “We considered whether offences of inciting racial or religious hatred or a public order offence had been committed, in line with the tests set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors. We concluded that the evidential test in the Code was not met and therefore no charges have been authorised.”
However, Mr Ali now faces a private prosecution by the Campaign Against Antisemitism but the Islamic Human Rights Commission has vowed to support him.
Pro-Israel lobby
Following the CPS’s decision, he issued the following statement:
“In the name of God, the most compassionate, most merciful:
“As some of you may be aware, following al-Quds day 2017, a number of false and malicious accusations were made against me by a number of pro-Israeli organisations / journalists. They alleged that my political opposition to Israel and Zionism amounted to hate speech, incitement, terrorism and a public order offence.
“I believe that opposition to Israel and Zionism is a legitimate political position held by many in this country. At al-Quds day, I was chanting alongside Muslims, Jews, Christians as well as people of all faiths and none. We gathered to show our solidarity with the Palestinian people and our opposition to the state of Israel. I was seen chanting alongside Jewish rabbis, ‘Judaism Yes, Zionism No!’
“Despite the legitimacy of our position, a media campaign was started against me, journalists targeted my employers and they published numerous articles making wild allegations, followed by malicious complaints to the police – all part of the same campaign to silence al-Quds day.
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