Thread by @habibi_uk

Some Islamist and far-left activists would have you believe that Keir Starmer pulled out of a "Ramadan Tent" event merely because the group's founder and CEO Omar Salha calls for a boycott of Israeli dates. There's much more to it than that. But even the dates story is nasty. 1/8

A month ago, Salha promoted a boycott call by "Friends of Al Aqsa", a fanatical Israel hatred outfit headed up by Ismail Patel. It is no stranger to controversy, to say the least.

In 2017, Sajid Javid, then Communities Secretary, called it on its record. 2/8

Writing to Ismail Patel, he noted "concerns that your organisation and those connected with it have expressed public support for a proscribed organisation, namely Hamas, and that you have supported events at which Hamas and Hizballah – also proscribed – have been praised”. 3/8

Well, indeed. Patel is very keen on Hamas. So keen that his ugly arrogance makes him think he can decide who speaks for Jews. These are his words: 4/8

He is particularly fond of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. He has called him "proud and dignified" and said "Western leaders can neither match nor relate to Haniyeh's stature as a politician and a human being".

Here he is meeting his hero in Gaza. 5/8

Patel and "Friends of Al Aqsa" have long promoted some of the worst antisemites. Gilad Atzmon. Israel Shamir. Roger Garaudy. Stephen Sizer. Khalid Amayreh. And, of course, the Bristol professor David Miller, whose "Spinwatch" venture bagged a £10,000 grant from Patel's group. 6/8

Nor was Salha's backing a one-off. "Palestine Expo" is another operation of Ismail Patel. It prompted Javid to speak up in 2017. Did Salha listen? Of course not. Here he is, "delighted" to be invited to speak at the event two years later. 7/8

Keir Starmer did the right thing. On this count alone. This kind of "new management" is just what the party needs. It is also exactly what a country scarred for years on end by by Islamist extremism and antisemitism deserves. 8/8