Members of a government-funded Muslim ‘anti-extremism group’ which was lauded by the Prime Minister have been found to have made homophobic and anti-Semitic comments on social media.
The Birmingham-based charity Odara is a Muslim women’s group claiming to promote integration. It is believed to have received over £150,000 of taxpayers' money through the government’s counter-extremism Prevent programme for the work it does in running workshops for women.
Last year, Theresa May, then home secretary, said she was “proud” to support the group “working to stand up against the extremists who seek to divide us”.
But according to a Daily Mail report, Aysha Iqbal, leader and co-founder of Odara, and outreach worker Tasmiyah Bint Naeem were both found to have made numerous comments on Facebook that were anti-Semitic and homophobic in nature.
Iqbal posted conspiracy theories claiming a series of mass shootings, including the US Sandy Hook massacre, were committed by Israel. Alongside a video entitled, “Israel did Sandy Hook, Newtown CT School Massacres says Michael Harris”, she wrote: “Truth be told.”
Bint Naeem made homophobic comments on the social media site, saying she would not “be in the company of those that are gay”.
She posted a video claiming 9/11 was an “inside job”, alongside the caption: “Watch and think.”
She also appeared to make anti-Semitic comments – in one she said “may Allah destroy Zionists”. She repeatedly used the word “Zionist” to describe Israelis – a term considered by many to be anti-Semitic in some contexts.
These views have now been taken off their Facebook pages.
