Reverend Alan Green is the rector of St John on Bethnal Green in London. He seems to enjoy being naughty. From the church’s profile:
Father Alan was born in 1956 and brought up in Brighton. He attended his local church, St Wilfred’s, from an early age and, after being thrown out of Sunday School for continued misbehaviour, joined the church choir. This regular involvement gave him a fascination for worship that has never diminished!
….
At that point he returned to England to go to a selection conference for ordinands which concluded that whilst he might make a good priest, he certainly should not be recommended (being thrown out of Sunday School all over again). After two years working at the Lichfield Diocesan Youth Retreat Centre, the selectors relented and he went on to two years ordination training at Lincoln Theological College – where he learnt to fire-eat.
Green has been a defender of the East London Mosque. For example, last month he was one of the signatories of the malicious letter which bracketed reasoned critiques of the mosque and the Islamic Forum of Europe with the English Defence League. Here (pdf) you will see him attacking the work of journalist Martin Bright:
The leaders of the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre have always been vital allies in our ongoing work to promote diversity and mutual respect.
…
The London Muslim Centre has an impressive range of programmes to encourage Muslims – especially the young – to participate fully in our democratic society and understand the dangers of extremism.
If a man smears critics of a mosque that has long welcomed all sorts of extremists as Islamophobes and fascists, it is easier to understand why his church will host this event on Friday:
Gaza Boat Convoy Event: April 16, London
7pm Friday 16th April
at St John on Bethnal Green
– LIVE VIDEO LINK UP with GAZA musicians and speakersfrom London side:
– Caoimhe Butterly (eyewitness to Gaza massacre as volunteer on ambulances)
– Sameh Habeeb (journalist and speaker from Palestine)
– Viva Palestina convoy members
Sameh Habeeb is of course the hate publisher who runs the Palestine Telegraph. Are you interested in blood libels, Gilad Atzmon, no end of troofery on 9/11 and much more, and Holocaust mockery? Mr Habeeb is your man.
The event will raise funds for an aid convoy from Turkey to Gaza. The operation is led by IHH, a Turkish charity. IHH was an important organiser of Viva Palestina’s last convoy to Gaza. It serves Hamas. As IHH reported at the time:
On the first day in Gaza, the activists handed in keys of the donated vehicles to Ahmed al-Kurd, the minister of social affairs of Gaza, and medical materials and medication to Bassem Naim, the minister of health. Naim pointed to vital significance of medication and medical materials and thanked the donors.
Activists visit Palestinian parliament
Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister of Hamas government in Gaza, received convoy participants at his office during the day and addressed them at the Palestinian Parliament building at night. He presented the 500 activists shawls decorated with the Palestinian flag and his personal signature. Most of the activists took souvenir photographs with Haniyeh.
Ahmed al Kurd and Bassem Naim are senior members of Hamas. This is how the US Treasury describes al Kurd and the Al Salah Society, a Hamas group he used to head:
The Al-Salah Society is directed by Ahmad Al-Kurd, a recognized high-ranking Hamas leader in Gaza. Al-Kurd’s affiliation with Hamas goes back over a decade. During the first Intifada, Al-Kurd served as a Hamas Shura Council member in Gaza. As of late 2003, Al-Kurd was allegedly the top Hamas leader in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza. Since mid-2005, he has served as the mayor of Deir Al-Balah, elected as a Hamas candidate.
The Al-Salah Society has employed a number of Hamas military wing members. In late 2002, an official of the Al-Salah Society in Gaza was the principal leader of a Hamas military wing structure in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza. The founder and former director of the Al-Salah Society’s Al-Maghazi branch reportedly also operated as a member of the Hamas military wing structure in Al-Maghazi, participated in weapons deals, and served as a liaison to the rest of the Hamas structure in Al-Maghazi. At least four other Hamas military wing members in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza were tied to the Al-Salah Society.
This is IHH’s president, Bülent Yildirim, with Hamas leader Haniyeh during the convoy visit.
Here he is again, presenting plans for the upcoming convoy. The man in the beige suit is Mohammed Sawalha, the UK-based fugitive Hamas commander who also plays an important role in Viva Palestina.
Almost certainly this convoy led by IHH, like all three Viva Palestina convoys before it, will provide direct support to Hamas and do everything it can to promote the terrorist group in politics.
Oh well, I suppose Reverend Green’s hosting of a Hamas fundraiser and an antisemitic hate publisher in his church will help some people to “understand the dangers of extremism”.
