This is a cross-post from Stand for Peace
Hassan Farooq is a a “senior member” of the Newham Dawah Team, an East London-based organisation which works to spread the message of Islam. Newham Dawah Team is part of the Islamic Education and Research Academy (iERA) Network, and its officials regularly liaise with iERA officials such as Abdurraheem Green. The iERA is an extremist Salafi group, some of whose officials have been banned from the UK. Abdurraheem Green talks of a Jewish “stench” and advocates the killing of homosexuals.
Hassan Farooq was chosen to speak at the 2013 Holocaust Memorial Day event in City Hall, in front of politicians and London officials, including Jennette Arnold AM, Mayor of London Boris Johnson and the former Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.
Was Hassan Farooq a worthy speaker?
After taking a look at Farooq’s social media postings, it would seem most definitely not:
Farooq is even a passionate defender of the Woolwich terrorists who murdered British soldier Lee Rigby
When Farooq spoke at Holocaust Memorial Day, he did so as a student of Newham Sixth Form College (NewVic). Stand for Peace can reveal that the College has a history of promoting extremism.
In 2005, male members of the society recorded a prayer calling for the killing of Jews and the provision of support to terrorists.
In 2009, students at NewVic posted a video set to a violent nasheed, which featured the sounds of bombs exploding and calls for “war on the Jews”.
A Twitter account belonging to the NewVic Islamic Society posted extremist messages in 2013:
Muslim students have also taken to Twitter to raise their concerns over Hizb-ut-Tahrir control over NewVic student societies:
It is even claimed that one student was subjected to an exorcism in the NewVic prayer room: