March against far-Right exploited by radical Muslim charities
Tens of thousands of protesters will descend on central London this Saturday in an event organised by the Together Alliance
Tens of thousands of protesters will descend on central London this Saturday in a march organised by the Together Alliance to “
stop the far Right”.
The group claimed to have the support of seven million people as well as celebrities including Sir Lenny Henry, Steve Coogan and Paloma Faith and about 60 MPs.
However, among their supporters are groups and individuals who described the rape and mass slaughter of Israelis on
Oct 7 as a “lie” and said Zionists “love killing” and “love genocide”.
The Campaign Against
Antisemitism warned many participants in Saturday’s march risked “unwittingly aligning themselves” with extremist individuals and questioned why the Together Alliance had endorsed the support of these groups.
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Among the supporters of the march is the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), a group founded by
Muhammad Sawalha, who is alleged to be a former Hamas military chief.
Singer Paloma Faith will be joining the march Credit: Jeff Spicer/BFC
Mr Sawalha obtained British citizenship in the 1990s but continued to
work for Hamas, where he discussed “revitalising” terrorist acts in Israel, according to a US department of justice indictment in 2004.
Anas Altikriti, who is listed as a director with “significant control” of MAB on Companies House, described the Oct 7 attacks as a “lie”. He added that the taking of hostages was a “very important part” of “any act of resistance”.
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An open letter signed by 49 campaigners, including Lord Young of Acton, founder of the Free Speech Union, Baroness Hoey of Lylehill and Rathlin, a former Labour MP, and Katharine Birbalsingh, a leading school headmistress, also criticised the march.
They warned the Together Alliance was an “elitist” organisation that wrongly viewed anyone who loved Britain as “harbouring fascist tendencies”.
Writing for The Telegraph, they said: “We think many readers will agree with us that the true motivation behind these genteel-sounding, allegedly inclusive campaigns is less to unite us around bland slogans than to divide us along sharply partisan lines, with anyone not espousing their prescribed ideology
condemned as far-Right.
“These groups preach unity but are the first to demonise the majority of British citizens who are indeed fair-minded but also concerned about the
effects of uncontrolled immigration and the onset of communal voting in council and parliamentary elections.
“In the eyes of these groups, expressing such concerns is a sure sign of
affiliation to the ‘far-Right’, and love of country is tantamount to harbouring fascist tendencies.
“We think that the patronising and dangerously divisive language that is being used about the public and political opinions and organisations that are simply Right of centre, or not even that, is enormously problematic for Britain.”
‘Israel’s favourite game’
The march is also being supported by the Palestine Solidarity Movement, a grassroots campaign based in Bournemouth. At a rally in 2025, its secretary general, Feda Shahin, said genocide was “Israel’s favourite game”. She added: “Zionists specifically love killing, they love genocide.”
She went on to claim that before the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were killed, “Zionists had killed 20 million Christians”.
Alongside Ms Shahin, Friends of Al Aqsa, a Leicester-based pro-Palestinian lobbying organisation, is also backing the march.
It was founded by Ismail Patel, who has publicly voiced support for Hamas, despite the group being a proscribed organisation. He has previously said “we are all Hamas” and referred to a Hamas gunman who killed an Israeli civilian as a “martyr”.
The Finsbury Park Mosque, a charity in north London, is also listed as a supporter of the Together Alliance. Its chairman described the founder of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, as “the master of martyrs of the resistance”.
A spokesman for the
Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “This well-intentioned campaign against the far-Right is being tainted by certain problematic and even extremist individuals and organisations who are backing it.
“Participants may now be unwittingly aligning themselves with people who have praised the abhorrent actions of the terrorist group Hamas as ‘resistance’ and vilified Zionists as people who ‘love killing’. Such rhetoric is plainly at odds with the call for ‘unity against division’ which the march is meant to be about.”
A spokesman for the MAB said: “Our focus is on the very real challenges facing our nation today, including the rise of the far-Right, the spread of hate and division, and the growing pressures affecting the daily lives of ordinary people across the country.
“This weekend’s march brings together a broad coalition of civil society organisations, trade unions, faith groups and community leaders who believe Britain is stronger when we stand together against hatred in all its forms.
“Attempts to drag this conversation into yet another cycle of culture-war dog whistles serve to distract from those urgent issues. At a time when communities across the country are concerned about rising economic insecurity and social division, the priority must be building solidarity between communities, not fostering division.”