Green councillor suspended from mosque role

A Green Party councillor and magistrate has been suspended as chair of the biggest mosque in Bristol as the Charity Commission look into pro-Hamas social media posts. 

Jewish News has previously detailed how Cllr Abdul Malik shared a video of a Hamas press conference in the wake of its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Earlier this year he was given a formal warning for serious misconduct by a judicial watchdog in relation to his role as a magistrate for sharing the Hamas video.

Now Malik, chair of the Easton Jamia Masjid mosque, has confirmed he has  been  “temporarily suspended” while the “Charity Commission reviews a historic social media matter”.

He also said he faces a “review” in relation to his activities while chair of the influential mosque.  It is understood that the charity watchdog are looking into Malik’s social media posts as part of a wider investigation into the mosque, which is a registered charity.

In a post on social media Malik said: “This is an administrative process, not a finding of wrongdoing, and I continue to cooperate fully with the Commission to resolve it as quickly as possible.”

Confirmation of the probe will raise further questions over the Green Party’s conduct in relation to complaints about Malik.

Former co-leader Carla Denyer previously accepted Malik’s initial claim that he unwittingly shared an 18 minute long Hamas press conference after being tagged into the video.

Denyer had also continued to campaign for Malik and appeared on his leaflets during the local elections, telling the Guardian that she was “satisfied” his case had been “dealt with.” After he was elected in Bristol Malik was also promoted by the Greens Group to a cabinet role on the council.

But the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO)  found that Malik had “failed to exercise due care and diligence” and his actions “had a detrimental effect” upon the “reputation of the magistracy”.

A nominated JCIO committee member also found that Malik’s initial denial of responsibility for the post “was publicly discredited and compounded the damage caused by the initial sharing of the post”.

Prior to joining the Greens, Malik previously served as a Liberal Democrat councillor for four years, and also stood as a parliamentary candidate for the party in Bristol East.

He also briefly joined the Labour Party but was told he would not be selected as a candidate. Friends say he also attempted to join the local Conservatives.

In April, the Labour Friends of Israel group were among those to raise concerns with Avon & Somerset Police about Malik’s posts following the October 7 attacks.