Green Party councillor cites ‘Zionist Lobby’ amid charity trustee ban recommendation
Abdul Malik is a Bristol City councillor, magistrate and chair of Easton Mosque
A Green Party councillor and chair of one of Bristol’s biggest mosques has said “some people feel there is a Zionist lobby pursuing this” after the Charity Commission recommended he be given a three-year ban from serving as a charity trustee.
Abdul Malik, a Bristol City councillor, magistrate and chair of Easton Mosque for more than a decade, shared a social media post of a Hamas press conference the day after the 7 October attack on Israel.
When he was exposed for sharing the 18-minute-long conference, he initially said he’d been tagged before admitting he’d shared the post himself.
After the charity watchdog began an investigation, Malik also shared a post put up by supporters of his claiming he was being pursued by the “Zionist lobby”.
The Green Party has continued to stand by Malik, saying he is being targeted for his “activism”.
A further WhatsApp post, appearing under his name and then subsequently deleted, also included an attack on this newspaper for earlier articles covering the investigation.
Now, in an interview with BBC Bristol’s Points of View programme, Malik initially attempted to deny responsibility for sharing a post from his supporters with the phrase “Zionist lobby” in it.
Asked if he recognised the term was “veering towards an antisemitic trope”, he said:” I have not put that on my page… it’s not written by me. Somebody’s propagating that message. I do not stand with that message.”
But pressed on the fact that the post appeared “on your page under your name and you’re saying you don’t stand by it” by presenter Hannah Miller, he said: “Some people feel there is a Zionist lobby that’s pursuing this and I’m really worried about where we as a Muslim community have been put. And how answerable we become to matters that wouldn’t normally, you know, be considered for any other community.”
Malik is appealing against the Charity Commission’s recommendation of a three-year ban on serving as a trustee for any charity.
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