Birmingham police pull out of controversial Islamic conference after sparking outrage
West Midlands Police have pulled out of the conference
GB NEWS
West Midlands Police has pulled out of exhibiting at a religious conference this weekend after a GB News investigation uncovered a litany of controversial remarks by the speakers.
The Birmingham police were set to exhibit at the LPM Conference, hosted by the Islam Channel, at the International Convention Centre tomorrow.
But the force confirmed that it had retracted its attendance after GB News sent a dossier of controversial remarks that speakers had made about the Taliban, non-Muslims, Israel and politicians.
One of the personalities addressing the conference, Haitham Al-Haddad, was last month revealed by GB News Investigates as having attended a charity trip to Afghanistan where he praised the Taliban and called on the West to end sanctions.
Controversial cleric Haitham Al-Haddad said on Afghan state TV: “We have a message to the entire world: That, first of all, they need to engage more with the authorities of Afghanistan and the Afghani people. So engagement is so important. The second point is to end these economic sanctions, really that has to come to an end.”
Earlier in the programme, Al-Haddad said that Taliban ministers were “very soft” and “very gentle.”
He added: “I really congratulate the Afghan people for having such authorities [the Taliban].”
His praise for the Kabul regime comes while Birmingham resident Miles Routledge is being held without charge in a Taliban prison.
Haitham Al-Haddad had praised Taliban ministers as 'very soft' and 'very gentle'
The conference will also hear from American Muslim influencer Yusha Evans, who has said that it “sickened” him when Muslims showed affection for “disbelievers.”
Other speakers at the LPM conference include Fatima Barkatulla.
In 2014, she tweeted that William Hague “must be under a lot of pressure from zionists.”
Another speaker, Dr Louay Fatoohi described Israel’s actions in Palestine as a “Gazacaust” and compared it to the Holocaust, saying the “shame of the world” is even greater now.
The booking of these controversial figures to address over 2,000 attendees in Birmingham comes in the same week that the Islam Channel was fined £40,000 by OfCom after it broadcast “hate speech against the Jewish people.”
The regulator said: “On 22 February 2021, Islam Channel broadcast The Andinia Plan, a one-hour documentary examining a conspiracy theory which originated in a neo-Nazi publication. This theory, known as the ‘Andinia Plan’, alleges there is a plan to establish a Jewish state in Patagonia, the southern region of South America governed by Argentina and Chile.”
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism told GB News: “The Islam Channel has just been sanctioned by Ofcom for broadcasting antisemitic hate speech, not for the first time. Now it is hosting a conference that includes a speaker who has compared Israeli policy to that of the Nazis, in breach of the International Definition of Antisemitism.
“Why can’t the Islam Channel help itself but promote or associate with people who promote antisemitic conspiracy theories?”
The spokesperson added: “West Midlands Police was right to withdraw from this event after a GB News investigation. Other speakers should reconsider their involvement as well.”
West Midlands Police Federation Chair Richard Cooke said the police pulling out was a “sensible” decision.
But in Birmingham, some residents said it was right for the police to attend the event.
The Islam Channel said that the LPM conference was a completely non-political conference focused on the life of the Prophet Muhammad and that none of the speeches will have any political content.
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