UK bank account drops from pro-Iranian, Hezbollah group behind Al-Quds-Day
IHRC is the main organizer of anti-Israel Al-Quds-Day in London.
By BENJAMIN WEINTHALHezbollah flags at Al-Quds Day March(photo credit: JOSH DELL)
The United Kingdom Lawyers for Israel announced on Sunday that the British bank TSB no longer appears on the donation section of the website for the radical Islamic IHRC, which has links to Iran and the UK designated terrorist organization Hezbollah.In a statement sent to The Jerusalem Post by Caroline Turner, Director of UKLFI, the organization wrote: “TSB bank details have disappeared from the ‘other ways to donate’ page of the website of International Human Rights Commission (IHRC), organizer of the annual al-Quds Day march in London which promotes the Hezbollah terrorist organization.”Turner said “There are many organizations that purport to be charitable but have links with and are cheerleaders for vicious terrorist organizations. Banks should not be providing financial services to such organizations.”The UKLFI statement noted that: “The page had given donors the bank details of the related charity, IHRC Trust’s TSB bank account, so that they could make their donations through bank transfers. Now a message says that the page is ‘being updated.”’UKLFI added that: “This follows submissions earlier this year from UKLFI to TSB, and to its owner, the Spanish Sabadell Group, pointing out that IHRC promoted the Hezbollah terrorist organization, was associated with antisemitism and extremism and requesting that they withdraw banking services from IHRC Trust and IHRC.”The UK’s Charity Commission is presently investigating the relationship between two entities that fall under the rubric of IHRC: Islamic Human Rights Commission Limited, a UK limited company number, and Islamic Human Rights Commission Trust.The UK proscribed all of the Lebanese organization Hezbollah as a terrorist entity in February. The US, Canada, the Netherlands, the Arab League, and Israel also classify Hezbollah a terrorist organization.Post queries to TSB bank and the IHRC were not immediately returned on Sunday. It is unclear if TSB pulled the plug on its account with IHRC due to the recent ban of Hezbollah in the UK.According to UKLFI, IHRC encourages its supporters to “bring a Hezbollah flag to the al-Quds Day March.” IHRC is the principal organizer of the al-Quds Day in London.Al-Quds Day in London has featured Hezbollah flags over the years.
The Islamic Republic of Iran initiated the al-Quds Day in 1979 to support the Palestinian cause and reject the existence of Israel. The original declaration states: “Israel, the enemy of mankind, the enemy of humanity... must realize that its masters are no longer accepted in the world and must retreat.”Activists who support the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions campaign targeting Israel are integral part of the these rallies in London, Berlin and Vienna.The UKLFI noted “The IHRC has published several posts on its website praising Omar Abdul Rahman, the extremist cleric who served a life sentence, for involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing plot, and urging people to write to Rahman with messages of support. Upon his death in prison in 2017 he was called by the IHRC a man of principal and unshakable faith.”’“At the 2018 al-Quds Day March, one speaker, Shaykh Mohammad Saeed Bahmanpour, said Israel should be “wiped from the map” and claimed Zionists’ “days are numbered,” documented UKLFI.UKLFI noted the links between Saeid Reza Ameli, one of IHRC’s current directors, and formerly a trustee of IHRC Trust (1997-2016), who is an Iranian national, and is currently cooperating with Iranian regime institutions. Ameli is a faculty member and the founder of the Faculty of World Studies at the University of Tehran.“On 12 June 2017, Ameli participated in a conference of the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during Ramadan with many Iranian government officials,” wrote UKLFI.
