by Jane Prinsley, Jewish Chronicle
Khomeini merchandise on sale at British campus event and extremist speakers hosted by student societies
Members of a UK-wide network of student groups are selling pro-Iran merchandise and hosting speakers who support the Islamic Republic, the JC can reveal.
There are 45 Ahlulbayt Societies – also known as Absocs – across the country, many of which operate without controversy, and are all organised by the Muslim Student Council (MSC) as an umbrella body.
But a number of participants of the Shia student hub organisation are operating in a way that has raised concern over “youth extremism”, according to the Community Security Trust (CST).
At a national MSC conference last month which took place at the King’s College London (KCL) campus, the autobiography of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali was on sale along with a book about an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fighter.
Students and other visitors could also buy a bookmark bearing the words, “By the grace of God, our leader is Seyyed Ali” – Khamenei’s name – and another saying: “In the path of Khomeini we march,” referring to the Islamic Republic’s founder.
The conference took place at KCL barely a week after thousands of protesters in Iran had been killed by the regime’s security forces.
Among the speakers at the conference was Shia influencer Batool Subeiti, who once called October 7 “unprecedented revenge” in a post, praising the “creativity and execution” of the Hamas-led attack.
She has been pictured with a Hezbollah leader in Lebanon and was a contributor to Iran’s state broadcaster Press TV. Last April, Subeiti also addressed students at the University of Glasgow’s Absoc.