by Charles Hymas and Gabriella Swerling, Telegraph
Anti-Semitism campaigners demand action against body for publishing ‘disturbing’ documents
The official body representing Muslim police officers in Britain has defended Hamas against “unverified stories about acts of violence”.
A policy paper by the National Association of Muslim Police (NAMP) also describes the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) as a “Zionist terrorist group” and brands Zionism as “one of the manifestations of anti-Muslim hatred”.
The disclosure of the paper will raise questions over the political impartiality of police officers, who are required to treat all members of the public equally under the law.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the document posed “a direct challenge to the integrity of policing”.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism has written to Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, calling on her to investigate those responsible for the now-deleted document.
‘Two-tier policing’
It comes after the row over “two-tier policing” prompted by officers’ handling of the murder of Henry Nowak, 18, who was arrested for alleged racial abuse while he was dying from stab wounds.
The Southampton University student had been stabbed five times by Vickrum Digwa, 23, with a 21cm Sikh ceremonial knife, before the killer told police that Mr Nowak had been racist towards him.
The policy paper on “confronting anti-Muslim hatred”, first revealed by The Spectator magazine, was published on NAMP’s website last year and written by Khaldoun Kabbani, its then vice-president.
NAMP is affiliated to at least 16 of the 43 police forces in England and Wales and has a formal national role within the police.
The College of Policing, which is responsible for setting police standards, says NAMP is “an important part of policing” which plays “a crucial role in supporting our workforce”. It has developed joint guidance with NAMP on issues including prayer and Ramadan.