This week, the annual British event known as "Islam Expo" came to a close. In 2006, this "celebration" of Islamic heritage and identity gathered criticism as the event - then held in Alexandra Palace in North London - took place while relatives were commemorating the first anniversary of the 7/7 attacks. Additionally, some of the proposed speakers at that 2006 event were known to hold extremist views.

One of these individuals was Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the head of the Pakistani Jamaat-e-Islami party, who had praised Osamabin Laden and other Al Qaeda members. "Qazi Hussain Ahmed, though invited, did not attend the 2006 Islam Expo event due to political engagements.

The UK government officially boycotts Hamas, but its failure to officially list it as a terrorist organization allows many individuals, such as Azzam Tamimi and others connected with Islam Expo, to shill for the terror group.

Additionally, Britain allows the charity Interpal to operate legally and qualify for tax reductions. On August 22, 2003, the U.S. government designated Interpal as a terrorist entity, stating that it gathered funds for the Hamas terror group. Not surprisingly Ibrahim Hewitt, who is chairman of Interpal, chaired a seminar at the 2008 Islam Expo.

Azzam Tamimi is so openly supportive of Hamas that the Malaysian news agency, Bernama, referred to him in July 2006 as a "Hamas special envoy."

Azzam Tamimi is a Palestinian by birth, and on November 2, 2004 he appeared on a BBC show entitled Hardtalk. Here, in response to the comment "..continuing violence - that's what Hamas and your friends in Hamas speaks for?" Tamimi said: "We don't call it 'violence'. We call it 'legitimate struggle'; we call it 'jihad' ..." Later in the interview, he was asked about Hamas' suicide bombings in Israel, and answered: "If I have the opportunity I would do it .. If I can go to Palestine and sacrifice myself I would do it. Why not?"

Tamimi is director of the Institute of Islamic Political Thought, and is a frequent contributor to the Left-leaning Guardian newspaper's "Comment is Free" section. His enthusiasm for Hamas - shown in the Hardtalk interview, remains undimmed. He is author of a book entitled "Hamas, the Unwritten Chapters.

Hamas was founded in 1987 by the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. The connection between Hamas and the MB is explicitly stated in the Hamas Charter, Article Two: "The Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the wings of Moslem Brotherhood in Palestine. Moslem Brotherhood Movement is a universal organization which constitutes the largest Islamic movement in modern times."

"...Azzam Tamimi often appears in the media, representing the Muslim Association of Britain. He is an adviser to Hamas in the middle east. In 1991, when he lived in Jordan, he was the official spokesperson of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic Action Front. He worked for the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood between 1989 and 1992. When he came to London, he continued his activities. He openly supports Palestinian suicide bombers."

One individual mentioned by Louise Ellman in parliament is intrinsically linked to the Muslim Brotherhood-linked terrorist group Hamas, and also to the Muslim Association of Britain. This man, Mohammed Kassem Sawalha (Mohammed Qassem Sawalha), was a former president of the Muslim Association of Britain. He is also the president of the British Muslim Initiative, which selects the groups and individuals that attend the annual Islam Expo exhibitions.

Mohammed Sawalha, the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas

Ware stated that in 1990, Mohammed Sawalha had fled to London, as Israel wanted him. Prior to that time, Ware asserted, Mohammed Sawalha was a fundraiser for Hamas, known as "Abu Abada."

Ware said: "Then, in January 1993, an operation Sawalha was involved in went badly wrong. Hamas would be forced to reorganise its funding arrangements. A senior Hamas man from America flew into London for instructions from Sawalha. Sawalha's visitor was en route to the Palestinian territories. The two men travelled to Sawalha's home. His visitor's name was Mohammed Salah. Salah's mission was to distribute funds. Sawalha told him who to meet in the Palestinian territories.... With Sawalha's agreement Salah began distributing about a quarter of a million dollars to local Hamas operatives. Some was ear marked for military activities. Some for missionary dawah. More money was in the pipe line from his bank in Chicago. But the Israelis had been tracking him. Stopped at a check point as he left Gaza, Salah was arrested."

Mohammed Hamid Khalil Salah, who was born in East Jerusalem in 1953, migrated to the U.S. in 1971, and was granted American citizenship. He lived with his wife and three children in Bridgeview, Illinois. He arrived in Jerusalem on January 13, 1993 and took a room at a YMCA hostel. On January 25th, as he was crossing into the Gaza Strip at the Erez checkpoint, he was arrested. His room in the East Jerusalem YMA was searched, and $97,000 cash was recovered. He was placed under interrogation, and in October 1993 he went to trial in Israel. He was indicted on terror charges, accused of coordinating Hamas paramilitary actions. It was claimed that in the 12 days between his arrival in Jerusalem and his arrest, Salah had been in the West Bank, meeting Hamas activists.

Salah was convicted in December 1993 and was sentenced to five years' jail. This was spent in a prison in Nablus and then in a facility in Kfar Yonah near Tel Aviv.

John Ware mentioned that during his jail term, Salah was recorded while being questioned. He apparently gave information about Abu Abada (Sawalha), stating "I made a stop in London to meet with Abu Abada, who is more knowledge about the West Bank's operational activities." Dr. Reuven Paz, who had been employed by Israel's General Security Service, said of this meeting: "Mohammed Sawalha told Mohammed Salah to look as a respectable businessman, where to hide the suitcase, to take not to fancy hotel, etc, etc, and to be very cautious."

On Sawalha's move to Britain, Dr. Paz said: "Maybe even in London, I would say, he became more important for Hamas than during the period he was in the territories."

Ware claimed that although Sawalha was known to British intelligence (MI5), he was allowed more freedom to operate in Britain.

The U.S. indictment mentioned the meeting of Salah and Sawalha in London in January 1993. According to the indictment, even though Salah had confessed to the Israeli court that he had raised funds for Hamas, he continued to fund-raise for the terror group once he had returned to suburban Chicago. He was charged with Abdelhaleem Hasan Abdelraziq Ashqar, who lived in Washington D.C.

On December 10, 2004, Salah was found liable in a civil proceeding. This had been brought by the parents of David Boim, a 17-year-old teenager, who was shot dead at a bus stop in Israel in May 1996. The killer was Khalil Ibrahim Tawfik Sharif, a Hamas activist, who blew himself up in the following year. The suit was brought against Salah, the the Quranic Literacy Institute, the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP, a precursor of CAIR), American Muslim Society and the Holy Land Foundation. The award against the plaintiffs was $156 million.

In December 2007, the ruling was reversed. The federal trial for racketeering began in December 2006. On February 1, 2007, Mohammed Salah and co-defendant Abdelhaleen Ashqar were acquitted of racketeering and conspiracy to fund Hamas. The same jury had found Salah guilty of obstruction of justice, by lying to U.S. officials. On a written questionnaire concerning the death of David Boim, Salah had lied under oath. In July 2007, Salah was sentenced to 21 months' jail.

Sawalha had then been given the job of acting as one of the five trustees of the Finsbury Park Mosque, following the ouster of hook handed fanatic Abu Hamza and his cronies. Sawalha told the Times: "I have no comment on the question of military activity. I am working here to give a new direction to this mosque and break with the past." The mosque had been put under the control of the Muslim Association of Britain by the Metropolitan Police and the Charities Commission.

Claims of alleged links between the Muslim Association of Britain and the Muslim Brotherhood have been made inside parliament and in the mainstream media.

On August 11, 2004, Anthony Browne wrote a coruscating attack upon the MAB in the Times. Browne asserted that despite MAB's denials, it still shared much in common with the Muslim Brotherhood. On its website, it carried an article that stated Jews were "vampires," and Azzam Tamimi had written: "If they want to be as human as anybody else, Jews must wake up before it is too late." Browne also noted that the MAB had invited Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi to London. Qaradawi is regarded as the "spiritual leader" of the Muslim Brotherhood. He was welcomed by the leftist Mayor of London in July 2004.

In response, Anas Altakriti wrote an angry letter to the Times, in which he stated: "As far as links with the Muslim Brotherhood are concerned, MAB is an independent British organisation. Links with others extend simply to shared ideas, values and expertise, in which the Brotherhood is indeed rich, with around eight decades of experience. It is not a pro-terrorist organisation as Browne claims and it has regularly condemned terror attacks.... The Islamist position is fully compatible with democracy..."

In February 2008, after Qaradawi was banned from entering Britain. Mohammed Sawalha said: "We would have to go as far back as the medieval age when scholars were hounded and vilified in order to find a similar retrograde decision."

Qaradawi has urged the slaughter of Israeli civilians - yet Sawalha and other "respectable" Islamists still support him. The British Muslim Initiative, of which Mohammed Sawalha is the president, organized protests outside 10 Downing Street. Anas Altikriti, who is a co-director of Islam Expo, and a former president of the MAB, acted then as the British Muslim Initiative's spokesman.

In 2005, two months before the suicide bombings on London transport on 7/7, an Israeli official said that there were Hamas cells in Britain that were prepared to take action. It is certainly true that Britain's first Muslim suicide bombers were connected with Hamas. Asif Mohammed Hanif and Omar Sharif were British citizens, who are thought to have belonged to the now-disbanded Islamist group Al-Muhajiroun.

On April 30, 2003, Hanif and Sharif entered Mike's Bar, a club on the Tel Aviv sea front, not far from the U.S. consulate. Both carried explosives belts, donated to them by Hamas. They had previously posed for a farewell video, made by Hamas. After speaking of their "mission" they hugged each other. Overweight Hanif, from Hounslow, West London, successfully detonated his explosives inside Mike's Bar. Three people were killed and 60 were injured.

Omar Sharif, from Derby, failed to detonate his belt. He escaped in the panic after Hanif had exploded. No satisfactory explanation has been offered about how he died, but Sharif's rotting corpse was found floating in the sea 12 days later.

While Britain allows the terrorist group Hamas to gain support and also funding, it is unlikely that the group will ever attack inside Britain. The United Kingdom, where Islamists openly support a terror group that murders innocent Israeli civilians, is a territory where Hamas can make political and economic capital.

Islam Expo 2008

This year's Islam Expo was held in the large exhibition complex at Olympia in West London. Islam Expo 2008 aimed to: "Introduce the British public to Islam as a global culture and faith that spans continents, races and languages", to "Shed light over the Islamic civilization's great achievements in the various fields of knowledge; from science to technology and from art to literature," to "Create stronger foundations for Muslims to understand their heritage and develop their identity as major pioneers of human civilization," "Combat the myths, misconceptions and misunderstandings of Islam," "Encourage positive interaction between Muslims and the different races and cultures of British society. Working towards a more open, tolerant and pluralistic Britain," and "Promote multi-culturalism as an enrichment of British identity."

Several well-known speakers were invited. These included American lecturer John Esposito. Another guest, Robert Leiken, was in 2007 a co-author of an article entitled: "The Moderate Muslim Brotherhood." Leiken bizarrely argued that Western governments should negotiate with the Muslim Brotherhood because it was not as violent as Al Qaeda.

As well as having Muslim and non-Muslim politicians attending the event, there were stalls representing foreign governments such as Sudan's genocidal regime and also Iran.

Several British Labour politicians were scheduled to appear at the 2008 event. Former mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, kept his appointment, as he had done since 2006. In the week before this year's event, the Secretary of State for Communities, Hazel Blears, attempted some damage limitation. She recommended that no Labour politicians should appear. Lord Ahmed, who sits in the House of Lords, and who attended the 2006 event, claimed he had a bad back which prevented him from attending.

Adrian Morgan is the Westminster Journal Current Affairs Editor. Adrian is a writer and artist based in the UK.

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