Trustees of a mosque in south Wales have been given a formal warning by the Charity Commission after sharing a video in the wake of the October 7 terrorist attacks showing a “positive image” of Hamas, a proscribed terrorist group in the UK.
An inquiry by the regulator found misconduct or mismanagement, or both, by trustees of the Al-Manar Centre Trust in Cardiff over a video posted on the charity’s social media account in November 2023.
The trust’s objectives include Islamic education and religious harmony, but the commission said the video it shared tried to justify the October 2023 terrorist attack on Israel.
The Al-Manar Centre Trust said the incident was due to “genuine human error”.Its trustees added in a statement: “At no point was there any intention by the charity or its trustees to promote or glorify any proscribed organisation.”
The inquiry concluded: “The video was likely to lead an ordinary member of the public to infer that the charity was supportive of and or glorified terrorism.”
On 7 October 2023, hundreds of members of Hamas and allied Palestinian armed groups attacked southern Israel, where they killed about 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage.
Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 57,500 people have been killed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry
