Hamza Andreas Tzortzis will address the University College London Islamic Society on 28 January in a talk entitled "21st century misconceptions of Islam answered."
Mr Tzortzis, a Greek convert, was a trustee of Green Crescent, a British charity placed under investigation by the Charity Commission for links with Islamist terrorism. He resigned his trusteeship after Green Crescent's head, Faisal Mostafa, was arrested and charged with terrorism offences in Bangladesh following the discovery of arms caches at a school run by the charity.
Dr Mostafa has twice stood trial - and been cleared - on terrorism charges in Britain. In 2008, however, he was given a two-year suspended sentence after attempting to board an aeroplane at Manchester airport with a pistol in his suitcase.
| How is it he was permitted a pistol, never mind that he was carrying it aboard an airplane? |
Mr Tzortzis, although never personally accused of terrorist offences, has called for an Islamic state, expressed his hostility towards Western values and stated that: "We as Muslims reject the idea of freedom of speech, and even of freedom."
| He is rather asking for it, isn't he ... |
He is a former researcher for the hardline Hittin Institute and chaired the launch event of iERA, an umbrella organisation hosting many well-known British Muslim extremists who preach opposition to democracy and hatred against homosexuals and Jews. He also has links to the extremist and separatist group Hizb ut Tahrir, which advertises some of his talks on its website.
The UCL Islamic Society was previously chaired by the Detroit bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who security sources say began his journey to radicalisation during his time as a student in London.
| Yes, well, we've all been struggling to figure out how that happened. |
Among the other radical speakers being hosted by the society next week are Saleem Chagtai, whose blog has called for "offensive jihad" to bring about the "glorious sharia," and Haitham al-Haddad, who has described music as a "prohibited and fake message of love and peace." The week of events, entitled "Islam Awareness Week," is a successor to the "War on Terror Week" organised by Abdulmutallab during his time at UCL.
Last week, The Daily Telegraph reported that senior US government officials accused Britain of not doing enough to tackle extremism, saying the UK has the West's "greatest concentration of active al-Qaeda supporters."
Mr Tzortzis said that he was "shocked" by Dr Mostafa's arrest and said while he was involved with it, Green Crescent had had nothing to do with terrorism. He added: "As can be seen from my work, I am all for positive discussion and dialogue and instead of having a form of soundbite journalism we need a more nuanced debate."
| Nuance -- that's what was missing. |
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