Police impartiality is under threat from Muslim staff groups who defend Hamas

Muslim police who defend Hamas are damaging forces’ impartiality.

The warning came in an analysis of police officer associations, which highlighted how some are entering ‘contested ideological, religious or political territory’.

There are more than 200 staff networks, which cover a range of characteristics, including veganism and paganism. However, there is little oversight of their activities.

Now, the Policy Exchange think-tank has raised concerns about police neutrality after the official body representing Muslim cops in Britain published a report defending Hamas and attacking Israel.

Last year, the National Association of Muslim Police (NAMP) complained of ‘unverified stories about acts of violence by Hamas’ during the October 7 terror attacks in a 39-page document.

The same report, written by the association’s then-vice-president Khaldoun Kabbani, also described the Israel Defence Forces as a ‘Zionist terrorist group’ and compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to the Holocaust. The Jewish Leadership Council described the claims as ‘grossly offensive’ when they were revealed by The Spectator magazine in June.

NAMP went on to drop the document, called ‘Confronting Anti-Muslim Hatred and Promoting Human Rights’, from its website. It said the views expressed were those of Mr Kabbani, who had since left the association.

But Policy Exchange said the document’s publication raised concerns about the impartiality of police officers, who are required to treat all members of the public equally under the law.

Its report also claims that Muslim staff groups in local forces are platforming controversial figures and promoting contentious views. In one instance, the Metropolitan Police’s Association of Muslim Police invited Husam Zomlot, now Palestine’s ambassador to the UK, to speak at an annual meeting.

In another example, the vice-chairman of the West Midlands Association of Muslim Police, who also holds a senior role in the force’s counter-terrorism unit, reposted messages on social media about ‘questions of morality’.

Policy Exchange’s report also accused the National Police Chiefs’ Council of watering down proposed rules on police impartiality for staff networks. Its authors have called for a new ‘Police Impartiality Act’, setting out requirements for police forces, associations and members.

In an endorsement, Baroness Falkner of Margravine, the former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission said: ‘Too often, as this paper shows, we see staff networks straying into contested ideological, religious or political territory. If the public no longer believe they can trust that the police will always… act without fear or favour, we would see risks to the rule of law itself.’

Chris Donaldson, a founding member of the Black Police Association, said staff networks were created purely to support their members and warned they ‘are going way over the line’.

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