Britain’s official Muslim police group defends Hamas, calls IDF ‘Zionist terror group’

Britain's official association representing thousands of Muslim police officers has come under intense scrutiny after a policy paper linked to the organization described the Israel Defense Forces as a "Zionist terrorist group," defended Hamas against accounts of atrocities committed on Oct. 7, 2023, and characterized Zionism as a form of anti-Muslim hatred.

The British magazine The Spectator reported on June 9 that the National Association of Muslim Police (NAMP) was behind a policy paper that branded Zionism "one of the manifestations of anti-Muslim hatred." The document also questioned reports of Hamas violence during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

NAMP is formally affiliated with 16 of Britain's 43 police departments and represents more than 4,000 Muslim police personnel, according to the organization's website.

The paper, titled From Past Prejudices to Present Policies: Confronting Anti-Muslim Hatred and Promoting Human Rights, was written by NAMP's then-vice president, Khaldoun Kabbani, and published in July 2025. It was later removed after The Spectator exposed its existence.

The revelations sparked widespread criticism from British Jewish organizations and prompted Britain's National Police Chiefs' Council to publicly distance itself from the document.

In the paper, Kabbani described Zionism as "a narrow, nationalist, and colonialist viewpoint that fosters anti-Muslim hatred, among other forms of xenophobia, distancing itself from the inclusive and compassionate teachings of Judaism." The document also compared the war in Gaza to the Holocaust.

More than a week after The Spectator published its findings, Britain's National Police Chiefs' Council issued a statement condemning the document.

"Some of the views described in that paper are deeply concerning and do not reflect the values, standards, or operational position of British policing," Assistant Chief Constable Jon McAdam said in a statement. "There is no question in my mind that some of the paper's content is antisemitic and downplays extremist ideologies."

"Let us be clear: There is no place for antisemitism in policing or in wider society," McAdam added. "Policing in the UK exists to protect all communities. We will continue to uphold that duty with fairness, integrity and respect."

The controversy comes amid growing concerns over antisemitism in Britain. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch recently warned that the normalization of hatred toward Jews constitutes a "national emergency" comparable to the 1930s.

Recent polling conducted by the Campaign Against Antisemitism found that 83% of British Jews have lost faith in the ability and willingness of British police to protect their community.

"The people responsible for publishing this extremist screed on the official police UK web domain are unfit to be police officers and must be immediately investigated by their respective forces' professional standards departments and dismissed," Steven Silverman, the group's director of investigations and enforcement, said in a statement.

"This is not police acquiescence to Islamist extremism; it is evidence that a major national policing association has been infiltrated by or is controlled by Islamists. British Jews have long suffered two-tier policing that sees antisemitic crime go unpunished and faith in the police has dropped to its lowest level since our polling began," Silverman continued.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews also condemned the document, describing it as "disturbing."

"If this is being circulated among officers, it poses a direct challenge to the integrity of policing and it should be withdrawn immediately," the Board said in a statement.