A Muslim residential training camp involving both combat training and religious teachings finished on Sunday despite prior warnings from Jewish groups, and reports of it being run by a pro-Hezbollah preacher.
The Spiritual Warrior camp took place between July 30 and August 3 in Darwin Lake, Derbyshire in England. It purported to be a camp about ‘God centric masculinity and brotherhood’ with sessions by wrestling and striking coaches, business leaders and Islamic scholars.
The organization itself – Spiritual Warrior Project – says it combines Islamic spiritual psychology and practical techniques to provide holistic guidance to men.
However, it was the leader of SWP – Shia preacher Sayed Hussain Makke – who drew the most condemnation from Jewish groups, including Derbyshire Jewish Community and the Community Security Trust (CST).
Makke has an extensive history of pro-Hezbollah comments and rhetoric, and attended the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut. He has also made pro-Hamas and pro-Khamenei comments on his social media.Makke attempted to travel to Australia in March, however Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke’s department cancelled his visa on learning that he had attended the Hezbollah leader’s funeral just ten days prior.
Makke has previously called Nasrallah one of the world’s “greatest freedom fighters” and said the strong turnout at his funeral showed the “resistance” was “alive and well.” Hezbollah is a listed terrorist organisation in Australia, the UK, Israel and the US.
Lawyers for Makke told The Telegraph that he was not a member of, and had not provided support to, any proscribed organisation.
Makke has vehemently denied all accusations, responding individually to pieces about him and his camp in The Telegraph and the Jewish Chronicle.
He accused The Telegraph of attempting to smear him and of selectively redacting parts of the comment he provided to it.
He then shared the full comment: “This attempt to stir up hatred against our camp attendees originates from the infamous Zionist lobby group, United Against A Nuclear Iran (UANI), which until recently had two Mossad terror chiefs on its advisory board.”
That The Telegraph is laundering smears on behalf of the State of Israel should tell your readers who is calling the shots in today’s Britain. That must and will now end: the Zionist movement and its grip on British politics will be dismantled.”
He then accused the Jewish Chronicle of “publishing a hatchet job against [him] and the Spiritual Warrior Project.”
“The piece will attempt to smear me for the crime of being a Lebanese Shi’a Muslim, and it will try to demonise Spiritual Warrior for doing essential work to nurture young Muslim men.”
He referred to the Jewish Chronicle as a “propaganda outlet for the Zionist state” citing the series of falsified articles by the publication as an example of “a direct channel for a disinformation campaign ordered by Binyamin Netanyahu.”
“Neither I nor anyone else involved in the Spiritual Warrior Project will take lectures from an institution whose purpose is to further radicalise British Jewry to promote and execute genocide in the Levant,” he added.
