Faith Matters calls on the Home Office to stop two far-right politicians from Poland from speaking at a community event in Manchester on Sunday, May 1.

Those names include the disgraced former MEP and far-right extremist from Poland, Janusz Korwin-Mikke, and Konrad Berkowicz of the far-right Confederation bloc, which we’ve highlighted before.

We made the same call about Mikke in 2018.

We are indebted to the organisation A Million Poles for making us aware of the event next week.

Part of our updated dossier to the Home Office highlights Mikke includes recent anti-Muslim content on Twitter, including propagating outlandish conspiracies about a so-called Islamic’ takeover’.

On Twitter, Mikke has pushed disinformation and propaganda about the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine, as the ICC agrees to investigate war crimes.

Mikke supported the far-right media personality Eric Zemmour in the French election – LGBT+ groups are suing Zemmour for Holocaust revisionism over his denial about the deportation of gay men by the Nazi machine of tyranny.

When informed on Twitter that the falangist fascist dictator of Spain, Franciso Franco was “Jewish”, Mikke scoffed, stating that he “smashed” communism, before adding, “But you have to fight the JEWISH COMMUNE, because it is an intelligent, very dangerous enemy!”. The account Mikke quoted with this reply posts highly inflammatory and racists statements like, “Being jew/muslim is far worse for me than racemixing.”

Mikke’s use of Twitter has, over the years, targeted the Swedish furniture giant in July 2019, calling for the boycott of these “homo-fascists” in Poland. Much has also been written about their political aspirations to curtail LGBT+ rights in Poland.

It’s easy to find other examples of racist speech on Mikke’s Twitter – including a grotesque antisemitic meme captioned with the N-word.

Mikke has called for lowering the age of consent for children as, “There are girls who are 12, 13, and completely mature.”

Janusz Korwin-Mikke, Grzegorz Braun, Artur Dziambor, Robert Winnicki and Konrad Berkowicz (of the far-right Confederation bloc) faced widespread condemnation for standing beneath a banner which read “Vaccination sets you free”, echoing the “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign which hung outside the Auschwitz death camp and other Nazi concentration camps.

In 2019, Berkowicz put a kippah (skullcap) on the head of a rival lawmaker Anna Krupk, during a debate on restitution for Jewish Holocaust victims, the Times of Israel reported.

The Confederation bloc opposed a motion supporting Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.

On Facebook in 2019, Berkowicz claimed that LGBT communities have “disturbed urges”. In 2016, Berkowicz shared an anti-Muslim meme linking refugees to ISIS as a “trojan horse” to enter Europe.

In 2020, the JPost reported that Mikke said on Polish television that “Murderous pogroms against Jews in Europe had a positive outcome because the weak in the Jewish community died and the strong survived”, which he used to claim that Covid-19 was ‘eradicating’ the weak and ‘improving’ the human gene pool.

Years earlier, Mikke made a Nazi salute in the EU Parliament in 2015 and 2014, claiming that the fascist dictator Mussolini was merely “trying to protect Jews” and that Hitler’ knew nothing’ about the Holocaust in a 2014 article where he expressed abhorrent views on rape.

The Polish anti-racism organisation Never Again told Faith Matters, “”The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is dismayed by the planned meeting of the Polish far-right leaders in Manchester. We are seriously concerned they are going to promote their hatred and bigotry among the Polish community in the UK. This meeting has to be prevented and the preachers of hate must not be allowed to sow division and strife.”

A jailed Islamist terrorist has invoked his human rights in a bid to block the disclosure of his psychiatric reports to the public inquiry into the Manchester Arena attack.

Abdalraouf Abdallah, 27, is refusing to co-operate with the inquiry, amid denials that he “groomed” the suicide bomber Salman Abedi.

Lawyers for the families of the 22 victims murdered and counsel to the public inquiry want Abdallah to give evidence about his links to Abedi, particularly about how Abedi came to be radicalised.

Abdallah’s lawyer told the inquiry he denies grooming Abedi or having any prior knowledge of the bomb plot and should not be treated as a “sacrificial lamb”.

Last summer before the inquiry began Abdallah gave a “no comment” interview to inquiry lawyers, using his legal privilege not to incriminate himself.

The inquiry instructed a forensic psychiatrist Dr John Kent to interview Abdallah in prison but he refused and instead was interviewed by a psychiatrist suggested by his legal team, Dr Richard Latham, with his report then reviewed by Dr Kent.

Dr Latham’s report concluded Abdallah was unfit to give evidence and making him do so could risk self-harm and suicide.

Abdallah wants only a “gist” of both reports to be disclosed and his lawyers on Tuesday applied for the full report to be withheld.

Abedi twice visited Abdallah in prison, they had discussed martyrdom and were in contact via a mobile phone smuggled into jail in the months leading up to the Manchester bombing on May 22 2017, the inquiry has heard.

He was released from jail in November on licence, before being recalled in January. Abdallah, a paraplegic after being injured in fighting in Libya was described as a man “wholly committed to terrorist purposes” as he was jailed for terror offences in 2016.

But he had “no faith” that he would be treated “fairly and properly” were he to co-operate with the inquiry, his lawyer Rajiv Menon QC, told the inquiry.

And as Abdallah has been declared unfit to give evidence Mr Menon said it would be wrong and unlawful to compel a “vulnerable” witness to appear before the inquiry, which could increase the risk of self-harm or suicide and interfere with his rights under article eight of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the right to a private life.

Mr Menon added: “He did not groom or radicalise Salman Abedi. He had no knowledge whatsoever of the planning and preparation of the terrorist attack at Manchester Arena.

“He heard about the attack for the very first time in prison after it had been reported in the press. He is unfit to give evidence.

“Mr Abdallah has been legally advised in the strongest possible terms that he should exercise his right to silence.”

Peter Weatherby QC, speaking for the bereaved families, said Abdallah was an “important” witness who should be called to give evidence and the medical reports were “central” to whether he should be excused from going into the witness box.

He added: “This is evidence (that) goes to the heart of some key matters – radicalisation has been referred to and whether the plot went further than the Abedi brothers themselves.”

Sir John Saunders, chairman of the inquiry, will rule on Abdallah’s application at a later date.

Abedi, 22, detonated a home-made shrapnel packed bomb at the end of an Ariana Grande concert at the arena on May 22 2017, killing 22 bystanders and injuring hundreds more.

His brother Hashem, was jailed in 2020 for a minimum of 55 years before parole for his part in the bomb plot. The inquiry was adjourned until next Monday.

Read more: Arena Bomber’s Friend was ‘wholly committed to terrorist purposes’ court told

A terror suspect accused of attempted murder after a stabbing in Manchester on New Year’s Eve will stand trial in November.

Mahdi Mohamud, 25, was arrested after a couple in their fifties were stabbed several times at the city’s Victoria railway station at around 9pm on December 31.

Mohamud faces three counts of attempted murder and an offence of possession of a document likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

The terrorism charge relates to a manual the defendant allegedly had in his possession entitled “the seven most lethal ways to strike with a knife”.

Anna Charlton and James Knox were knifed as they entered the Metrolink area of the station.

Mr Knox suffered 13 injuries including a skull fracture, the court heard.

Ms Charlton’s right lung was punctured and she suffered a slash to her forehead that cut down to the bone.

British Transport Police (BTP) Sergeant Lee Valentine was also stabbed in the shoulder as he responded to the incident.

He was wearing five layers of clothing which prevented a more serious injury.

Sgt Valentine and three other BTP officers were the first on the scene before pepper spray and Tasers were used to detain the suspect.

At a brief hearing before Mr Justice Sweeney on Monday at Oxford Crown Court, Mohamud was not asked to enter his pleas but a timetable was set out for his trial in the autumn.

The defendant, of Cheetham Hill, Manchester, appeared via video link and spoke only to confirm his name.

The court heard that Mohamud is a Dutch national but has also spent time in Somalia.

Justice Sweeney listed the case for trial on November 25 at Manchester Crown Court to be heard by a High Court judge.

Concerns about the views of the leadership of a Polish community group has intensified after Husaria Manchester has procured the lease for a community centre inside of a former church in the Manchester area.

Karol Kamil Peruta, who appears as Husaria’s main contact on YouTube, following its founding in 2017, has posted a litany of anti-Muslim content on social media and follows several far-right Polish groups and individuals on his personal Twitter.

He appeared in a Facebook Live video on the official page of Husaria Manchester on February 6, stating that the group had obtained a lease to use a disused church as a community space.

In 2016, an anti-Muslim and Islamophobic meme appeared on Mr Peruta’s Twitter account, which depicted an individual in a niqab as a bearded man with explosives attached to their chest in the place of their breasts. The tweet has since been removed but remains archived.

Following the terror attacks in Manchester and London in 2017, Mr Peruta called for Islam to be ‘banned’ on his personal Facebook account.

A blog written in 2015 by Mr Peruta claimed that Muslims, “cheat and lie. They steal and break the law. They are lazy and filthy.” This is one of many examples seen by Faith Matters brought to our attention by concerned members of the Polish community.

Activists in the Polish community have shared a photograph Mr Peruta took with Paul Golding, leader of the far-right street defence movement Britain First. An interview with Mr Golding, recorded in 2017, also appears on the Twitter feed of Peruta.

Mr Peruta has ranted against interracial relationships in the Polish community, adding that such relationships were turning ‘traditional’ Polish shops into ‘pseudo’ stores which stock halal products, where the store’s profits could be going towards the funding of a mosque, an Islamic centre, or terrorism. He went on to lament the ‘stupidity’ of Poles who welcome their ‘own destruction’ by working with Muslims. Peruta ended his hateful rant by suggesting that he will upload photos of such ‘pseudo’ Polish stores in what amounts to a boycott, in pursuit of ‘authentic’ Polish stores in Manchester. The attached image claimed that Polish barcodes begin with the digits 590. The post, which appeared on his Facebook on September 30, 2015, gained almost 100 shares.

In Peruta’s blog entry from 2015, he states this about Muslims: “They cheat and lie. They steal and break the law. They are lazy and filthy”. There are many other examples of such dehumanising rhetoric used by Mr Peruta which have been sent to us by concerned members of the Polish community.

He follows the Twitter account of the disgraced former priest Jacek Międlar – a far-right extremist banned from entering the UK due to his antisemitic views.

Mr Peruta’s Twitter account follows several nationalist and extreme right-wing pages – from the National Radical Camp (ONR) to the National Rebirth of Poland (NOP).

A photograph later removed from Mr Peruta’s personal Facebook page showed individuals with ONR flags at an event in 2017 (see below).

A year earlier, on June 19, 2016, near Rochdale, Karol Peruta was photographed with the controversial revisionist historian with links to the ONR, Leszek Żebrowski, who was labelled an antisemite in a 2016 article published by Gazeta Wyborcza.

It was around this time in 2016 that Mr Peruta shared a meme on Facebook which referred to ‘Good Night Left Side’ – a neo-Nazi parody of the anti-fascist idea of ‘Goodnight White Pride’.

Nor is this the only example of this rhetoric appearing on his social media. A Facebook ‘like’ which appears on his profile is the neo-Nazi page ‘Anti-Antifa Hooligans’ which includes videos of individuals carrying out acts of graffiti and men performing Nazi salutes. Another nationalist meme was anti-Muslim and anti-LGBT in nature. Now, there’s no evidence of Karol Peruta interacting with the page, or liking any of the content, but the page itself boats almost 20,000 fans and draws in support of ultranationalists from across Europe. Why Mr Peruta liked such a page is, therefore, concerning.

An individual assisting Husaria Manchester with grave cleaning in the Birmingham area was photographed wearing a ‘Good Night Left Side’ t-shirt on April 18, 2018.

The official page of Husaria Manchester has been used to promote the neo-Nazi group Ogniwo (The Link).

Mr Peruta gave the Israeli Embassy in Poland a one-star review on Facebook, describing them as ‘liars’, days after official commemorations for Holocaust Memorial Day took place on January 27.

Given that Husaria Manchester has worked with mainstream Polish organisations, we are concerned that many are unaware of the views expressed on the social media accounts of Koral Peruta.

Husaria Manchester has worked with other mainstream Polish groups – from community outreach to the cleaning of gravestones, with children, and other communities. Organisations like the Kresy Family and the Polish Expats Association will abhor and reject the views expressed by Karol Peruta, and our research will be forwarded to them, to ensure such examples of entryism is not allowed to continue.

Faith Matters will be handing its evidence to Manchester County Council.

We have written before on many occasions about Imam Muhammad Yasir Ayub. His abuse against the small but beleaguered Ahmadi Muslim community in the U.K. has been documented by us, as we have also done so regarding his anti-Shia rants.

However, one would assume that he may have changed his mind over the last year, but it seems that his intolerance for Ahmadi Muslims continues and his recent posting once again called them ‘Kafirs’ – a deeply loaded and derogatory term that has been associated in many countries with attacks against people of other beliefs.

Ayub preaches in several mosques, including in Nottingham and Manchester. We ask, how can this man, with views like this, continue to have access to audiences which are promoting sectarianism, hatred and division?

(Note: ‘Qadiyanis’ is a derogatory term to describe the Ahmadi community).

Oboz Narodowo-Radykalny, (ONR), is also known as the National Radical Camp. It is a fascist and far right organisation which considers itself to be a legacy of the antisemitic movement of the same name which existed during the Second World War.

Three days ago, members of the ONR celebrated an anniversary of the organisation in Gdansk, the heartland of the ‘Solidarnosc’ or Solidarity movement. It was the 84th anniversary of the movement and hosting the march with uniform clad individuals in the heart of Gdansk was a chilling message sent out to others in the nation. Gdansk holds a special place in the heart of many Poles as it was the start of the liberation movement from Communism. By marching in Gdansk, the message was clear, that far right groups were part of Poland. 

Speaking at the event held in a historic hall in Gdansk, the former ONR chairman Artur Zienkiewicz said,

“Poland must remain uniformly culturally and homogeneously ethnic. We will defend our frontiers against immigrants.”

According to Gazeta Wyborcza, a march took place in the streets of Gdansk with several hundred uniformed marchers shouting slogans which included, “we will fight for the Homeland” and “Great Poland, we will defend our holy faith”.

This is a menacing video of ONR members walking through the streets of Gdansk.

In response to this march, the legendary Solidarnosc leader and former President of Poland, Lech Walesa, waded in with the following tweets:

https://twitter.com/PresidentWalesa/status/985394318751002624

Walesa’s Twitter comment highlighted the threat that he saw coming from the ONR. 

“Are these the “values” Poles fought in December 1970 and August 1980 in Gdańsk? I ask when will PiS delegalise them? What do we all wait until they occupy (the) authorities?”

Tentacles to Manchester

In the UK, ONR go by the name of “Narodowa Emigracja” or ‘Nationalist Emigration’. Whilst they are limited to a Facebook group, their activist base is small and based in and around Manchester. About a week ago, activists held a gathering to commemorate the Katyn massacre, the mass execution of Polish military officers by the Soviets in April 1940. The commemoration was held at the Southern Cemetery in Manchester. 

What is particularly worrying is that children can be seen at this memorial meeting and there are potential safeguarding risks here. The arm-bands of ONR are clearly visible as are flags of the neo-fascist group, this in Manchester in the United Kingdom. 

This information will be passed onto the authorities within the UK given the potential of safeguarding risks to children.

British police said they had arrested two men on Saturday as they stepped up their efforts to capture a suspected network behind the suicide bomber who killed 22 people in Manchester earlier this week.

Officers used a controlled explosion to gain entry to the address in the north of the city where the latest arrests were made. Detectives are now questioning 11 men over the attack by Salman Abedi at a pop concert in Manchester on Monday.

Some hours later, police cordoned off a large area in the Moss Side area of south Manchester and houses were evacuated with a bomb disposal unit sent to the scene.

A man working in a local shop, who declined to be named, told Reuters he saw three men being taken away from the address.

“As part of an ongoing search at a property in Moss Side an evacuation is currently being carried in the area,” police said in a statement.

While Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism officer said police were confident that they had made “immense” progress and had apprehended a “large part of the network”, extra armed officers will be on duty across the country with security stepped up at some 1,300 events over the long holiday weekend.

Britain remains on its highest threat level of critical, meaning an attack is expected imminently, with the army backing up police and hospitals across the country have told staff to be ready for another incident.

The Times newspaper reported on Saturday that intelligence officers had identified 23,000 jihahist extremists living in Britain.

Earlier this week a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters the security services were managing 500 active operations involving some 3,000 people who were thought to pose a threat.

However, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, the UK police chief for counter-terrorism, advised people to be vigilant but to “go out as you planned and enjoy yourselves”.

There are a number of high-profile events over the weekend including soccer cup finals in London and Glasgow, and the Great Manchester Run.

While police and politicians have praised communities in Manchester for their reaction to the bombing, Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable said there had been a rise in reported hate crimes, from an average of 28 to 56 incidents on Wednesday.

“We can’t directly link these to the events of Monday night and are continuing to monitor the situation,” he said.

Political campaigning for the June 8 national election which was suspended after the Manchester attack resumed on Friday with the bombing becoming a central feature.

The opposition Labour Party, emboldened by a rise in opinion polls, argued that Britain’s foreign policy had increased the risk of attacks and criticised Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May for cutting spending on policing.

May said Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was saying Britain was to blame for the bombing.

“I want to make one thing very clear to Jeremy Corbyn and to you, and it is that there can never, ever be an excuse for terrorism,” she said at a summit of Group of Seven leaders in Sicily.

A poll on Thursday put May’s Conservatives five points ahead of Labour suggesting a far tighter race than previously anticipated.

This is a public statement released by the British Libyan community in Manchester

The British-Libyan community in Manchester condemns in the strongest possible terms the terrorist attack at Manchester Arena on the 22nd May 2017. The perpetrator murdered innocent and defenseless people, including children. This attack was an attack on all of us. Such depraved acts have no basis in Islam. All those responsible for senselessly destroying the lives of innocent people do not deserve to live in our community and should be behind bars. We support the police in bringing the perpetrators to justice, and in protecting the people of Manchester and the rest of the UK.

Many members of the British-Libyan community in Manchester are doctors who stand side by side with their colleagues to ensuring that victims and other patients receive the best possible care at this difficult time. We take this opportunity to praise the emergency services for their dedication and efforts. Most importantly, our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the families who have lost loved ones, and the injured. 

As a community we have lost many hundreds of people who bravely fought and defeated ISIS in Sirte, Libya, only a few months ago, and so we are affected by grief again. We stand together with all Mancunians to keep Manchester safe and strong.