The organisation behind the anti-Israel London Al Quds Day rally – which has in the past featured flags of the terrorist group Hezbollah - is campaigning to help an “anti-Zionist” Israeli asylum-seeker.  

The Islamic Human Rights Commission’s annual march saw in 2018 Hezbollah flags being flown and one speaker saying Israel should be "wiped from the map".  

One speaker at an Al Quds rally in 2017, Nazim Ali, drew media coverage for blaming “Zionist supporters of the Tory party” for the “murder of the people in Grenfell”.

The IHRC appealed for online donations earlier this month to cover an asylum seeker’s legal fees and expenses.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has not returned to Israel since arriving in the UK in 2017. 

He is appealing against a claim refused by the Home Office in 2020.  A hearing is set to be held on Monday.

The IHRC described him as a “Jewish rabbinical student from Israel who vocally supports the struggle for Palestinian rights, and strongly opposes Zionism and Israeli apartheid on religious and political grounds.”

The man’s lawyer, Fahad Ansari, told the JC this week his client was likely “to be treated as a military deserter and as such at risk of imprisonment for up to 15 years,” should he return to Israel. 

He also said he had been “verbally and physically abused in police custody after being arrested while attending peaceful protests in Jerusalem in 2017” as a minor. 

Under Israeli law, anyone found to flee mandatory military service could face imprisonment and a lifetime criminal record, though exemptions can be granted.  

Other countries to have conscription include South Korea and Switzerland. 

The IHRC was approached for comment.