INVESTIGATION: Inside the Anne Frank Trust: how the charity lost its way

Anne Frank Trust UK will undergo urgent changes after it apologised for hosting an activist who had previously condemned “Zionist scum”.

Nasima Begum, a “performance poet”, had also compared Jews to Nazis and justified Hamas rocket attacks.

The charity has promoted other speakers with a history of incendiary statements about Israel and Jews, the JC can confirm, raising serious questions about its culture and governance.

After an intense backlash, the Trust issued an “unreserved apology”, blaming “a failure in due diligence”.

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A tweet by Nasima Begum claiming Israel was conducting a Holocaust against the Palestinians (Image: Screenshot / GnasherJew)

It was established in 1991 to provide Holocaust education but has apparently drifted from this brief, now aiming to challenge “all forms of prejudice”.

This has seemingly led the charity to give a platform to “anti-racist” speakers and activists with troubling records.

Only nine per cent of its staff are Jewish. In a job advert last year, it said: “The Trust is particularly keen to address anti-black racism as a priority.”

Following pressure from a JC investigation, the Trust vowed it would:

• Launch an external review and restore links with the Jewish community;

• Add more Jewish staff and trustees;

• Formally adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

In March 2021, the Trust hosted campaigner Iffat Shahnaz, who in 2014 declared on Twitter her support for an arms embargo against Israel.

More recently, Ms Begum’s workshop included a video of a Black Lives Matter-inspired poem by Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan, who goes by the moniker “The Brown Hijabi” and has performed alongside radical anti-Zionist rapper Lowkey.

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Tim Robertson, CEO of the Anne Frank Trust UK

Ms Manzoor-Khan has shared an image of Palestinian terrorist Leila Khaled — who hijacked a plane in 1969 and attempted to hijack another in 1970 – with the words “long live free Palestine”.

A spokesperson from Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “It is hard to imagine what Anne Frank would have made of the Trust that has appropriated her name and claims to act in her memory.”

Tim Robertson, CEO of Anne Frank Trust UK, told the JC: “Our failures have left us vulnerable to loss of trust. Addressing this is my highest priority.”

THE FULL INVESTIGATION: Inside the Anne Frank Trust: how the charity lost its way