Following Ahmad’s resignation, Mahmood issued a statement saying his “views are not consistent” with those of the BMHC. However, Mahmood’s own Facebook posts, which he has now removed, showed he had liked equally questionable content.
Among the now-deleted posts were links to claims on Russian propaganda channel RT that “Israel admits it harvested organs of dead Palestinians”, and to an article by the former British National Party leader Nick Griffin where he claimed he was “offered big money by Zionists” for his party to attack Islam.
A post by Nasar Mahmood quoting Nick Griffin saying Zionists paid the BNP to attack Muslims (Facebook)
Mahmood also posted numerous links to the US extreme right online network, Tru News, which is banned by YouTube and designated a hate group for its dissemination of antisemitic and LGBT hate and Islamophobia.
Nasar Mahmood sharing a post claiming Israel harvest organs of dead Palestinians (Facebook)
He linked to posts including claims Israelis “view Palestinians as being on the same level as rats”, and frequently “shoot young children in the head”.
A post by Nasar Mahmood alleging that Israel admitted to funding ISIS (Facebook)
Other posts by Mahmood claimed Israel funded ISIS and supplied its weapons, had carried out the 9/11 attacks, and that these claims had been admitted by senior Israeli officials.
This week the BMHC said Ahmad had now left his position with the registered charity which has an annual income of £1.6 million and has hosted conferences with senior police officers on “Tackling Islamophobia” and “Islam awareness” with the Army.
It added: “We have reminded all our staff and trustees of the responsibility we all bear to reflect the organisation’s values by conducting ourselves appropriately and professionally on all social media platforms engaged with”.
The centre is regularly visited by high-profile figures, with guests including local mayor Andy Burnham, chief constable Stephen Watson and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. In 2019, the then-Prince Charles, now King Charles III, visited the BMHC and met staff including Ahmad and Mahmood, who have both been awarded OBEs for services to community relations.
At the centre, the Prince said: ‘I’ve been so impressed by all the different initiatives and projects you run here and the difference you are making, in terms of all the work you are doing in the community, but also in terms of linking all the other communities together.” Mahmood and Ahmad were contacted for comment.
Asked to comment, the BMHC’s trustees said:
“The British Muslim Heritage Centre is committed to respectful and constructive interfaith relations and prides itself on interfaith dialogue, understanding, and collaboration. Any form of discrimination, including antisemitism is fundamentally against our core values.
“Maqsood Ahmad left his position as CEO of the BMHC at the end of April.
“We have reminded all our staff and trustees of the responsibility we all bear to reflect the organisation's values by conducting ourselves appropriately and professionally on all social media platforms engaged with. We are also reviewing our training, policies and procedures, and will seek support from relevant organisations to strengthen our approach in these areas for both staff and trustees.”
