News
Shamima Begum's lawyer condemned for saying Isis had 'learned from' Israel
Tasnime Akunjee says terror group modelled its 'expansionist state' on the Jewish state
March 28, 2019 17:15
Tasnime Akunjee says terror group modelled its 'expansionist state' on the Jewish state
March 28, 2019 17:15The lawyer for Shamima Begum has been condemned for claiming Isis "learned a lot" from Israel.
Tasnime Akunjee, who represents the family of Ms Begum, who fled Britain with two other teenagers from Bethnal Green for the terror group's territory in 2015, compared Israel to the caliphate, whose brutality has shocked the world.
"Isis learned a lot from Israel about how to build an expansionist state," he said in an interview with the New Statesman.
"Israel can go into Palestinian territory and build buildings there, then it will call on people from abroad to join the state-building exercise."
He added: “Isis copied their model directly from Israel. You have Israel calling on Jews from around the world… they have an automatic right to be a citizen of Israel.
"That’s exactly the same as Isis, in the sense that if you’re Muslim and you come over here, you’ll be looked after.”
His remarks, published on Thursday, drew immediate condemnation.
A Board of Deputies spokesperson responded: "Comparing Israel to the murderous death cult of Daesh is not only false but offensive to Jews and to Israelis.
"The attempt to do so is both disingenuous and cynical.”
New Statesman editor Jason Cowley later wrote on Twitter: "The headline on the interview with Shamima Begum’s solicitor in the Observations section of this week’s magazine has been changed.
“We apologise for any offence it caused and for what was an error of editorial judgement.”
Mr Akunjee told the Jewish News the interview "truncated statements made during an academic discussion of the attempt by ISIS to build a caliphate".
He said: “To clarify I did not compare Israel to ISIS, I merely pointed out that ISIS had attempted to copy aspects of Israel’s expansionist policy."
Mr Akunjee is due to speak at a Liberal Judaism "Hot Potatoes" panel event on April 4.
Our second #HotPotatoes panellist is Tasnime Akunjee (@MohammedAkunjee) who is the lawyer for Shamima Begum. Tasnime is a criminal defence lawyer who has been been at the centre of the national conversation about citizenship. Tickets: https://t.co/y63lwBjpNE pic.twitter.com/nOmWDlOowA
— Liberal Judaism (@LiberalJudaism) March 28, 2019
Responding to a request for comment from the JC, Rabbi Danny Rich, senior rabbi of Liberal Judaism, said the organisation was "not in the habit of rescinding invitations to speakers.
"Liberal Judaism welcomes robust debates and indeed the Hot Potatoes series does just that."
