Woman who called deadly 2017 London fire a ‘Jewish sacrifice’ jailed for 11 months
Tahra Ahmed, 51, is found guilty of stirring up race hate in aftermath of Grenfell Tower blaze that claimed 72 lives
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A London woman was jailed on Friday for inciting race hate with antisemitic comments following the Grenfell Tower tragedy that claimed the lives of 72 people in 2017.
Tahra Ahmed, 51, was found guilty of two counts of stirring up racial hatred after expressing antisemitic conspiracy theories on social media in the aftermath of the deadly blaze.
A few days after the devastating fire in a London high-rise building, Ahmed posted online that victims of the accident “were burnt alive in a Jewish sacrifice.”
A few days earlier, she had written that Jews were “behind ritual torture” and “the murder of children.”
On another occasion, she linked the Grenfell Tower incident to antisemitic conspiracy theories identified with the September 11 terror attacks in the US.
Having posted the statements on her Facebook page, Ahmed was reported to police by Jewish communal organizations, the Community Security Trust and the Campaign Against Antisemitism.
During her trial, prosecutor Hugh French said her posts had “crossed the line as to what is acceptable in a liberal society,” noting that her Facebook account had revealed a history of antisemitism.
Ahmed claimed during her trial that her comments were political. French responded by noting that while her history on social media demonstrated “strongly held beliefs,” the posts written after the Grenfell Tower fire were “clear demonstrations of racial hatred.”
Ahmed was sentenced to 11 months in prison by the Central Criminal Court of England.
Ahmed was not the only person to share antisemitic conspiracy theories in the aftermath of the London tragedy.
Al Quds Day: "Zionist" corporations were responsible for #Grenfell pic.twitter.com/9ZuqZ8YnDb
— Zionist Federation (@ZionistFed) June 18, 2017
Nazim Ali, a senior figure in Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), was accused in July 2017 of blaming the fire on shady deals between the government and Zionists.
While attending a Al Quds Day rally in June 2017, Ali said victims of the blaze were “killed by Zionists,” later adding: “It is the Zionists who give money to the Tory party, to kill people in high rise blocks…. Careful, careful, careful of those rabbis who belong to the Board of Deputies, who have got blood on their hands.”
The Times of Israel Community.