A British-Palestinian journalist lengthy accused of getting ties to Hamas reportedly performed a number one function in launching the help ship that carried local weather activist Greta Thunberg and others, earlier than it was intercepted by Israeli forces.According to a report in The Telegraph, Zaher Birawi was concerned within the high-profile launch of the Madleen, a vessel geared toward difficult Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. The ship set sail on June 1 below the banner of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, carrying 12 worldwide activists, together with Thunberg.Birawi is the top of the International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza and a founding member of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. He was current at Madleen’s departure and praised these aboard for his or her braveness in trying to ship support to Palestinian civilians. The mission included provides corresponding to child components and staple meals objects like rice.The Israeli navy detained the ship in what Birawi described as “a piracy operation in international waters and 150 nautical miles from Palestinian waters.” He added, “The Freedom Flag Alliance demands international intervention to ensure their safety and release.”Although Birawi has denied any involvement in terrorist actions, he has been the topic of long-standing allegations. In 2013, Israel labelled him a Hamas operative based mostly in Europe. His non-profit, EuroPal Forum, which helps Palestinian rights, was designated a terrorist organisation by Israeli authorities in 2021.A 2012 {photograph} of Birawi attending an occasion alongside Ismail Haniyeh, the previous Hamas political chief, has usually been cited as proof of his alleged hyperlinks. However, Birawi has constantly maintained his innocence. “My legal team relied primarily on the fact that there has never been any legal sentence passed against me by any official authority in any state anywhere in the world, and that never have I been found to have been involved in any illegal acts which could be deemed within the scope of terrorism crimes,” he stated after profitable compensation from NatWest for allegedly itemizing him on a terrorism database.More lately, Labour MP Christian Wakeford used parliamentary privilege to label Birawi “a serious national security risk” and accused him of buying British citizenship “through the use of fake documents” following the Hamas-led assault on Israel on October 7, 2023. Birawi dismissed the accusations as “baseless.”Neither the United Kingdom nor the United States, which each record Hamas as a terrorist organisation, has taken authorized motion in opposition to Birawi. The EuroPal Forum has additionally rejected claims of terrorist connections, arguing that it’s being unfairly focused for its advocacy work.Birawi has remained a vocal critic of Israeli insurance policies in Gaza and has led quite a few demonstrations in London. He additionally condemned the Israeli Defence Forces for his or her seizure of the Madleen and continued to name for worldwide strain to finish the blockade on the Gaza Strip, which has been in place since Hamas took management in 2007.