Students at British universities have donated thousands for an unregistered charity with alleged links to the Lebanese terrorist group
Hezbollah.
Zayer Charity Organisation, a fundraising group, has received substantial sums donated through university student societies, despite the group’s UK branch not being covered by charity watchdog regulations governing how the money can be spent.
Students at several British universities have donated to Zayer through pro-Palestinian societies, some of which are also suspected of being sympathetic to Iran.
Among the most recent donations was more than £1,800 given by students at
Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), in Egham, through its Friends of Palestine Student Society.
In a social media announcement, RHUL Friends of Palestine boasted of making £5,476 of contributions to various Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian and Sudanese organisations during the spring term, including £1,820 to Zayer for its work in
Lebanon.
The post added: “Zayer Charity Organisation is a charitable organisation founded in Lebanon in 2016, focused on supporting social and humanitarian initiatives, with particular attention to assisting low income families and spreading values of cooperation.”
The post added: “Thank you for making this possible. Every pound you gave reached someone who needed it. Jazakumullahu khayran and Thank you to everyone. May God accept it from you and from us.”
However, there are concerns that the cash could be used to support projects in Lebanon approved or controlled by the Hezbollah militia group, which controls large areas of the country and is proscribed by the UK Government.
The Telegraph can reveal that RHUL Friends of Palestine – which operates independently of Zayer – has been suspended by Royal Holloway Students Union pending the outcome of an investigation into its fundraising activities.
Zayer Charity Organisation and its UK branch Zayir UK were set up by Hussein Harake, 29, a former Heathrow worker, and his wife, Zeinab Basma, 28, an NHS-trained doctor. Together, both charities have raised more than £300,000 for aid projects among poor and displaced refugee families in Lebanon through the Islamic fundraising platform MySadaqa.
The charity – whose UK subsidiary Zayir UK has been refused official recognition by the Charity Commission – operates in Lebanon with the apparent blessing of Hezbollah, the terrorist group backed by Iran.
Fundraising and promotional activity on behalf of both Zayer and its UK subsidiary has taken place at university campuses around the country, including at Imperial College London and the London School of Economics.
Hertfordshire AbSoc advertised an event at which “100 per cent of donations” would go to Zayir UK and a group of four students collecting under the banner of InterABSoc raised £1,445 through a sponsored hike in the Brecon Beacons for an emergency aid appeal for the organisation.
Saqib Bhatti, the shadow education minister, said: “While it’s important that students can engage in protest and fundraising alongside their studies, universities must do more to make sure that student activism does not lead to the glorifying or funding of terrorism. Royal Holloway should immediately investigate these claims.”
A spokesman for the legal campaign group UK Lawyers for Israel said: “Universities and students’ unions must urgently establish what money or supplies were transferred, what checks were undertaken and why an unregistered organisation was permitted to benefit from university fundraising networks.”
Dr Basma, 28, who studied medicine at University College London and trained in the NHS, was until recently understood to be Zayir UK’s president.
She said the organisation had submitted an application to register with the Charity Commission in November, but was still awaiting approval – although the commission confirmed that this had been turned down.
The Charity Commission said: “To be considered a charity in law, an organisation must demonstrate how it meets one of the recognised charitable purposes and is established for the public benefit. The commission robustly scrutinises applications to register as a charity, and Zayir UK was unsuccessful in its recent application.
“Supporting registered charities is a good way for people to be assured that their donations will be regulated and accounted for in line with charity law.”
Dr Basma has denied any affiliation with Hezbollah and said that Zayir UK had dissociated itself from its parent body, the Zayer Charity Association. She also said that Zayir UK sends welfare supplies rather than cash to Lebanon.
Hezbollah fighter called ‘martyred hero’
Mr Harake, who worked at a British Airways lounge at Heathrow, was stripped of his security clearance following reports in May that he had praised the heroism of “martyred” Hezbollah fighters.
He referred to one of the militants as a “martyred hero” and thanked another, the nephew of one of Hezbollah’s most senior commanders, after his death last August. He also reportedly posted images at the graveside of a third militant, who had worked as a volunteer at an affiliate of Mr Harake’s organisation in Lebanon.
Posts on the Facebook page of Zayer Charity Association include what appeared to be praise of
Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, 64, following his assassination last September.
In February this year, another post urged supporters to attend Nasrallah’s funeral as “an expression of loyalty and social solidarity”. Both messages have since been deleted.
At the time of Zayir UK’s launch in Britain in 2021, Mr Harake gave an interview to Al Manar, a satellite television station run by Hezbollah, in which he reportedly said: “The charity, Zayer, is split into different departments … we have a department for children, which is organised with the social work [department] of Hezbollah.”
Mr Harake’s sister, Zainab Harake, who helps to run the Zayer Charity Organisation in Beirut, is reported to have given an interview to an Arabic publication in which she said: “Within Lebanon, we co-operate with all the religious institutions, civil society organisations and social work entities within Hezbollah.” She was also photographed alongside a woman wearing a Hezbollah scarf at a charity event.
Mark Gardner, the chief executive of the Community Security Trust, said in May: “This organisation has operated on British campuses raising substantial sums, but it did not even hide its connections with Hezbollah. The police, government, relevant regulators and those with legal responsibility must act swiftly.”
‘This isn’t any normal charity’
Concerns have been expressed across party lines over the activities of pro-Iranian and pro-Hezbollah groups on campus.
David Taylor, the Labour MP for Hemel Hempstead, told The Telegraph: “Student fundraising should always be encouraged, but this isn’t any normal charity.
“This is an unregistered organisation which reportedly works alongside the terrorist organisation Hezbollah. That is not acceptable.
“Royal Holloway must investigate these allegations and ensure those responsible are suitably reprimanded.”
Richard Tice, the Reform MP, added: “It should be blindingly obvious that organisations with reported links to proscribed terror groups should have no place on university campuses. Time and again though, British universities seem to think that the law doesn’t apply to them.
“The failure of some university leaders to get a grip isn’t just fuelling anti-Semitism and extremism, it is also undermining the UK’s whole education sector in the eyes of the world.”
A spokesman for Royal Holloway said: “RHSU is currently investigating concerns relating to fundraising activity by one of its societies [RHUL Friends of Palestine] and has taken precautionary measures while that investigation is under way. The university has been updated on those measures and remains in regular contact with RHSU and relevant external bodies as appropriate.
“We take matters of this nature seriously and are considering issues that fall within our own remit in accordance with university procedures and statutory responsibilities.”
‘No affiliation with any proscribed groups’
In response to a series of questions from The Telegraph, an unidentified spokesman for Zayir UK stated: “Ms Basma is not a trustee for Zayir UK. She was previously a volunteer, however, she is not currently involved due to her personal and professional commitments.
“Zayir UK has not been collecting money (from students or others) and does not affiliate with any proscribed groups.”
The group also denied it had been involved in the organisation of any Hezbollah-backed welfare relief projects in Lebanon.
The spokesman said: “The events you identify were organised without co-ordination with or approval from Zayir.”
They added: “The current trustees were not involved with the previous [Charity Commission] application and are not in a position to comment.”
In an earlier statement, Mr Harake and his wife said Zayir UK had no political affiliations and operates within UK law to provide aid for Lebanese communities facing hardship.
They added: “More recently, Zayir has provided food and medicine to Lebanese victims of Zionist ethnic cleansing. We remain steadfast in supporting victims of genocide, and our vital humanitarian work will not be deterred by malicious actors serving a hostile foreign regime.
“This failed smear attempt against us is part of a broader campaign of penetration by the state of Israel within Britain which, not content with its genocidal war against Lebanese people in their homeland, seeks to harass and defame them abroad.”
RHUL Friends of Palestine did not respond to requests for comment.
