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The Thinking Muslim is set to hold a conference in West London on November 8 featuring Azzam Tamimi, who has been described as a Hamas “special envoy” and as a “leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Britain,” alongside CAGE Senior Director Moazzam Begg, whom a 2004 U.S. Department of Defense tribunal summary described as “a member of al Qaida and other affiliated terrorist organizations” and alleged had received “extensive training at al Qaida run terrorist training camps since 1993.”
Other scheduled speakers include CAIR-Michigan Executive Director Dawud Walid, former Syrian opposition leader Ghassan Hitto and Neturei Karta member Rabbi Elhanan Beck.
The appearance of a CAIR chapter executive director comes after Jewish Onliner previously reported that CAIR-Ohio Director Khalid Turaani chaired a panel at an Arabic-language online conference that also featured Majed al-Zeer, a senior Hamas official in Europe sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury.
The upcoming conference page identifies the location only as West London and does not name the venue. The event is billed as a gathering to discuss the future of the Muslim “Ummah,” bringing several figures previously featured by The Thinking Muslim’s podcast together for an in-person event.
U.S. Military Alleged Begg Trained at Al-Qaeda Camps
Scheduled conference speaker Moazzam Begg, a senior director at CAGE, was previously the subject of U.S. military assessments alleging that he trained at al-Qaeda-run camps. Britain’s Independent Review of Prevent also specifically identified CAGE while examining Islamist opposition to the government’s counter-radicalization program, stating that some campaigners, “such as CAGE, have excused and legitimised violence by Islamist terrorists.”
A September 2004 Department of Defense summary prepared for Begg’s Guantánamo Combatant Status Review Tribunal said U.S. information indicated that he had received “extensive training at al Qaida run terrorist training camps since 1993.” The document alleged that Begg received training with AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades and handguns, as well as in ambush tactics, land-mine detection and the manufacture of improvised grenades. It also alleged that he recruited individuals to attend al-Qaeda training camps and provided money and material support to them.
A separate 2003 Joint Task Force Guantánamo assessment, later disclosed among the Guantánamo files, went further. The assessment described Begg as a “confirmed member of al-Qaida” and alleged that he had been an instructor at the Derunta training camp, characterized in the file as “another al-Qaida supported terrorist camp.” It also said Begg had admitted attending the al-Badr training camp near Khost in 1993 and a Harakat al-Ansar training camp.
Begg later publicly met a senior Taliban figure. On July 19, 2023, he posted a photograph on X with Khairullah Khairkhwa, a senior Taliban figure who was then serving as the Taliban government’s acting Minister of Information and Culture. According to the Institute for the Study of War, U.S. military assessments characterized Khairkhwa as a “high-risk” detainee and a “direct” associate of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Taliban founder Mullah Omar.
Begg also previously posted a tribute on Facebook following the 2017 death of Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, the Egyptian cleric known as the “Blind Sheikh.” Abdel-Rahman was serving a life sentence after being convicted in the United States over a conspiracy to carry out a campaign of terrorism in New York, including plots targeting the United Nations headquarters, the FBI’s New York office and the Lincoln and Holland tunnels.
In his post, Begg called Abdel-Rahman “a scholar of Islam and an opponent of the Egyptian regime” and wrote that his “only crime was speaking the truth against powerful leaders and seeking divine justice.” Begg also praised Abdel-Rahman for promoting Sunni-Shia cooperation and quoted remarks attributed to him upon receiving his life sentence. The Community Security Trust reproduced the Facebook post in a 2017 research briefing.
Tamimi’s Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood Record
The descriptions attached to Azzam Tamimi are notable for where they originated. A review of Tamimi’s book Hamas: A History from Within noted that Malaysia’s national news agency Bernama identified him as a Hamas “special envoy” in 2006.
The Brotherhood connection was even more explicit. In September 2014, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s English-language website, Ikhwanweb, published an article headlined “Muslim Brotherhood Leader Tamimi.” The article described him as a “leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Britain,” placing the characterization inside the Brotherhood’s own media infrastructure rather than attributing it to an outside critic.
Tamimi also founded London-based Al-Hiwar TV, an Arabic satellite channel associated by researchers with both the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center has described Al-Hiwar as a media platform and mouthpiece for the two movements and documented its role in providing airtime to figures and organizations associated with Hamas.
Tamimi’s relationship with Hamas leadership predates the television channel. The Guardian reported in 2002 that Tamimi was a friend of senior Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and had advised Hamas on its public-relations strategy. Tamimi described himself as a Hamas “sympathiser and supporter” and said senior Hamas figures sometimes sought his advice on how the organization presented itself internationally.
Tamimi’s public advocacy has included defenses of Hamas suicide bombings. A review of his book quoted him describing Hamas suicide bombing missions as being “resorted to out of utter desperation” while praising the “heroism and altruism” of those who carried them out.
His statements have also extended to his own willingness to die in the conflict. Written evidence submitted to a British parliamentary committee reproduced comments from Tamimi’s 2004 BBC Hardtalk appearance in which he said that if he could travel to the Palestinian territories and sacrifice himself, he would do so, describing it as a noble cause.
In a 2012 Arabic-language Al Jazeera debate, Tamimi defended Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood and referred to Hamas members as “our brothers in Hamas.” Tamimi also said in a 2026 post that he had conducted a televised interview with Mohamed Morsi shortly before the second round of Egypt’s 2012 presidential election, when Morsi was running as the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate.
Tamimi has continued promoting Hamas narratives since October 7. In one interview, he claimed Hamas had neither captured nor harmed Israeli civilians during the attack and said Palestinians had been ecstatic at Hamas fighters’ return.
He also supported an effort seeking to reverse Britain’s 2021 proscription of Hamas. Tamimi was among the experts whose material was assembled in support of the challenge, with his submission appearing in the campaign’s archived materials.
The record is also current. In July 2026, The Thinking Muslim released an episode with Tamimi titled “1,000 Days Later: Why the Resistance Still Exists.” The discussion centered on Hamas, Gaza, Israel, Iran and the continued Palestinian “resistance.”
CAIR-Michigan Director Said Those Who ‘Incurred the Wrath of Allah’ Were Jews
The conference will also host Dawud Walid, executive director of CAIR-Michigan. CAIR’s national directory identifies Walid as the executive director of its Michigan chapter.
During a May 2012 sermon at the Islamic Organization of North America mosque in Warren, Michigan, Walid discussed Quranic interpretation and asked, “Who are those who incurred the wrath of Allah?” before answering in Arabic, “They are the Jews, they are the Jews.” The exchange was documented in an IPT report examining Walid’s comments about Jews and Quranic interpretation.
Syrian Opposition Leader Described as Close to Brotherhood
Another speaker, Ghassan Hitto, was elected in March 2013 to head the Syrian opposition’s planned interim government. Hitto resigned that July after failing to establish the government, telling the Irish Times that members of the Syrian Coalition had prevented him from doing so.
A Carnegie analysis characterized Hitto as an Islamist “close to the Muslim Brotherhood” and described the Brotherhood as having pushed his candidacy within the opposition coalition.
Before entering Syrian opposition politics, Hitto had longstanding ties to the United States and lived in Texas for decades. The Middle East Forum reported that he had served on the board of CAIR’s Dallas-Fort Worth chapter.
Neturei Karta Representatives Met Hamas Leader
Rabbi Elhanan Beck, a member of the anti-Zionist Neturei Karta movement, is also scheduled to speak. During an earlier Thinking Muslim interview, Beck recounted Neturei Karta representatives attending a conference in Turkey where they met then-Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Growing Scrutiny of Brotherhood-Linked Conference Speakers
The West London conference comes months after another event featuring a UK-based figure linked to Muslim Brotherhood networks drew scrutiny in North America. In May, Anas Altikriti was denied entry to Canada ahead of the Muslim Association of Canada’s annual convention, days after Jewish Onliner published an investigation into the conference lineup and his record. Altikriti has been described in Arab and foreign media reports as the head of the Muslim Brotherhood’s “intelligence service” and as the leader of its alleged “intelligence arm” in Europe.
The episode highlights growing scrutiny surrounding Western conferences that feature figures tied to Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood networks, as well as speakers such as Moazzam Begg, whom the U.S. Department of Defense previously accused of membership in al-Qaeda and affiliated terrorist organizations.