Britain’s official association for Muslim police officers has been plunged into controversy after an extraordinary policy paper appeared to defend Hamas, label the Israeli military a “terrorist group” and compare Israel’s actions in Gaza to the Holocaust.
The revelations have sparked furious demands for an investigation, with Jewish organisations warning that the document raises serious questions about impartiality and public confidence in policing.
The paper, published by the National Association of Muslim Police (NAMP), challenged reports surrounding Hamas’s October 7 atrocities and described some early accounts of the massacre as “unverified stories”. It also claimed that such reports had contributed to rising hostility towards Muslims.
Critics say the document went far beyond legitimate political commentary and instead crossed into territory that appears incompatible with the standards expected of a body representing serving police officers.
Particularly contentious was its description of the Israel Defence Forces as a “Zionist terrorist group”, alongside claims that Zionism itself represents a form of anti-Muslim hatred.
The paper repeatedly characterised Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as genocide and drew parallels with the Nazi persecution of Jews, comparing contemporary events to the dehumanisation that occurred during the Holocaust.
The publication has since been removed from NAMP’s website, but not before provoking alarm among community leaders and campaign groups.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews condemned the document as being “full of falsehoods”, warning that if such material had been circulated among officers it would represent a direct challenge to confidence in British policing.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism has written to the Home Secretary demanding a full investigation into how the paper was produced, approved and distributed.
Stephen Silverman, the organisation’s director of investigations, described the document as “extremist” and argued that those responsible should face serious scrutiny.
The row is particularly sensitive because NAMP maintains links with numerous police forces across England and Wales and has been recognised by policing bodies as an important staff association.
Questions are now being asked about whether sufficient oversight exists over organisations that advise and represent officers while also engaging in highly contentious political issues.
For ministers and police chiefs, the affair threatens to reopen wider concerns about activism within public institutions and whether ideological campaigning is blurring the line between representation and political advocacy.
At a time when confidence in policing is already under strain, critics argue that the appearance of a document seemingly downplaying Hamas atrocities while attacking the legitimacy of Israel has created a controversy that senior officers can ill afford to ignore.
The central question now confronting the Home Office is simple: how did a body linked to Britain’s police service come to publish a document that opponents say reads less like a professional policy paper and more like a political manifesto?
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