Iran has stirred up pro-Palestine protests in Britain, the Home Office’s “extremism tsar” insultingly claimed on Thursday.

Robin Simcox is the head of the Commission for Countering Extremism. In his first major speech, he said the tens of thousands of protesters who’ve come out onto the streets are responding to a Hamas and Iran support network in Britain.

Simcox’s views are part of an Islamophobic wave that the Tories are encouraging. He has had a long track record of working with rotten organisations. He was a Margaret Thatcher Fellow at the right wing Heritage Foundation, which had close ties to the Trump administration.

Through his research, he is accused of promoting racist and anti-Muslim conspiracy theories. This includes the “Great Replacement” theory, which has inspired far right attacks in recent year.

He also spoke for the Centre for Immigration Studies (CIS), a notorious US anti-immigration hate group that promotes antisemitic, white nationalist material. It includes articles by Holocaust deniers.

Simcox has worked for the right wing Henry Jackson Society, which has been described as having an “anti-Islam agenda”. Former directors include Douglas Murray, who has said “conditions for Muslims in Europe must be made harder across the board” and “immigration into Europe from Muslim countries must stop”.

It’s not Iran that putting people on the streets, it’s solidarity with Palestine and hatred of Zionism and imperialism.

Palestine protest met with mass arrests

German cops arrested 174 people at a protest in Berlin on Wednesday against Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip.  The gathering assembled in Neukolln, an area where many migrants live.

Pro-Palestinian protests have erupted across major German cities despite widespread bans.