More than 100 young people attended a four-day pro-Palestinian “summer school” at a Youth Hostel Association centre in the Peak District, where participants were led in anti-Zionist chants and received lessons about militant figures.
The event, organised by Palestinian Youth Movement Britain during the final week of May, took place at the YHA Edale Activity Centre in Derbyshire. Video footage showed attendees reciting slogans in Arabic, including: “We will have victory over Zionism, we will return, young people rise up, our country is an Arab country.”
Discussions at the gathering centred on what organisers described as the “next phase of our national liberation struggle.”
Experts have described the event as a “radicalisation camp,” with Dr Daniel Allington of King’s College London demanding that police examine the material presented to young attendees.
Palestinian Youth Movement Britain presents itself as a grass-roots organisation that “organises Palestinian and Arab youth to struggle for Palestinian liberation.” In the aftermath of the 7 October massacre, the group posted a message on X that appeared to endorse the Hamas assault: “When people are occupied, resistance is justified.”
The organisation also distributed an eight-page instruction booklet to “solidarity groups” nationwide the previous year, directing them to flood Labour MPs with complaints about the party’s alleged “partnership in Israel’s genocide.”
The summer school marked the group’s first event of this nature. More recently, Palestinian Youth Movement Britain staged a “community football tournament for Palestine” in Kensington. A photograph shared by the organisation depicted five children facing away from the camera, with the only visible shirt numbers being seven and 10 — an apparent allusion to the October 7 atrocities.
Attendees received instruction on Ghassan Kanafani, who served as spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Kanafani was killed by Mossad in 1972 owing to his involvement in the Lod airport massacre, an assault on Tel Aviv’s airport that claimed 26 lives and wounded 80 others. The attack was executed by the Japanese Red Army under PFLP direction.
The YHA Edale Activity Centre has stated they are investigating the use of their facilities
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A slideshow used during the session featured a Kanafani quotation: “History is not produced by a magic wand, but is transformed by the masses who understand it and are determined to change it.”
The classroom itself had an Arabic banner declaring: “Our revolution is for victory.”
Participants also received a 12-page Palestinian Youth Movement publication titled “New York War Crimes,” in which contributors outlined “how they resist, how they struggle and how they fight against the Zionist enemy.”
Heidi Bachram, whose Jewish relatives were murdered and seized as hostages by Hamas during the 7 October attack, condemned the event in stark terms: “It is deeply chilling to see young people in the UK being programmed to hate and inspired by terrorists. Our family was murdered in Israel by those who act on this violent ideology. I fear where this will lead. We need urgent action to stop this vile brainwashing and shut these organisations down.”
Calls have been made for the police to investigate the group
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GETTYFiyaz Mughal, who founded Muslims Against Anti-Semitism, warned that phrases such as “victory over Zionism” carry “many meanings for Jews across the world, including the struggle for a Jewish homeland.”
He added: “This, in my opinion, is deeply problematic, divisive and confrontational. Communities in our country feel divided, and such language simply adds to it.”
Dr Allington called on law enforcement to scrutinise the camp’s content: “If the police don’t investigate this radicalisation camp, we have a right to know why. Youngsters appear to have been encouraged to take part in the chanting of racist and pro-terror slogans.”
The YHA moved to distance itself from the gathering, confirming that the stay had been arranged as a private group booking.
A spokesman stated: “YHA was not involved in organising, delivering or supervising the group’s programme or activities.”
The organisation said it had become aware of concerns about footage reportedly captured during the group’s time at the centre, stressing that the views or conduct of private hirers do not reflect the YHA’s own position.
“YHA is committed to providing welcoming, inclusive and respectful spaces for everyone,” the spokesman said. “We are actively investigating the circumstances surrounding this booking, including whether any of our terms and conditions or policies may have been breached. We will consider any appropriate action once that review has been completed.”
The hostel association maintained it had no prior knowledge of the programmes or activities the group intended to run during its stay.
GB News has contacted Palestinian Youth Movement Britain for comment.