LONDON: The director of the largest Muslim charity in the UK, who is a sympathizer of Palestinian militant group Hamas, has resigned after a series of anti-Semitic Facebook posts came to light.
Heshmat Khalifa, the former director and a trustee of Islamic Relief Worldwide, resigned after British newspaper The Times confronted the charity about his anti-Semitic posts. Khalifa also used social media to praise Hamas and its armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades.
The Charity Commission for England and Wales has launched a preliminary investigation into Islamic Relief after comments that include the labeling of Jews as the “grandchildren of monkeys and pigs” came to light, The Times reported.
Khalifa, who was born and educated in Egypt, also attacked the country’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi using anti-Semitic insults in more than a dozen posts in 2014 and 2015, The Times reported. 
Islamic Relief, which describes itself as an “independent humanitarian and development organization,” published a statement on Friday saying: “We reject and condemn terrorism and believe that all forms of discrimination — including anti-Semitism — are unacceptable.”
The charity added that Khalifa’s Facebook posts “contravene the values and principles of Islamic Relief Worldwide,” which “sincerely regrets any offense caused.”
Khalifa has expressed regret at the “language and sentiments expressed” in the posts, and said he was sorry for publishing them, The Times reported.