Council staff told Virgin Mary 'wore a hijab' in Project Unity Islamophobia training

Council staff in North Yorkshire involved in anti-terrorism work were told the Virgin Mary "wore a hijab" in a publicly funded Project Unity presentation on Islamophobia, according to GB News and the Daily Express. 1 2 The presentation also said "Jesus grew a beard" and that "the hijab was prevalent in the UK only 100 years ago", illustrated with images of early 20th-century shawls that the outlets say were not connected to Islam. 1 2 Both outlets note that Mary lived about six centuries before Islam emerged, though as a Jewish woman in first-century Judea she may have worn a head covering, and Christian art often shows her in a veil or shawl. 1 2

The session was delivered by Abbas Najib, a former police officer who is chief executive of Better Communities Bradford, the charity behind the programme. 1 2 Slides also defended Sharia as "a moral tradition – like any other" and described pro-Palestinian demonstrations as "protesting genocide". 1 2 The programme has received £490,000 from the National Lottery Communities Fund since 2019, including £35,000 for Project Unity's rollout. 1 2

Scrutiny followed footage of a Project Unity-based talk at a North Yorkshire Police hate crime conference last year; the force said it was not part of its formal training and was not delivered by a police employee. 1 2 In that talk, Najib compared remarks by Nigel Farage with a racially aggravated offence. He told GB News that Project Unity aims to reduce anti-Muslim hostility and that "Every community in Britain deserves the same protection from hatred." 1 2