Ismail Patel (born 1962) is a British

optician An optician, or ''dispensing optician'', is a technical practitioner who designs, fits and dispenses lenses for the correction of a person's vision. Opticians determine the specifications of various ophthalmic appliances that will give the nec ...

, and founder of Friends of Al-Aqsa, an NGO based in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

. He is an advisory board member of the Conflicts Forum, director of

IslamExpo Islam Expo is an Islamic exhibition held in London in July 2006 and July 2008. In 2006 it was held at the Alexandra Palace in London, a city with a large Muslim population and it was described as being the largest Islamic exhibition ever held i ...

, and a member of the Special Advisory Board of Clear Conscience. He writes commentary for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', and ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', ''

Aljazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; ar, الجزيرة‎, translit=al-jazīrah, , literally "The Peninsula", referring to the Qatar Peninsula) is an international 24-hour English-language news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network, which is own ...

'', and ''

Arabian Business ''Arabian Business'' (''AB'') is a weekly business magazine published in Dubai and focusing on global and regional news analysis. The brand is aimed at the English- and Arabic-speaking communities and is published in both languages. Its circula ...

''.

Gaza Flotilla

He joined the Gaza flotilla, and was on board the ''

MV Mavi Marmara MV ''Mavi Marmara'' is a Comoros-flagged passenger ship, which was formerly owned and operated by İDO Istanbul Fast Ferries Co. Inc. on the line Sarayburnu, Istanbul-Marmara Island- Avşa Island in the Sea of Marmara. Built at the Golden G ...

''. He was held by Israel for just under 48 hours and then deported to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. He flew back to

London Heathrow Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...

, and gave a press conference with

Alex Harrison The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' in 2005, by order of first appearance. Louise Summers Rob Owen Robert "Rob" Owen is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 so ...

and

Daniel Machover Daniel Machover is the head of civil litigation for Hickman & Rose Solicitors in London, UK and was the co-founder of Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights in 1988.

Personal life

He is the brother of

Shockat Adam Shockat Hussain Adam Patel (born 1972) is a British businessman, optometrist, and independent politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for Leicester South since 2024. Career Adam was born in Malawi, into a Muslim family of Gujarat ...

, the pro-Palestine independent MP for

Leicester South Leicester South is a constituency, recreated in 1974, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2011 by Jonathan Ashworth of the Labour Co-op Party (which denotes he is a member of the Labour Party and Co-operative Part ...

since the

2024 United Kingdom general election The 2024 United Kingdom general election is scheduled to be held on Thursday, 4 July 2024. It will determine the composition of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, which determines the Government of the United Kingdom. ...

References

External links

"Freedom Flotilla Update by Ismail Patel"
24-05-10 Day 1
Friends of Al Aqsa Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patel, Ismail 1963 births British Muslims Living people British opticians Health professionals from Leicester