A United Kingdom-based Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood-linked network is behind the global pro-Palestinian campaign, copying the slogans, ribbons, and hostage posters from the Israeli October 7 Massacre hostage advocacy campaign to cast Palestinian security prisoners and convicted terrorists as hostages.
The Red Ribbons campaign, which first appeared in mid-November, has since been claimed by British activist Adnan Hmidan, who has extensive ties to organizations linked to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Red Ribbon Instagram posts, such as an April 8 advertisement for a panel in which he appeared alongside Fatah terrorist Nael Barghouti, list Hmidan as the campaign founder.
Hmidan, for whom the Independent Press Standards Organisation determined in 2024 there was enough evidence for the Telegraph to legitimately describe him as "pro-Hamas," holds high positions in several British organizations, many of which have been leveraged to advance the Red Ribbons campaign. Hmidan is the Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB) chairman, according to a 2026 article on its website; Hmidan is listed as the editor in chief of Al Arab in UK news outlet (AUK), and on LinkedIn is listed as a presenter for Al Hiwar TV and a former media consultant for Human Appeal International.
The AUK outlet has been used extensively as a vehicle for the Red Ribbon campaign, with posts such as a Sunday Instagram graphic warning about National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir's execution law and a February campaign tie-in for International Women's Day.
Palestinian Forum in Britain has also heavily promoted the Red Ribbon campaign, with social media posts bearing the red ribbon symbol being published almost weekly.
Protests marking Palestinian Prisoners Day, organized by the Forum and the Palestine Coalition in the UK, prominently featured large red ribbons on the podium.
According to a November AUK article, Hmidan served as the Forum's vice president under the presidency of Zaher Birawi. The Forum said in a March article that Hmidan was replacing Birawi as its leader. The organization was also led by Ziad el Aloul in 2015, according to the Palestinian Return Centre and the UK Companies House.
Former PFB head sanctioned by US Treasury for terror ties
Birawi was sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in January, which contended that he was a senior official and founding member of the Popular Conference for Palestinian Abroad (PCPA), which was allegedly a front for Hamas.
The Israeli government alleged in 2022, along with its designation of PCPA as a terrorist branch, that Birawi was a leader of EuroPal Forum, another banned alleged Hamas front. Indeed, a 2020 Samidoun petition listed him as the EuroPal chairman.
According to a 2019 Israeli government report, Birawi went on a delegation with British anti-Israel activists and Muhammad Sawalha to meet then Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.
Sawalha, alleged by the Israeli government to be a senior Hamas West Bank official who fled to the UK, was co-director of Britain 2 Gaza with Birawi, according to the UK Companies House.
Birawi and Sawalha also shared the title of former director of the Muslim Association of Britain, which, according to the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy and the UK Companies House, was founded by senior Muslim Brotherhood official Dr. Kamal El Helbawy. MAB was blacklisted by the United Arab Emirates as a terrorist group in 2014, according to Al Arabiya and the WAM Emirates News Agency. PFB hosts frequent events with MAB, according to its website.
Like Birawi, El Aloul was also associated with the Hamas front group PCPA, according to a January 25 AUK article serving as the sanctioned group's spokesperson. A person named Ziad Aloul was mentioned by the BBC in 2005 as an MAB envoy.
Hmidan, as a presenter on Al Hiwar TV, is also tied to extremists through the channel. He has presented the Red Ribbon campaign on the Arabic language channel.
Al Hiwar TV regularly hosts terrorists, including frequent appearances of Sawalha, according to a 2025 Community Security Trust Report. The Times reported in 2023 that Sawalha was hosted on the channel's late-night talk show London Chat, which is hosted by none other than former PFB head and PCPA official Birawi.
The former MAB director in 2011 also hosted Nael Barghouti, a terrorist involved in the murder of a bus driver, and released in both the 2011 Gilad Schalit and the February 2025 October 7 Massacre hostage deals.
Al Hiwar TV founder considers Hamas leader 'friends'
Al Hiwar TV was founded by Azzam Tamimi, according to a TRT World Forum profile, and according to Middle East Eye, the channel's chairman and editor-in-chief.
Tamimi told Haaretz in 2012 that he had the "great honor to be close to Hamas," though he was unfortunate to not have a leadership role. He explained that "all the leaders of Hamas are my friends," including childhood friend and senior Hamas official Khaled Mashal.
Palestine Studies described Tamimi as "close enough to Hamas" to be able to confidently title his 2007 book "Hamas: A History from Within." Tamimi was also called a "Hamas special envoy" by Malaysian government news outlet Bernama in 2006.
In 2014, Egyptian outlet Al-Masry Al-Youm described Tamimi as an official in the Muslim Brotherhood, entrusted by the group's international umbrella organization to control Al Hiwar TV. Tamimi has been a guest of PFB events and also served as spokesman for MAB, according to a 2003 Al Jazeera article.
Hmidan's media experience extends beyond AUK and Al Hiwar TV. According to his LinkedIn and personal website, he served as a media consultant for Human Appeal International (HAI) from 2011 to 2022.
HAI has been sanctioned by the Israeli government since 2008 as a Hamas fundraising front, according to the country's national gazette. According to backups of the InterPal website, Human Appeal International is listed as part of the 101 Days Campaign, which OFAC sanctioned as an alias of Union of Good in 2008 for being a Hamas front. HAI claimed that it was added to the 101 Days Campaign website list without its knowledge, as reported in a 2015 Telegraph article.
WikiLeaks published a 2003 cable to the CIA from the then US ambassador to the UAE, warning that a UAE NGO with the same name as HAI had been linked to providing support to Hamas and other terrorist organizations. The Telegraph reported that HAI claimed that the UAE and UK branches are divisions of the same organization. HAI has denied all connections or support to Hamas.
Red Ribbon campaign affiliate head denied entry to Canada
One of the greatest proponents of the Red Ribbon campaign has been the Global Alliance for Palestine, with steering committee members Palestinian National Initiative General Secretary Dr. Mustafa Barghouti and former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis publishing video calls to action for Hmidan's project.
GAP's secretary general, Anas Altikriti, also joined the campaign in January. Altikriti is also intricately connected to the network that is tied to the Red Ribbon campaign.
Altikriti, who was denied entry into Canada for the 2026 Muslim Association of Canada convention on Monday, is an official of MAB, according to a Tuesday Instagram post by MAB. Like Sawalha and Birawi, he has served as the organization's director, according to the UK Companies House.
He shared another affiliation with Birawi, according to the UK Companies House, as Altikriti, Birawi, and Tamimi are listed as former directors of an organization called Islam Expo. Altikriti is also the director of the Cordoba Foundation, which, like MAB, was blacklisted by the UAE in 2014.
Red Ribbon backed by Greta Thunberg
Backed by a web of organizations with links to Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhood, the Red Ribbon has found purchase among celebrities such as actor Khalid Abdalla and climate activist Greta Thunberg, who promoted the campaign on Instagram on February 13 and November 23, respectively. The campaign is ongoing. Red ribbons and Palestinian "hostage" posters were put up in Basel on Tuesday, and Women for Palestine UK sold red ribbon pins in January for a fundraiser.
The campaign seeks the release of 9,100 Palestinian "hostages," held in prison or detention by Israel.
While many of the campaign materials on its website feature Palestinians held under the controversial administrative detention power, the campaign regularly advocates on behalf of convicted terrorists.
In a February 2 Instagram post, it presented PFLP cell commander Walid Daqqa as an exemplar of "Palestinian prisoners and hostages," and in a March 17 post, it advocated for the release of Fatah arch terrorist Marwan Barghouti.
On April 17, it celebrated the release of Ramadan Mashahrah, who, according to the SAFA Press Agency, was convicted of being a member of the Hamas Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. The posters on the Red Ribbons website include Hebron mayor Tayseer Abu Sneineh, who was previously convicted for involvement with a 1980 terrorist attack that killed six civilians.