Ismail Patel (born 1963) is a British optician, and founder of Friends of Al-Aqsa, in Leicester, about 1995.[1]
He is an advisory board member of the Conflicts Forum,[2] director of IslamExpo, and a member of the Special Advisory Board of Clear Conscience.
He writes commentary for The Guardian,[3] and The Independent,[4][5] Aljazeera English,[6] and Arabian Business.[7]
He joined the Gaza flotilla,[8] and was on board the MV Mavi Marmara .
He was held by Israel for just under 48 hours and then deported to Turkey. He flew back to Heathrow, and gave a press conference with Alex Harrison and Daniel Machover.[9][10]