Why ‘anti-Islam’ bikers are guarding Gaza aid sites

Members of an anti-Islamic US biker gang are helping run the security operations at controversial humanitarian aid sites in Gaza.

At least seven members of the Infidels MC gang are in leading roles overseeing the sites backed by Israel and the Trump administration, at which hundreds of Palestinians have been killed.

‘Patriotic Americans’

Set up in 2006 by US military veterans of the Iraq war, Infidels MC members regard themselves as modern Crusaders, using the Crusader cross as their symbol.

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The group once held a pig roast in what it called “defiance” of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and rejects the “radical jihadist movement”, according to its mission statement. Its members vow that it “will support the fight against terrorism as military members, contractors in support of the military, and as patriotic Americans supporting our fighting forces from the homeland”. It calls for new members who want to fight “against Islamic extremism”.

The group’s connection with UG Solutions, a private contractor providing security at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites, was first reported last month by Zeteo. It revealed that Johnny Mulford, an alleged Infidels member also known as “Taz”, was the lead contact for UG Solutions.

When BBC investigative reporters emailed Mulford to ask about the link between UG Solutions and Infidels MC, he hit “reply all” and told members not to respond to the broadcaster, accidentally revealing the identities of 10 Infidels working in Gaza.

According to a former contractor, at least 40 of about 320 people hired to work for UG Solutions in Gaza were recruited from Infidels MC, seven of them in senior positions. The firm confirmed that it doesn’t screen people out for what it called “personal hobbies or affiliations unrelated to job performance”.

‘Controversial’ linchpin

In response to a BBC enquiry about the presence of Infidels MC at the site, the GHF said it has “a zero-tolerance policy for any hateful, discriminatory biases or conduct”.

The foundation has become the controversial “linchpin” of an aid system designed to “wrest distribution away” from the UN organisations that have done most of the aid work in the region since the war began in 2023, said The Associated Press.

It’s not clear who is funding the GHF, which is backed by Israel and the US. It gained control of aid distribution operations after Israel demanded an alternative plan for delivering aid, accusing Hamas of siphoning off a significant portion of the aid entering Gaza, but the UN has denied that there has been any significant diversion of aid to Hamas. It says the GHF allows Israel to use food as a weapon, violates humanitarian principles and is ineffective at delivering aid.

US senators have raised concerns over rising death tolls near aid sites, and the foundation’s “apparent coordination” with the Israeli army and its “reported use” of private military contractors linked to intelligence operations, said The Guardian.