CAGE Director Moazzam Begg. During a speech at Kings College, London, Moazzam compared Muslim life in Britain to Jewish life under Nazi rule. Photo: Twitter.

A guest speaker at Kings College, London compared Muslim life in modern Britain to Jews living in Eastern Europe before the rise of the Nazis, the UK’s Daily Mail reported on Thursday.

“We [Muslims in the UK] as a community have felt – though there are many differences – like what happened to the Jewish community before the rise of the Nazis,’ Moazzam Begg told the audience of 150 students gathered at the university’s South Bank lecture theatre.

The former Guantanamo detainee is the director of CAGE – a London-based advocacy organization that has described Islamic State executioner Jihadi John as a “beautiful young man.” The group describes itself as “an independent advocacy organisation working to empower communities impacted by the War on Terror.”

Begg also said: “Anxiety amongst British (and European) Jews is at a record high. With thousands marching in the streets of Germany led by people who impersonate and idolize Hitler, I can see why. But this time it’s the Muslims they’re marching against.’

He said that though Britain’s Muslims are not “anywhere near” the situation of Jews in Nazi Germany, “I pray we never get there.”

During his two-hour lecture, Begg also told students they “must oppose” the government’s anti-extremism policy, “at least in word if not in deed,” the Daily Mail reported. He said “anti-extremism” is just a cover for the UK government’s racist agenda against Muslims, and encouraged students to sabotage Prevent, the government policy intended to end extremism and prevent young Muslims from being radicalized. He told students “any right-minded person” would oppose it, according to The Telegraph.

Students were also told they should feel remorse for jihadists who were killed fighting with al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda.

Responding to Begg’s controversial comments, a spokesperson for King’s College London said “While the comments made by some of the speakers are controversial, we do not consider them to be inciting hatred or violence and therefore not breaking the law.”