Student groups side with ISOC against Maryam Namazie (Update: ISOC President resigns)

UPDATE 09/12/2015: Since the pledges of support for Goldsmiths Islamic Society (ISOC) from the Feminist and LGBT Societies, statements made by Muhammed Patel, the President of Goldsmiths ISOC, have come to light in which he refers to homosexuality as “a disease” and uses the phrase “fag lovers”. Following this, a statement has been released by […]

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Maryam Namazie talk disrupted by students

UPDATE 02/12/2015: Goldsmiths ISOC published a statement denying any wrong doing by their members. They claim their members “peacefully expressed their dissent to the disrespectful cartoons” and were in fact subject to “abuse” and “violence” from the Atheist Society. The ISOC once again accused Namazie of being an “Islamophobe” a claimed her presence on campus […]

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UEL Islamophobia event sees NUS officer share panel with extremists

Last Monday, the University of East London (UEL) hosted an event entitled ‘After Paris Horror…Don’t let the Racists Divide Us. No to Islamophobia. Defend Civil Liberties’. It is important that universities remain spaces in which students can both raise awareness of anti-Muslim hatred and freely discuss and criticise government policies. Unfortunately, the event was instead […]

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Government outlines need to challenge campus extremism

The government has clarified that the legal duty for public bodies to “have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism” will apply to universities from 21st September. This will put a legal requirement on institutions to have policies in place to challenge on-campus radicalisation, including at extremist events. Guidance […]

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Heriot-Watt blog highlights student misperceptions

In July, Student Rights’ new report ‘Preventing Prevent? Challenges to Counter-Radicalisation Policy on Campus’ highlighted how misunderstandings were driving student opposition to the Prevent strategy. A blog posted over the weekend by Heriot-Watt University Student Union (HWUSU) demonstrates many of these fallacies, and shows the extent to which students have failed to understand the policy […]

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Far-right threat halts Islamophobia conference

This weekend the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), an organisation with a history of support for violent extremists, was due to hold a conference on Islamophobia at Birkbeck College. However, the event has now been forced to relocate after far-right extremists threatened to target the event. The conference details were publicised on the far-right Casuals […]

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Tommy Robinson’s invite to Oxford causes controversy

With the issue of extremist speakers on university campuses in the news, tonight the former English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson will speak at the University of Oxford. Originally due to address the Oxford Union on 23 October before being returned to prison, Robinson’s invite has caused controversy, with anti-fascist groups calling for him […]

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