The issue of extremism on university campuses has been part of the public debate since the 7/7 attacks, and comes under new scrutiny every time an individual involved in violent extremism is found to have studied at a UK university. In 2011, the revised Prevent strategy declared there was “…unambiguous evidence” extremist organisations targeted specific […]
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Student Voice: The culture of violence within our SU
Following the ongoing controversy over the LSESU Palestine Society’s commemoration of terrorists, LSE student Liam Marc Robson reflects on the LSESU’s handling of the incident in this article cross-posted from The Beaver. All views are his own, and do not necessarily represent those of Student Rights. “What is terrorism?” It used to be so simple. […]
Continue readingUEL 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 […]
Continue reading‘Students not Suspects’ continues to work with CAGE
Yesterday, the government launched its Counter-Extremism Strategy, which included the expectation that the National Union of Students (NUS) “avoid providing a platform for extremist speakers”. This follows a week in which NUS officers have toured the country spreading misinformation about Prevent, and shared platforms with a CAGE official at a number of events. They have […]
Continue readingPreventing Prevent at SOAS
CAGE Director of Outreach, Moazzam Begg, whitewashed his history of radicalism during a controversial student event at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) earlier this week. The former Guantanamo Bay detainee claimed that: “before Guantanamo and Bagram I wasn’t politicised”. This is stark contrast to what he told the FBI in 2002, when […]
Continue readingUniversity of Westminster diversity report released
In June, Student Rights spoke to the Sunday Times about a leaked report commissioned by the University of Westminster which had found serious concerns about the university Islamic Society. With the report being released this month, the story has now been covered in the Guardian, focusing on the society’s “ultra-conservative” views, as well as the […]
Continue readingMoazzam Begg to speak at NUS-organised event tour (Update: NUS statement)
UPDATE 04/09/2015: An NUS statement released to the Daily Mail has claimed that: “The events are being run as a coalitions with a number of other organisations, we are a large organisation and represent a wide diversity of views, some of our officers with different views have chosen to work with the coalition”. In July, […]
Continue readingNational Action member’s conviction shows threat posed by group
On 14 January 2015 Zack Davies, a member of the neo-Nazi organisation National Action (NA), tried to murder Dr. Sarandar Bhambra with a machete because he “looked Asian”. Only prevented from killing Dr. Bhambra by the intervention of a former soldier, Davies was today convicted of attempted murder and will be sentenced in September. While […]
Continue readingThe Counter-Terrorism Bill and David Souaan
Following criticism from students and university staff, on Wednesday it was agreed in the House of Lords that an amendment would be made to the proposed Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill. This would mandate institutions to take into account their duty to protect freedom of expression when following new provisions to prevent students from “being drawn […]
Continue readingFar-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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